Thank you! I wish I could claim that tip as my own but I saw someone else using it (my apologies for not remembering who) and it has definitely helped with opening up my molds!

Cover the mould in talcum powder .I still dnt use a vacuumed chamber .and glass syringes that hold the heat are available for the wax on internet .vet .peace .a turkey baster .lol

Some surgeon probably came up with the idea, because it looks like a tiny retractor.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. 😃

Thank you for watching! :)

Thank you! Much appreciated 🙏

Thank you 🙏😊

Thanks for watching!

Thank you for watching! I'm glad it helped :D

Ferris wax seems to work really well for mold making in my experience :) Thanks for watching!

No worries! 👍

Great tips! Thank you 👍

@@GraceNoteForge And......letting the mold cure overnight in a refrigerator will allow bubbles to release and float up.

Thanks for watching!

Thank you so much. I really appreciate that 🙏

🙏😁

Thank you so much! Unfortunately I did end up breaking the stem when demolding the original piece but thankfully the mold turned out just fine! You could absolutely make a mold off of the first casting but the only problem is you run the risk of destroying all the work you put into the piece if that casting doesn't go well the first time (which has happened to me on more than one occasion 😅)

Thank you 🙏

Thank you 😊

Thank you so much! I've noticed that the clear silicone definitely helps with demolding pieces and even seeing areas where vents need to be added. I didn't end up making a casting video for this one but I have pictures of the final piece on my Facebook page. I used to use a home made burnout oven with a programable PID controller but one day the thermocouple ended up failing and I almost set my garage on fire... I've since purchased a professional kiln (for safety reasons) but I have been thinking about making a wax injection machine from scratch, using a lot of the same parts and probably some added safety features this time... 😅

@@GraceNoteForge Hi! You say a lot of interesting things :) I realize you might mean clear molds can help a person learn how to cut molds. That would be really helpful! I hadn't thought of that lol I'm not on FB. But I see other casting videos you made I want to watch. i understand about the burnout oven. So many aspects there. I love redundancies in control equipment. Safeties all around. We're talking temps hot enough to make wire turn to liquid. I quickly start to think of having a PE design one or more versions and give me stamped plans I can build or have built to specs... have built maybe after the first one. Burnout ovens and melting furnaces use the same basic principles it seems; It might be feasible for the same engineer to meet most needs easily. An artisan could use a bank of ovens and several furnaces if the projects required them; esp if added over time from standard-dimension material. I just bought a tiny Swest injector for $140. It's being shipped. I went through the process of considering them ( this video was part of that) I'm new to this! I identified for me, acquiring or creating the injector nozzle was hardest, and those cost $111 on Romanoff (cheaper elsewhere no doubt) and the things add up from there. And Swest's machine is tested and tweaked from experience and is or was made to insurable standard, and made here in the US. Building stuff can quickly mean buying overseas and I wish to starve the Asian monster as much as possible and invest my dollars here at home as much as possible. So in the end, it's heat related, with pressure, and if your nozzle seal blows, what happens to someone nearby? If I did build, I would seriously consider the double boiler or water-jacket approach. It's more wu-wei lol you can do it with a small pressure cooker, even maybe the smallest instant pot with a modified lid and 'wax crucible in water bath' inside...a vessel within a vessel. What do you think of that? lol (a small pressure vessel secured in water in a crock pot is a version, but lacks a PID if not original to the crock pot, but for wax, not critical?) I'd be happy to talk more! My question is what muscles of creativity are you trying to exercise by building your own? If I watch your channel more, I may learn that answer more :) Can I ask you: how thick do you like your molds? Your Castaldo mold frame there is 3/4" for final mold thickness? Do you have several sizes? Otherwise the frame measures 1 7/8 w ID by 6" tall with a wall thickness of 1/4"? Do you use a 1/8" D sprue rod? I hope you don't mind my asking. I'm thinking of making my first mold frames from AL bar stock lol I have tons of thick plexi. I might even u-groove some to interconnect with a frame. I see this "comment "is super long. I really appreciate your time! I hope to watch more! I may just say thank you and not comment as much lol I wish you a great day!

@@GraceNoteForge so the afterthought is, are you going to 3D design your own nozzle, cast it and have it machined? lol ??? :)

Thank you! I got mine from a local supplier but if your search for "RTV mold frames", there are plenty of options for buying online. They normally come with two acrylic plates and either clamps or rubber bands to hold them tight to the frame (the silicone is really viscous so it doesn't leak out). As for the wax injector, I think it definitely gives enough pressure but since its done by hand, you kind of need to get a feel for how hard to press. With some practice though, you can get some great quality injections. Best of luck with your mold making, Martin!

