plastic molding DIY??

[squirrellydw]

Anyone know of a fairly cheap way to mold your own plastic?  Looking to make a shell for my wall mounted jukebox.

[ChadTower]

May be easier to do something that size in fibreglass.

[squirrellydw]

it is just going to be around a 19" flat panel monitor.

[Donkey_Kong]

AFAIK, smooth-on is the best internet source for buying mold and cast material.

Here is the beginner section...
http://www.smoothonsecure.com/store/index.php?cPath=50_295&osCsid=b82a56e71b87be9f0a56dcc5d0b6a3de

Starter kits....
http://www.smoothonsecure.com/store/index.php?cPath=50_759&osCsid=b82a56e71b87be9f0a56dcc5d0b6a3de

[Donkey_Kong]

Here is what I use to mold and cast my wifes arcade characters. It should work for you as well...It is the same as you get in the starter kits but bigger quantities.

I use the oomoo 25 found on this page for molding
http://www.smoothonsecure.com/store/index.php?cPath=278_279_281_80&osCsid=706febc032a3b88a9d1d8db3f9f81343

I use the 305 found on this page for casting...
http://www.smoothonsecure.com/store/index.php?cPath=291_1_10&osCsid=706febc032a3b88a9d1d8db3f9f81343

[squirrellydw]

maybe a dumb question but what is the difference between molding and casting?

[Donkey_Kong]

Nah man, not dumb.

You make a mold out of the piece that you want to copy. IE you first need to make or copy an original of the piece you wish to duplicate. This piece can be wood, metal, wax, glass or plastic....pretty much anything of hard substance.

Then you pour casting (liquid plastic,liquid metal, wax, etc) into the mold to create your duplicate. Casting is usually starts as a liquid and should (after a period of time) harden solid, or to its specified hardness.

Check this out. These are some of the very first molds/casts I ever made. The molding material (oomoo silicone rubber) is blue and the clear liquid that turns white, is the cast (smooth cast 305).

My first molding and cast jobs...
http://nicecarvings.com/html/molding_casting_nice_carvings.html

[squirrellydw]

so can I sand the mold to make it how I need it, like rounder edges and corners?

[Donkey_Kong]

You can't really re-shape the mold so much once it has set up. You would need an original piece to be almost exactly how you intend for the castings to be. YOU CAN however re-shape the castings to a degree if they are not exactly how you intended.

I'm starting to wonder if acrylic plastic would be a better choice for your project. It comes in sheets and you can glue it together to make things like that. Do you have a drawing of exactly what you want to do here?

[squirrellydw]

nope just want a frame to go around my monitor and have the edges rounded.