TWO PART MOLD IS NOW A ONE PART MOLD!!!!

[recon321]

Ok, used quick set one pound kits to make a two part wiggly mold. Got the first half done fine, sprayed what I thought was alot of UMR mold release on the first half and
poured the second half. Both cured for 8-10 hours, got up this morning and could not get them apart, its one piece basically. Very irritated, thats 100 plus bucks down the drain!! What did I do wrong???

[eriksat1]

I bought the soft bait kit and it came with Alumilite high strength 2 silicone. Works good. I don't know about the quick set? Why use it when the Alumilite high strength 2 is the same price? I read someplace that you can also use a mixture of Vaseline and vegetable oil and brush on as a mold release for the 2 half's.

[recon321]

Just starting out, havent had alot of experience with anything yet. It seems to have the right amount of firmness and flexibility for wiggley, just frustrated right now.
Although I did just order 5 pounds of the quickset, just want to know what I did or didnt do.

[eriksat1]

The only reason I can think of why they stuck was not enough release. Did you shake the can good? Was the 1st half of the mold fully cured? Before you poured the second half on top of it? You might want to try the Vaseline with a brush, thin it out a little bit with pure vegetable oil. The Alumilite HS 2 says to cure for 18 hours.

[recon321]

Copy that,thought I sprayed it pretty good, wont make that mistake again.

[eriksat1]

I haven't tried a 2 piece mold yet, but thanks for the heads up. The plastisol is cheap, the silicone mold making stuff is pretty pricey, hate to make mistakes with it, like flushing $20 dollar bills down the toilet.

[Mike - Alumilite]

It sounds like you sprayed it with plenty of UMR. Sometimes what happens is the rubber seeps down the edge of the mold box a little and it is difficult to get it started. One trick to get it to start releasing is to cut a corner of the mold off on a 45 degree angle. Make sure part is not in the corner. Then start separating right from the cut line. Sometimes you can see the seam due to a ever so slight color difference in the mold. Think of it this way ... if you sprayed release, the two halves can not bond, you are just trying to find that miniscule seam line in a block of rubber and if the outside edges are locked together, we now have to find a line that is sealed at the edges.

This happens quite a bit and the trick is to keep working around the part until you can find the seam line. Don't try to cut down the seam horizontally as it is almost impossible to find but rather cut down vertically through both halves of the mold and then try separating the mold halves. Be patient and don't get too rough with it. As soon as it starts to separate, the whole thing will come apart without an issue but you may find it tends to stick around the very outside edge.

Hope you haven't started slicin it up yet trying cut your piece out. Please call me if you have any questions.

Mike
Alumilite
800 447-9344

[recon321]

To late!!! Working on my second failure now lol.

[recon321]

Ya I tried cutting down the corner and separating the two halfs but its ONE PIECE. I can see the seam line from the blue clay but Its not coming apart.

[Mike - Alumilite]

Try using the air hose from an air compressor and shooting it down the seam. The other thing you could try is squirting some rubbing alcohol down the seam line. Another option is possibly soaking it in some mild solvent like Odorless Mineral Spirits as Larry described growing a mold. This may force the silicone to expand at different rates and may get the two halves starting to release. If you do this, it is very important NOT to try to pull them apart at this point because when you grow the molds with solvent they get very weak. If you get them to release, let them dry for a couple days until they get back to the original size before pouring.

If they were mold released well as you described and believe you did, I would keep trying to get them apart as the mold release is still in there and should be doing its job. For whatever reason it has bonded more than it ever should have.

Mike