Mould Making and Spin Casting
2D6 Production offers a range of equipment, skills and techniques to provide you with moulds and castings.
Prices vary depending on size, shape and complexity. Due to he unique nature of making your moulds or castings its impossible to give anything other than a bespoke price. A figure range can be given on request but please provide as much detail as possible with your request and photographs with a scale-able object (such as a ruler) are very welcome. Please also tell me what you want and which material you want. Below each of the processes are explained in more detail to help you understand the processes and what you should be asking for.
Making castings from third parties without their explicit permission or without a licence is not casting, it is copying. I will not knowingly reproduce copies. Please do not ask as refusal often offends.
In a nutshell
With all methods it is usual to start with a single master. This is used to create the first mould called a master mould. Castings from this mould are referred to as production masters. These new masters are then used to create a production mould from which come your finished castings.
Creating a master mould and a production mould is a common practice and multiplies the number of castings you can make from a single master considerably as moulds do degrade with use. If a master mould could make a 1000 castings, then it could make 1000 production moulds. (Figures purely for explanation purposes.)
The person commissioning the work will be the keeper of the intellectual property and rights including the rights of production and shall remain their property. The owner of the moulds and any masters or castings associated with it may be returned upon request.
Polyurethane vacuum casting
Silicone rubber moulds how a limited life range and typical give a number of castings in the tens of numbers. Typical examples of these types of castings are building models or bulk type scenics.
Centrifugal spin casting
Disc moulds which are spun as molten metal is poured in to create metal castings. I do not offer resin as a material for spin casting. Moulds come in two flavours;
Low temperature silicone master moulds are gentle on your masters and do not melt your 3D prints! These are then used to create metal production masters.
Black rubber moulds are cheaper and are best used to create production moulds.
What now?
First thing to do is send me a photograph in an email and tell me what you are trying to achieve. I will then give you advice on what we should do and an estimate on price. I will also give you advice on your masters and try and trouble shoot any problems before they arise.
Doesn't cost much to send an email, so what are you waiting for?
Polyurethane vacuum casting.
Typically cast upside down, these castings have 1 face that is open and featureless. This face is used to extract the casting.
Preparation
The master for this method should be solid and contain no voids. Placing a sealed void into a vacuum can cause implosion if the master is not robust enough. Therefore it is better to fill the master.
Enclosures such as open window or door are impractical to mould. There is some methods to get around this, such as filling the void.
Undercuts trap air and reduced the quality of castings. Typically these are on window ledges on buildings and can be remedy with the implementation of a wedge. This also increases the life span of the mould and lessens damage from extraction of the casting.
Lastly a coat of primer ensures that there are no adverse reactions to curing the curing of the silicone rubber. When these steps are complete, you are ready to send your master.