Silicone's Recyclable Guys!

Okay, now this might have been posted before, but i haven't read it before... So i think I'll just go ahead and tell you.

My first attempt at a mould failed miserably... Nuf Said, so i was looking at all this silicone and wondered if it was possible to re-use it... There is...

Terms: Ground Silicone - Silicone that has been put through the mincer nd ground down.
Real Silicone- Silicone that has been mixed and poured normally

You need to slice and dice the silicone mould up, then put it through a meat grinder (really small ones are better because the silicone bits will be finer. But on bigger ones you can do it multiple times to achieve the same effect.

Now, With whatever it is that you are molding (be it helmet, leg peice, face?), you need to put on the first layer of just plain silicone without any additives (I call this the skin), Ideally you want at least 2 layers of normal silicone (but i did it today with one and it worked well with one). Then your going to want to measure out the right amount of ground silicone to mix with the real silicone at a 1:1 Ratio. For example, if i was using 2 cups of ground silicone I would mix that with two cups of (premixed or not, by not i mean you can mix the mixture together while in with the ground silicone) normal silicone. Then, just pour it on over your model, and repeat until you have the desired thickness.

As a side note, I did apply 2 layers of normal silicone after the 'lumpy' layers, I don't know if this is completely neccesary, but my train of thought was that if there were any bubbles in the 'Lumpy' Silicone the normal stuff would fill it in. Also, the silicone i used was RTV Pinkysil, but i'd say it would work with anything.

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Any questions? Ask below, don't be scared. And pass the word around! Moulds are recyclable!

BTW this is explained in depth in the 'Sculptures Moulding and Casting handbook'

Cheers, Dave.

this seems like a great idea since good silicone is fairly expansive. i'v seen people use something almost like this in some tutorials to fill in large gaps for strength but this seems like a great idea for just regular molds.

hi i have a question do you have any pictures i want to see them for give me an idea of how i would do it

you know... that is a great idea. never thought of that. i have molds that i made for a basically one time use that are just laying around that i never plan to use again and hey i can use the again. thanks for this.

This is a really cool idea and a great way to save money.

(SSSHHHH it's a trade secret but you can do the same thing with bondo and bondo dust)

Bondo dust can do this!? My god, i think i have about 3 kilo's of dust in my shed! Haha. I thought i'd throw in some photo's just so you guys can see how to do it.

This is the meat grinder i used...



Step 1.

Cut the mould (with scissors) into peices about this size.



Step 2.

Put these peices through the meat grinder, grind them through it.



Step 3.

Keep grinding it to get it finer and finer, alternatively you can get another finer grinder... Suit yourself. .



Thats about it. Pretty simple, and it works well. So have fun experimenting.

Cheers, Dave.

Any questions don't be afraid to ask...

It's also wonderful for making mould registration keys.

Fill a cup with ground silicone. Then pour in enough new silicone to bond it all together. Once it has set, cut it up into qaurters, halves, fiftyiths. Whatever, I use qaurters, then bond them to the mould with more silicone. And Presto, works a charm! .

Cheers, Dave.

Dang, I really need to get myself a meat grinder eventually. Also, I don't see why you wouldn't also be able to do this with casting resin... It accepts all kinds of other fillers, so why not fill it with itself? I have done it with leftover scraps from trimming and drips and whatnot, but my pieces where too big, and ended up making all sorts of jaggedy bits. Grinding it down into particulate granules, or even to a sand-like consistency would be preferable, but I'm having trouble figuring out what to grind it with. Suggestions?

Guys, please check the date of the last post before replying. The last reply was 10 months ago, which definitely puts this in the "dead thread" category.

Remember, only YOU can prevent necroposting!

Normally I would agree, but it's his own thread, so I figured it was okay.

@ShadoKat - I've never thought about casting resing, I guess you could use the left over dust, I've heard bondo dust can be used as a filler for bondo. I've just never been bothered with collecting the dust. Best way to crush down casting resin I guess would be a steel capped boot or a car tyre. Personally I don't think I'd bother, it tends to be cheaper than silicone. .

@Spitfire22V - I was adding to the original post and hopefully saving people some money, I posted the thread originally, as mentioned, and I thought it would be worth reviving anyway. Given that it is aimed at helping people save money and what not. .

Haha, Cheers, Dave.