Hello, I am making silicone molds for casting. I’ve got good success with molding in both foamular and MDF, but I want great success (in borat voice) meaning a glass smooth, or near to, surface. I’ve been using polyurethane, but the master casts I’ve been using have tight spaces which aren’t easy to sand and I’d like the simplest solutions. Anyone have tips/tricks/method for this?
I’ve also been looking into machinable wax. I’ve seen RPMs of 5000-10000 when the Dewalt tool does 24,000. Does anyone have any experience with this? Or should I burst into new territory and let you guys know how it goes?
Plow ahead into that unknown territory and let’s see where it goes. Might have to run the machine pretty quick to keep the wax from being melted by the higher spinning bit.
I don’t have personal experience, but here is a Winston Moy video using the Shapoko on machinable wax: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO9pw_tLYBs. The speeds and feed he uses should be a good starting point for your MPCNC.
Also Winston Moy has used a material called RenShape in a couple of his videos. He described it has having the ability to hold “shocking good detail.”
Both materials are on my ‘someday’ list to experiment with.