<p> What kind of rubbers can I use for Mould-making? This manual will review five of the most It is easy to use, dimensionally accurate and widely used mould making materials: without the moisture problems of latex, alginates, polyurethanes, vinyl hot polyurethane. melts and silicones. Each has advantages and disadvantages. No one material will Aldax Moulds have a general purpose do everything. silicone rubber CraftSil 750 which we have found has been suitable for over 90% of our Latex is possibly the most widely used customers requirements. View this item on material, mainly because of its our ebay store by clicking here. comparatively low cost and elasticity. It is capable of making a strong, thin walled Alginates are mainly used when time is a mould, ideally suited for one piece “skin” critical factor or for body casting, as they are or “glove” moulds completely safe for body contact. They set Because as many as 10 to 20 coats must up in minutes to a rubbery type of gel when be brushed on to give the mould a mixed with water and give excellent workable thickness, with time allowed impressions. between each coat to enable the latex to cure or “dry”, making the mould is very Due to the fact that they dry out quite rapidly slow and time consuming. they must be cast almost immediately after demoulding. Plaster or wax are mostly used In addition latex must be brushed on, in this type of mould. dipped or sprayed, it cannot be poured to Click here to view our Minit Mould Alginate. make a mould. The thin walled nature of the finished latex mould makes a back-up Polyuretanes are rapidly becoming the mould a necessity to support the latex mouldmaking material of choice. They are and help it to retain its shape when much cheaper than silicones while casting. performing much the same functions. They As shrinkage is also a problem, latex come in 2 part systems that are easy to cannot be used to make moulds where weigh and mix due to their fluidity. They can dimensional accuracy is a requirement. be used for pouring practically any type of cementicious or plaster material, casting Aldax Moulds sell their latex in three resins or foams. grades, #70 which is a thin brush or spray on latex which is used for the first 3 or 4 Along with most of these materials they coats to retain detail, #72 which is a have a limited shelf life and are very thickened latex used for building up coat “moisture Conscious” however from the thickness and #74 which is a filled latex point of view of ease of use and economy for use on vertical surfaces. they have become the preferred mould Our latex can we purchased from our making material. online ebay store by clicking here. “ Hot-melt” (Polyvinyl chloride) is not The feature of polyurethanes that attracted cheap to buy. However vinyl moulds are us most was the long life of the moulds. We cost effective in that they can be re- used polyurethane exclusively for making of melted and the material used again. plaster ceramic master case moulds. Unlike latex which under heavy use has a 12 Vinyl is hazardous and disagreeable to month life, our polyurethane moulds are still use because of the high temperatures producing perfect moulds after 15 years. required to melt the material. The high temperature in turn restricts the model While there have been hundreds of different materials that can be used with vinyl to types of polyurethanes developed for make moulds and has fallen from general specific industry usage, tomorrow the use. chemists tell use there will be thousands, due to the versatility of polyurethanes from Silicone rubbers make high quality flexible rubbers through foams to hard moulds for casting resins and foams, but plastics. the material is very expensive. Silicone is the material of choice for polyurethane For purchasing information, send us an plastics and low temperature metals. email to [email protected] ã Copyright 2006 Aldax industries Pty Ltd www.aldax.com.au</p>