Making an injection mould for resin

[@deannaburke129]

I'm casting wisdom teeth with the intention of making many copies; this technique is going to save me so much time and effort-brilliant, thank you!!!

[@kainoctis7724]

😚😚😚😚

[@thedarkpower]

Ah fantastic, that sounds really interesting - are they actually intended to go in people's mouths or are they for something else? Glad the vid was useful :)

[@deannaburke129]

@@thedarkpower Thanks for asking! They are not necessarily meant to go into people's mouths, though it would be interesting to make functional teeth one day. For now, I am using the resin copies for jewelry, pins, and art pieces. I didn't want to alter or permanently use the real teeth in any way, so the next best thing was to make copies. If you'd like, I can send you some photos of the works in progress! (too bad youtube doesn't allow for posting photos)

[@thedarkpower]

Sounds cool, yeah I'd love to see :)

[@hewlett-packardlovecraft2297]

See, this is the reason I love your channel. Such a simple solution to what seems like a really complicated problem. The level of ingenuity of display here, along with you problem solving skills, has been a source of boundless inspiration on my own projects. Thanks for keeping me motivated, and have a great week.

[@thedarkpower]

Ah cheers dude, that's very kind. I'm glad the videos have been useful. Thanks!

[@hewlett-packardlovecraft2297]

@@thedarkpower No problem, and thanks for the reply. See you in the next one.

[@MarvinConman]

This is bloody genius, now I have a way to cast small elements like hands :D

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks! Yeah it's a handy technique (no pun intended!) 😉

[@joek600]

Im sculpting and casting my own 32mm miniatures (I guess we all picked up some new skills during the lockdowns lol). I have to cast really tiny and thin parts which is a challenge anyway but on top of that Im a novice. I experimemnted with many ways. Including injecting the resin with a glass syringe. I can tell you that there is alot of cleaning involved if you want that syringe to work again properly. Your technique of using a plunger ON the mold is really clever! Usually Im making what I call ''J'' molds for the bodies and ''wallet'' molds for small parts like hands and weapons. J mold is when I use a J shaped pouring spout going under the cavity filling the mold from the bottom to the top pushing the air through the legs. Pretty much the same thing you do. The ''wallet mold'' is a one piece cut mold that i keep open short of like an empty wallet while pouring and making sure that both walls are wet in resin. Im also brushing the molds with talcum powder and taht helps ALOT into filling all the small details. I have a diy vacuum chamber also. In bigger molds it helps alot to pull the air out. In the tiny parts molds not so much. Probably because the reaction of the resin with the moisture in the air creates bubbles by itself so its better to be as undisturbed as possible. You can check my stuff here. The pics of the minis are of actual resin castings. instagram.com/talos.miniatures/

[@thedarkpower]

Hey dude, thanks! Yeah I've seen your stuff on instagram, very cool :) I think the J shape method you use is the way to go. One thing I've not experimented with is the speed at which the resin is injected into the mould. Perhaps a fast injection might push air out quicker than a slow one? I'm not sure. I think ultimately the only way to go is pressure casting for smaller items. You can buy moisture traps for the airlines so moisture is not an issue. I must say I've not encountered that as an issue but that could be due to climate as I'm in the UK.

[@joek600]

@@thedarkpower The climate does play a major role. For example in Greece even with airconditioned room its really hard to cast resin. On top of that I use a very good quality resin, but it has about 3min pot life. Unfortunately an alternative with longer pot life is not available localy and ordering items with alot of weight means alot of shipping fees. So I have to improvise alot lol. While I have a diy vacuum chamber and a diy silent air compressor for my airbrush, Im kinda afraid of a making a pressure pot. Having a pressure bomb next to me is somewhat intimidating lol. So Im trying to bypass it using any trick I can.

[@thedarkpower]

Wow that is quick. It gets hot in the UK in the summer, maybe 30C, probably nothing like Greece. But I do notice a definite change in curing times which is generally quite handy as things take ages to cure in the winter. To be honest you're most of the way there if you already have a compressor. I don't know what it's like in Greece but pressure chambers are expensive but not ridiculous in the UK. I got mine here maybe there's a local supplier. I know they're abit of a worrying piece of equipment but if you buy a good quality brand they're fine and produce great results. www.sprayequipment.co.uk/resin-casting-pressure-tanks/resin-casting-pressure-tanks.html

[@joek600]

@@thedarkpower Thanks for the link! No they are not crazy expensive but usually in Greece the available ones are those chinese pressure paint pots and to tell you the truth Im abit afraid of them. I was thinking of having my father make me one like the one Robert Tolone has in his channel. My father is a retired now but used to be one of the top welders in the ship repair industry. He made me the tank for my silent compressor out of marine grade stainless steel, so getting rust inside will never be an issue.

