We make silicone baits with our own hands. How to make a silicone mold with your own hands for epoxy resin Crafts from silicone at home

Almost all fishermen make some kind of homemade product. Most often these are various modifications of equipment, sinkers, feeders and other small things, but there are also fishermen who make baits, including not only the simplest ones like oscillating spoons, but also more complex products like wobblers or silicone baits. By making silicone lures with your own hands, an angler can not only get certain savings, but also achieve greater variety in his spinning boxes. Homemade silicone baits can complement factory products, since the spinning angler can get exactly what he considers necessary, change the length, shape, color, or the attractant used in accordance with his ideas.

Making silicone baits at home gives the fisherman a number of advantages:

You can choose your own form. This is very important if the spinner believes that a product from a particular company can be improved by adding additional elements, or the fisherman has a version of his own, original form.
It happens that there is simply no option in the required size in the line of factory products. Both ultralight lovers and adherents of trophy fishing face this problem. A number of manufacturers simply do not take into account the wishes of a small group of fishermen.
Sometimes, even despite the variety of colors, spinning anglers still believe that the product line lacks a certain color, and then making silicone lures with your own hands allows you to get the desired color.
Also, self-casting of silicone baits allows you to obtain silicones with the desired attractant, or with a high salt content, which affects the attractiveness for fish. So, for example, fans of nanojig are faced with the fact that there are very few silicones with the smell of garlic (which attracts crucian carp).
If original homemade vibrating tails or other options show good results on a pond, you can try to establish their production and sale.

Important! From an economic point of view, the production of such baits will be most profitable if the remains of baits damaged during fishing are used as material.

Repair methods

Edibles damaged in the process of catching a predator can not only be melted down, but also repaired. There are three main ways to do this:

Connecting parts of the bait with open fire - a match, a lighter, candles.
Gluing with superglue.
Soldering with a soldering iron.

Photo 1. Torn tail of the twister.

Photo 2. Cut a piece from the silicone strip.

Photo 3. After soldering with matches, all that remains is to wash off the soot.

The first method is most often used directly while fishing; it makes it possible to quickly connect parts of damaged silicones and continue fishing. To connect, you only need to slightly heat the baits in the place where they should be connected, but the main thing is not to overdo it with heating.

Joining with glue is rarely used, since the joint loses its elasticity, which negatively affects the play of vibrating tails, twisters, and passive baits too. Therefore, fishermen usually resort to this method for experimental purposes, and, having become convinced that the result is not the best, they no longer use it.

At home, it is best to repair damaged edibles using a soldering iron. Soldering not only provides a strong connection, but can also help adjust the shape of both the body and the active elements.

Where can I get the silicone itself?

There are several options for where you can find silicone for baits. The easiest option is to simply melt down silicones damaged by the teeth of a predator; any spinner will have plenty of vibrating tails, twisters with bitten off tails, or chewed crustaceans and larvae. The remelting itself is possible at gas stove in a water bath, but it is better to use a microwave for this purpose.

You can also purchase ingredients that are used to make silicone baking molds and similar products. Silicones made from this material will be somewhat harsh, but durable. Eleplast (TV 25), Pentalast 710, Pentalast 718 are often used.

You can also find resources online that offer more suitable options. These are, for example, “TOIRTAP”, “Silix”. Such companies also usually offer not only the base, but also substances that can make the bait harder or softer, dyes, glitter, attractants, as well as other products necessary for making silicones yourself, including tools and even ready-made molds.

Photo 4. Silicone for household needs.

How to melt silicone?

This material may lose its properties if heated too much. Therefore, you need to know how to melt silicone without ruining it. The easiest way to do this is to place the material in a microwave oven and set a temperature that is safe for the particular polymer. If you don’t have a microwave, you’ll have to make do with a water bath, but you need to be careful here, since if the silicone is overheated, smoke can come out, and the material itself darkens and loses its elasticity.

Also, it is during heating that additional components are added - dyes, substances that make the material softer or harder, attractants, fat, salt, glitter, etc. (it is important that all this is resistant to high temperatures, otherwise the bait can be damaged).

Single-sided casting molds

How to make silicone bait? Without mold or casting matrix self-production silicone is impossible. Casting silicone baits can be done in plaster or plexiglass molds. Both of them can be bought, but you can easily make a matrix from gypsum yourself, but you most likely will not be able to create a high-quality mold from plexiglass at home.

Making molds for silicone baits from plaster is quite simple. There are two main types of matrices – one-sided and two-sided. Single-sided options are more suitable for baits that have no complex shaped elements on one side (for example, on top, as is usually found in vibrotails), but simply a flat surface. To make such a matrix for casting, you first need to assemble a body into which the gypsum will be poured. Next you need to dissolve the gypsum in water.

Important! Gypsum should be added gradually, stirring the mixture. If air bubbles are visible, they need to be “tapped out”, as they can easily ruin the finished product.

The plaster is poured into the mold, after which a sample of the bait is placed in it (which should be lubricated to make it easier to remove after the plaster has hardened) so that its upper edge remains on the surface. After removal, the matrix is ready for use.

Double-sided matrix

Do-it-yourself vibrotail, as well as other baits, especially if they have a complex structure, are best cast in double-sided molds. Such matrices are made in almost the same way as one-sided ones, however, only half of the bait is immediately filled with plaster. After this, the mold is left until the plaster hardens, and when it becomes hard, the lower part is lubricated, and the bait is poured in so that its parts do not remain on the surface. Although a double-sided matrix is a little more complicated to manufacture, it has an important advantage - it can be used to cast baits with a large number of complex-shaped elements, as well as make silicones with a complex body shape, without straight planes, which makes it impossible to use a one-sided matrix.

