SILICONE MOLDING &SILICONE 3D PRINTING

Step 2. Create a mold box

This structure is called a mold box and will hold the silicone in place when you pour. Your mold box can be created from: foam core board, Legos, 3D printing.

Step 3. Prepare and print.

Select standard print settings, since the molding is not very demanding on the 2D printed mold box.

Step 4. Suspend master in mold box and prepare.

Spray your mold box, master, vents and keys with mold release. Choose points across the model to glue vents. Spray again with mold release for good measure.

Step 5. Open bottles of silicone and stir thoroughly

As silicone comes in two parts, it needs to be mixed not only individually but also with its hardener. Mix slowly.

Step 6. Measure

Determine the volume of silicone needed to fill your silicone mold, then measure the desired amount of silicone and hardener in two separate measuring cups.

Tip: For two-part molds like the one shown, you only need to mix enough silicone to fill half of the volume of your mold

Step 7. Mix silicone

After measuring each part, combine them together and stir slowly with a mixing tool. The curing process will begin once your parts are thoroughly mixed.

Step 8. Pour into mold part

Once you have poured your silicone, place small keys into the silicone. These negative spaces will allow the mold halves to fit together once poured. You will remove them before pouring the second half.

Step 9. Let cure

The curing process can take anywhere from 75 minutes to overnight, depending on what type of silicone you’re using.

Step 10. Attach and prepare mold part two

Remove the keys you inserted in step 9, attach and secure the second half of the mold box, and spray with mold release.

That’s not all! Complete the silicone molding process by accessing the complete tutorial, with steps 11-20,  here. Explore the endless possibilities that go along with silicone molding.

Silicone 3D Printing

How is silicone used in 3D printing?

Traditionally, silicone is used in a type of 3D manufacturing process called mold injection. That uses a mold to shape liquid into the objects desired, and silicone is great for that because of its tough yet flexible physical properties. However, mold injection modeling has a very high upfront cost and does not have the ability to create small details as additive 3D printing does, so in 2016, Wacker Chemie made positive waves when it announced it had figured out a way to 3D print with silicone like you can with thermoplastics and metal compounds. Soon after that, Envisiontec, Carbon 3D, and Fripp Design all jump in with their own contributions to equipment and material especially constructed to work with silicone.

Right now, the majority of usage for 3D printed silicone is still in the medical area, but the same advantages that make it great in that sector can easily translate to others, and if you’re jonesing to try it yourself, you totally can. We have the technology!

What is the process of 3D printing with silicone?

3D printing with silicone is a lot like printing with chocolate, and other materials that need to stay liquid during the printing process. Instead of a solid, threadlike filament feeding through an extruder, the silicone is melted and forced through the extruder in tiny drops, which are layered on top of each other just like any other filament. They’re still based on whatever you tell your computer to tell it – there’s no difference in your design process. So the extruder takes your design and maps out where to place the droplets and how close to put them together; it completes your creation through a 3D version of pointillism.

Then, there’s one last extra step you have to do for silicone to make it solidify and hold its shape in its firm yet flexible signature style. You have to vulcanize it. Sounds terrifying, right? Don’t worry – this is just a fancy label for when silicone 3D printers make the silicone firm. It’s done with the sweep of a UV light in the printing area, which forms cross-links between sections of the polymer chain. This hardens the silicone enough to keep its shape, and increases its durability in the face of structural stress. It’s a neat, no-fuss flourish to make sure your silicone 3D printed object stays unyielding in the important areas of its molecules.

Special 3D printing equipment needed

As mentioned above, 3D printing with silicone is not like working with more traditional 3D printing material. With silicone, you have to have a special extruder that pulls the liquid silicone through the machine with a pump and extracts it like an inkjet printer onto the build surface. There are a few other materials that need the same kind of treatment, so it’s not hard to find the right equipment, but if you have a rig meant for spooled filaments, you will need to buy an additional machine to print silicone