[@thedarkpower]

Yeah Robert Tolone's one looked great because the way the door was held in meant that it couldn't explode if the pressure was too high. Yeah I would be nervous if I wasn't confident in the equipment! It sounds like your father knows what he's doing, so that sounds like a good option.

[@petsdinner]

Ingenious! Thanks for sharing this with us!

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks! :)

[@gearoidmurphy4988]

Very nice simple technique, thanks for sharing!

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks!

[@rossmain9120]

Excellent work. 👏

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks! 😁

[@asimovstarling8806]

Good technique vid. I look forward to seeing that robot of yours after you add the tail. Should be amazing. also, as I watch resin related crafting videos alot, probably more than I should, I found out there are many good ways of getting resin to conform to a mold without air. one of the best methods is the one you showcased with this vid. one of the most frequently used it the vac chamber method where you pull the air out in a vacuum chamber and then when you let the pressure return to normal the resin is pulled or sucked into the the spaces where the air had been.

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks. Ah, interesting - I'll have to see what I can do with my vacuum chamber.

[@ScratchBashing]

Greatly appreciated!

[@thedarkpower]

No problem ;)

[@Lizzeiy]

Brilliant idea

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks!

[@kurogiza]

Excellent idea, and great results. I've built molds in the past for 32mm miniatures that use a syringe to push the resin through. I always get air bubbles though, so I have to put the poured mold into the pressure pot

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks, yeah I figured it'd be difficult to clean a syringe which is why I went for this set up. I don't mind using the pressure chamber for full sculptures, it's abit of a pain for small items that you want to cast up quickly though.

[@kurogiza]

@@thedarkpower I've found that as long as I clean the syringe while the resin is still fairly green (around the recommended demold time) then it comes out of the syringe no problem. 👍

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks, worth knowing!

[@joek600]

@@thedarkpower I used a glass syringe ecause there is no chance to manage to clean a plastic one. It still is a pain in the ass to clean. Had to keep by my side prepared twisted tissue paper in the right diameter in order to get all the resin out quickly, or else the plunger wont work properly.

[@thedarkpower]

Make sense. I wonder if the cheap polyethylene measuring syringes might clean out abit easier? You can peel the resin off alot of plastic cups and mixing vessels, so that may work. Although the smaller size would probably make it abit trickier.

[@noviceartisan]

Clever solution, thank you for sharing it with us :)

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks David!

[@mainstay.]

Wow, thanks this helps immensely.

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks!

[@lauraschlieselhuber8487]

That's pretty smart ! Looks awesome !

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks! :)

[@dannyfuller1]

This is so helpful, thanks man. I have a lot of trouble getting the resin to flow on some of the smaller items I make. I will be trying this out very soon. :}}

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks, glad it's helpful! I use this technique alot now.

[@pjw558]

Very good. Genius.

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks!

[@the_Dogpacker]

Exactly what I was looking for, thanks

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks!

[@BlackCat_2]

That is really cool! Learned something new today that could definitely come in handy sometime. :D Thanks for sharing. - Heidi

[@thedarkpower]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful :)

[@unicorncycling806]

Is this what they do when casting the sprews for plastic models?

[@thedarkpower]

Yeah it's the same basic principle, but they use metal moulds and molten plastic is injected in.

[@Maloquinn]

Where did you get the rods you use for the plungers? Please.

[@thedarkpower]

It's delrin - I got it off ebay ;)

[@the_Dogpacker]

@@thedarkpower I was wondering if a hotglue bar would work for this, too, what do you think?

[@thedarkpower]

@@the_Dogpacker Yeah I reckon that would work well.

[@dadluck8125]

what is the level of hardnes ?

[@thedarkpower]

I presume you're referring to the silicon? It's an A28.

[@alvarovargas3136]

🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔😮🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