Molding and Casting

Process Molding and Casting

I started the Molding and Casting exercise before I knew what it would consist of since I needed to make a box for a solid soap packaging. The idea is to carry out tests with different materials: chitosan, mycelium, pieces of wood and aromatic plants from Òria Cosmètica Natural.

Being at home due to the Covid-19 situation and not having access to the purchase of materials, I had to plan with the resources I had available at home.

Cardboard molds

I started making molds with cardboard and plasticine, but when working with solutions in water it was difficult to remove the mold and it did not have good results.

Using existing molds from home

The second test was with existing molds that I had at home: silicone, plastic, glass, ceramic. The results with silicone and plastic were the ones that worked best since the material did not stick to the walls of the mold and the final piece came out whole.

"Silicon" mold

Seeing that the silicone molds were working I tried to make a mold with foam and covered it with the silicone hot glue sticks. When I put the mold in the oven at 50ºC to dry the material tests I saw that it melted a little.

Plaster mold

Next I decided to try a plaster mold. I repeated the mold with foam and covered it with the plaster. It was a process that would have worked if you had taken into account the thickness of the plaster walls.

Using existing molds from home to grow mycelium

Finally I decided that to grow the mycelium I was going to use existing molds that I had at home and that were waterproof and suitable for disinfecting with alcohol since the mycelium needs a sterilized medium to grow without contamination from other organisms.

MSDS Datasheet: Plaster

Below I attach the Material Safety Data Sheet of the Plaster where it explains how to use the material.
MSDS_Plaster

3D Design

After a few weeks of making the molds, we had the Fab Academy session with the Future Learning Unit where they explained to us how to design the mold and the countermold.

Below I enclose the design of the packaging and the mold to remove the geometry from the packaging.

Mold: solid soap packaging for Òria Cosmètica Natural

When designing this mold, the geometry and dimensions of the solid soap have been taken into account. An inner and outer 10mm rounding has been applied to unmold the product well.

Countermold

Here you can find the files: Packaging-Mold&Countermold