A metal syringe works better in my experience because its more durable and it holds heat for a longer period of time after being taken out of the pot. Which is nice because you don't have to rush to inject the wax like you would with a plastic syringe.

Thank you! I try to adjust the speed, pressure and temperature of the wax first. Sometimes all that is needed is holding the mold up at an angle to let the wax reach those areas better. But if its still giving me trouble, cutting away a little relief for the air bubbles to escape normally does the trick. Personally, I try to do everything I can to make the mold work as is first because cutting vents into the mold will give you more wax to clean up in the end.

@@GraceNoteForge thanks a lot

Could you make a video on how to cut vents ?

@@certifiedhassan8084 that's a great idea! I'll try and record the process the next time I have to vent one of my molds. 🙂

I tried that but ended up hitting a bit of a snag with my vacuum chamber (I explain that at 5:30). Thankfully none of the air bubbles were on the surface of the model so the mold still works great!

@@GraceNoteForge Otherwise, a very good job

@@kwidzius Thank you

@@GraceNoteForgeExcellent video! Standard procedure for making silicone molds, btw, is to degass the silicone in the vacuum chamber BEFORE pouring it into the mold box. That would have eliminated the bubbles without having to put the mold box into the chamber and encountering the tight fit.

@@karllautman Vacuum the mix before pouring, pour mold, vacuum poured mold again to make absolutely sure all internal voids fill with mold material. A typical RTV mix will rise once during the initial vacuuming and not rise anywhere near as much during the mold degassing.

I get mine locally from Armstrong Tool Supply (armstrongtoolsupply.com/)

It's a stainless steel tip that came with the syringe.

It should work fine. I recommend one with an adjustable temperature control if you can get one.

@@GraceNoteForge thanks. do you know a discord for sculpting or mold making? i have so many questions, i can't seem to get enough help.

I found mine at Walmart for $10 if memory serves me. 🙂

For your issues with air getting trappen in your previous moulds. Take a scalpel blade, and make 4 thin cuts on each half of the mould (1mm deep is enough), leading from the pattern to the outside of the mould. Then bend the silicone so the cut pulls wide and add some talc to them. This will keep the air channels open, but not allow any wax to fit :) I do that technique with every mould, and it helps 100% of the time :) When I start to get air trapped again, I just bend it open again, and add more talc to the cuts. Give it a try with one of your old moulds and you'll instantly see the issue resolved

For your crock pot, I use a similar idea, but i use a secondary container inside the crockpot, and fill around it with water. That way I can regulate the temperature more precisely, as I can add cold water to cool it down a bit if it's overhot.

For moulding that kinda size object, I use the cheapest possible silicone rubber sheets from castaldo (far east they're called and £10 for 1KG!) www.cousinsuk.com/product/silicone-strips-far-east and a couple of steel plates that i've drilled holes in, and used bolts with wingnuts to hold the frame in, which is then cooked in the kiln for 100 mins at 143C. This works just as well as an expensive vulncaniser would do, but cost tons less :) Hit me up on instagram if you want me to share some pics, ideas on it, could be helpful for your stuffs. It's novice_artisan

Thank you for the tips! I'll have to give them a try. I'd love to measure that o-ring for you but it's currently encased in wax 😅 (I should have taken it out of the pot). I'll try and measure it when I do more injections later today. I already follow you on Instagram, you do some great work!

@@GraceNoteForge thanks dude 🤘 Yeah, leaving it in wax all the time, and mega overuse is probably what wiped my seals out 😂 Making those charity tokens I go through at least 3-4 plastic syringes per 100 successful waxes haha They just can't handle the wax. Apparently nitrile rubber seals are the better kind to use than those that come with that steel injector. I'll message you some pics of what I mean about the moulds on insta :)🤘

He's got some great videos! Thanks

I'm using Ransom and Randolph SC20 Investment.

@@GraceNoteForge can this buy india

@@Bokan. I believe they ship internationally, so you should be able to buy it. 👍

Because I really enjoy carving wax by hand on some projects. 😁

seems a lot safer to making copies with real wax in a mold rather than using a SLR 3D printer which are dangerous. Also I'd imagine it's easier to cut mold vents than numerous 3D print supports every time you need a copy. Also if you 3D printed your design once, you could spend lots of time cleaning up support marks and printing lines, and then make copies from your master, which would need less cleaning up in the future.

I have links to the items used in the video description 😁

@@GraceNoteForge thanks bro 😁

I like your videos

@@Bokan. thank you! I appreciate it 🙏

@@GraceNoteForge 😊