Moldy Monday!

I decided to start off my Monday with a crafty little experiment.

Usually, when I make engagement rings (especially odd shaped rings) I ask the client if they want me to make a mold. This is in case they want a wedding band that fits right up to it and don't want to hand the engagement ring back over to me for a couple of weeks.

To make a mold normally means that I take it to a casters, have either a rubber mold or a RTV (room temperature vulcanized) silicone mold, then have waxes injected into the mold, finally another ring cast (usually in brass or silver) and finally spend time polishing the new ring model. The problem with this process is that (1) it is time consuming (2) it costs money and (3) the model will always be slightly smaller than the original due to shrinkage that occurs when making the mold, shrinkage when making the casting and finally removing material in the polishing process.

I knew there had to be a better way to make molds... but this is how everybody does it, so I just went along with it. But then I saw a buddy of mine doing this neat little trick that takes no time and only costs pennies... and gives you exactly what you need to make a match to a ring.

So here is my cheap and easy way to make a mold of the profile of a ring!

We start out our experiment with basic materials...


PlayDoh, Plaster of Paris and a ring! Oh yeah, you can tell this is going to be a good one!

From there I made a flat circular surface and a long snake like thingie out of the PlayDoh...



Next you press the ring into the flat PlayDoh surface and add the snake-like piece to create a wall (kinda reminds me of the ashtrays I used to make in art class... I really can't believe that they let us make ashtrays in art class!)...



Then you pull out the ring out of the PlayDoh and you now have negative space...


Then we pour plaster into the little cup...


After we let it sit for an hour to harden, we peel away the PlayDoh...





And finally, what do we have... a mold of the profile of the ring me to use to build a wax wedding band upon! Actually, we have 2 profiles, I made a mold of both sides...


I'll keep you posted oh how well this works when the time comes!