Oww my *ing hands!

[paulson games]

I normally consider myself to have fairly strong hands, but I had a run at doing 4 split molds in one sitting and could barely finish the 4th one as my hands were trembling so badly. Even an hour later they are still aching and sore from prying the molds open. Does anyone else run into this?

[AdamG]

Yep,

I've being doing a load this weekend and my hands are aching.

I'm looking for some sort of vice that I can attach one side / end of the mould in whilst I'm cutting down into it.

I'll drop you the details if I manage to find anything useful.

[Deadmeat30]

Yep know the feeling... i had to do 36 moulds in one day. it was emotional.....

try some of these



Hand friendly since 1892!

[mangozac]

Hahaha yeah I too know that feeling! Fortunately it's rare that I ever do that many moulds in one day. Out of interest Jon, what Shore hardness is your silicone?

[paulson games]

It's rated at 25, not sure if the rating is supposed to go up or down for firmness. It's somewhat flexible although not as soft as the stuff I had from Tap Plastics but much softer then some of the stuff I worked with that required 24 hr set up times.

The stress comes from holding it all open while doing such tiny cuts and at the same time not trying to damage the parts. If I could just hack away at stuff without any care I doubt it'd be such a pain.

It also doesn't help that the molds are typically pretty short so there's not a lot of material to grab hold of or room for it to flex. A lot of my molds are maybe 60-70mm tall. Taller ones seem to work a lot easier.

I think I should probably take a couple minutes break time in between molds, I was trying to do all of them in rapid sucession.

[mangozac]

Shore hardness is high = harder. Shore A 25 isn't too hard (although it's 25% harder than the stuff I use), but I can still understand why it gives sore hands. Maybe give your hands an epsom salts bath? Think sports recovery techniques on a small scale

[Fleafa]

Yep, I get this!

[timdp]

Its pretty common. Your hands will get stronger...

Bending the mold over the edge of a table or a rigidly mounted piece of round pipe helps.

Tim

[RageofAchilles]

I don't get aching hands, my two part moulds just pop open because of the release agent in between them.
please forgive me , but I'm a bit baffled by split moulds, I have only seen them used in movie prop making are they superior in some way to two parts or is it a pressure casting thing?

[mangozac]

[Fleafa]

Also, mould lines are minimised provided you align the halves correctly (jagged cuts help).

[timdp]

[johncast]

Hi Paulson Games

The RSI of cutting moulds. Can be pretty hard on the fingers

Look at the web sites of companies selling jewellery tools As a jeweller we often had to cut moulds that were vulcanized. My boss made up a good mould frame which gave the cutter a good flap of rubber something to grip to when pulling the mould apart to see the area to cut. This arrangement isn't possible with resin moulds.

There is a few small clamping tools available from these jewellery supplies places now that enable the rubber mould to be clamped with 2 clamps at the top of both halves, the clamps can then be pulled outward by turning two threaded handles either end of the stand to open the mould while you cut through freeing up your hands and stopping the stress on your fingers. Yihui Company has one in their web site, there would be several other companies as well. Worth the money if you are cutting a lot of moulds. Check to google images and type in rubber mould cutting clamp. That can put you on a web site quite quickly.

Johncast

[Blindhorizon]

[RageofAchilles]

My only experience of a split mould was when I forgot to use a release agent between the two halves.
so I had to cut into the side of the mould. I cant imagine being able to find fine parts in a split mould, but I appreciate the info, thanks guys