Mold Making with X-Carve

Projects
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Today we featured the chocolate mold making project by @WarrenDownes he made it with his new X-Carve. I thought it was pretty cool. What does everyone think? Is anyone else going to make molds with their X-Carve?

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He poured the silicone into the wood then the chocolate into the silicone.

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I thought it was pretty darn cool! I’d be tempted to use a tapered bit to get some draft angle onto those for a better release, but it came out pretty darn cool! My first thought was that I’m going to use MeshCAM to run a heightmap carve so I can make a chocolate-mold with a logo on the face! :smiley:

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Thanks for that share @Zach_Kaplan , if anyone has any questions about the project feel free to post them here.

Its a fun little project that has a lot of potential, you could use this process for wedding gifts, kids parties etc.

Cheers
Warren

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Never thought of using the x-carve for it, but I made little selfie chocolates for the ladies on Valentine’s day that I made with my 3D printer then molded :smile:

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I think if he’d used something other than plywood, he would have got smoother edges on his molds and they should have released easier. Otherwise it seems like an interesting use of the equipment.

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What would a better material be? HDPE?

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Something that was solid - HDPE would be good, but even just a solid piece of pine would be better - the many thin layers in the plywood leave you with a mold with ridges along the walls, instead of a nice, smooth walled mold which makes it easier to release.

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I would use HDPE with a 1/8" acrylic base so you can give it a bend to release it.

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Acrylic would likely snap. Polycarbonate (Lexan) would be better.

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For making silicone molds I recommend machinable wax.
It carves beautifully with a very good surface finish that will translate well to a silicone mold.
Also being wax you will not need to worry about sealing it or using a release agent for making a mold.
For quick projects I use Smooth-on OOMOO.
For chocolate you should get a “food grade” silicone. (If you are unsure get a platinum cure instead of a tin cure)

A extra tip for mold making. Make sure your stock is large enough that you can carve the object inside a deeper pocket. That way the pocket will act as a box around your master so you can just pour in your silicone.

For more info on mold making check out the tutorials on the smooth-on site.

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