[cidgrad]

Ok spent about 2 hours looking through old posts and such and surfing... unfortunately the things that look like they might help are gone or bad links, etc.

need to make cheap molds for prototyping an idea I have (see if it works before I pay for a good mold, plus need to get shapes right). Will be pouring lead - Ssrta like a spinnerbait head (wire going through the lead). No detail, just smooth sides is fine for now. I'm thinking it needs to be a two part mold since the wire would run down the middle of the lead.

COuld this be done with bondo? I see bondo as an option, but nothing where I see "how" to make a mold out of it.

Hoping someone can help out with my little project. Thanks!

[zx202guy]

Bondo might work....if you have patience and dont mind a mess.

I would suggest looking up Poly-Tek out of Pennsylvania. They make a silicone that can be used for inexpensive molds. more importantly, they have a tutorial about "how to make a 2 piece" mold. This process is basically the same regardless of the material used. Tin-sil 60-70 is actuall y the material of polytek's you would want to use.

For 30 or 35 biucks you can have George at custom jigs and rigs in New york make a silicone mold for you

[cidgrad]

I gave them a call and the guy, believe his name was Stan was very helpful. Talked me through making a two part mold, helped me figure out what to buy, and offered an intro price.

Thanks for the information ZX!

[gunnie3035]

So which model of Polytek do you use for casting lead?

[zx202guy]

TIn-Sil 60-70, I believe...

Call them to confirm though.

[cidgrad]

you got it.. just numbers backward.

TinSil 70-60 is what they told me. Accepts low heat molten metal. (When I heard this... I thought 'There's such a thing as low heat molten metal?!?!?!)

[dawgfish]

For a cheap mold try water putty. You can find it at Lowes. It is a powder and all you do is mix it with water. I have used this with a few of my spinnerbait molds and have poured dozens of them with no problems. You can make a two part mold easily. There was at one time a tutorial out there for doing this. If you can't find it let me know and I will try and find it in my archive of articles.

Dawgfish

[clamboni]

Originally Posted by dawgfish

For a cheap mold try water putty. You can find it at Lowes. It is a powder and all you do is mix it with water. I have used this with a few of my spinnerbait molds and have poured dozens of them with no problems. You can make a two part mold easily. There was at one time a tutorial out there for doing this. If you can't find it let me know and I will try and find it in my archive of articles.

Dawgfish

The water putty tutorial was no different than any other two part mold tutorial, with the exception that it uses water putty instead of RTV or bondo or whatever else. It used a thin layer of vaseline to keep from sticking to the master.

[hawnjigs]

"low heat molten metal"
Low Melting Alloys

[gunnie3035]

do u seal the water putty with anything?