Important! It is necessary to leave a groove through which the molten silicone will be poured into the matrix. It is most convenient to fill it with a glass syringe, as it is resistant to high temperatures.

Also, these molds for silicone baits are more convenient for casting several silicones at once. You can experiment with two-color baits by using two syringes into which you need to draw material colored with different dyes.

Silicone molds have recently become extremely popular. They are made very simply. If desired, you can even make them yourself. Their service life is very long compared, for example, with gypsum. However, of course, a high-quality mold can only be made from a material with good performance characteristics. What qualities should liquid silicone for molds have and what should you pay attention to when purchasing it?

Types of silicone and master models

Of course, when purchasing material for making molds, you should first of all pay attention to its technical specifications. Today, only two main types of silicone are produced: coating and filling.

For both materials, master models made of metal and wood, as well as plastic, cardboard, or even just paper can be used in the manufacture of forms.

Coating silicone

This variety is very suitable for making molds. This is a very viscous silicone, applied to the master model with a special brush. An example of such a material is the heat-resistant auto sealant ABRO

Potting silicone

It is also a good material for making molds. When using it, the master model is installed in the flask and poured from above. Liquid silicone for molds of this variety consists of two components: a hardener and a base. Before pouring, they are thoroughly mixed and then placed in a vacuum chamber to remove air bubbles. A very popular material of this type is, for example, Pentelast-708S.

Elongation factor

What characteristics can be considered the most important when choosing a material such as liquid silicone? In principle, almost any variety of it is suitable for making molds. However, it is still worth paying attention to some indicators when purchasing. The most important parameter characterizing the quality of silicone is the elongation coefficient. U modern materials this figure ranges from about 200-1300%. The higher this number, the more the hardened silicone can stretch and the greater the number of castings a mold made from it can withstand.

In practice, 700-800 percent one- or two-component liquid silicone is usually used. It is usually ideal for mold production. Products made from material with this elongation coefficient can easily withstand up to 80 castings. This figure may be smaller or larger, depending on the complexity of the master model configuration.

Silicone viscosity

This is also an important indicator that has a huge impact on the quality of the finished form. Pouring liquid silicone for molds has a very low viscosity. During operation, it easily fills the smallest recesses of the master model. Therefore, it is advisable to use it for the manufacture of molds of very complex configurations.

Viscosity is measured in CPS. For potting materials this figure usually does not exceed 3000 CPS. For comparison: water has a viscosity of 0 CPS, sunflower oil- 500, honey - 10000.

Other indicators

In addition to viscosity and elongation coefficient, when choosing silicone you should pay attention to:

Working hours. The higher this indicator, the longer the material retains its viscosity.

Polymerization time. This characteristic is also quite important. It shows how long it takes for the poured form to reach the stated elongation factor.

Two-component liquid silicone for mold making usually takes longer to harden and polymerize than it is viscous. This can be attributed to the advantages of the material. After all, when working with it, the master does not need to rush anywhere.

How to use

Liquid silicone is used to make molds as follows.

The master model is fixed to the stand with a drop of superglue and coated with a special release agent. At home, this could be, for example, Vaseline or machine oil.

The stand with the model is fixed in the flask. The latter can be made from almost any material: wood, plasticine, plastic, etc. Disposable flasks are made of paper. Its height should be twice that of the future form. The fact is that during the vacuumization process, silicone foams very much. One of the walls of the flask must be removable.

The evacuated compound is poured into the flask in a thin stream. This is necessary to ensure that as little air as possible gets into the liquid material.

The flask is placed in a vacuum installation for 1-2 minutes. Repeated processing is necessary in order to remove absolutely all the air from the silicone that got into it during pouring.

The form hardens in about 5-6 hours. The final polymerization occurs after a day or three. At the final stage, the mold is removed from the flask and cut in half. After this, the master model is removed from it.

Viscous silicone molds

In this case, a slightly different technology is used. The mold is not used in the manufacture of silicone molds. The master model is simply coated with the material using a special brush in several layers (2-3 mm each) with intermediate drying for 2-3 hours.

Liquid silicone for molds: price

The advantages of this material include not only the ease of making molds. It has earned great popularity due to its low cost. The price of high-quality silicone can range from only 450-750 rubles.

In specialized stores or on the Internet, you should look for silicone intended specifically for making molds. The fact is that today the most different types this material. For example, liquid fishing silicone is sold. It is used to lubricate braided threads on fishing gear, which extends their service life and increases casting distance. Such silicone, of course, is not suitable for making molds.

How to make at home

In order to make liquid silicone for molds with your own hands, you need to buy ethyl alcohol and liquid glass. You will also need a plastic bottle and a wooden stick. Since silicone components are quite caustic materials, you should wear thick rubber gloves on your hands. The manufacturing procedure itself is as follows:

IN plastic bottle liquid glass is poured in equal parts and ethanol.

The mixture is thoroughly mixed with a wooden stick.

After it thickens, it needs to be removed from the bottle and thoroughly kneaded with your hands.

Silicone prepared in this way resembles plastic, sticky rubber and can be made into any shape.

Silicone molds for the oven

Of course, environmentally unsafe materials cannot be used to make such castings. In this case, liquid silicone for molds is made a little differently:

Three tablespoons of potato starch are poured into a yogurt cup.

Pour silicone sealant there in the same quantity.

Mix everything for ten minutes.

From silicone prepared in this way, you can easily make a simple baking dish. Before pouring the dough into mandatory coated with vegetable oil.

Using silicone molds

So, liquid silicone is often used to make molds. The use of products made from “starch” material allows you to bake original pastries, cakes, etc. But how are molds made from ordinary silicone used? Most often they are used to make beautiful products from various kinds of two-component fillings. Any large items are usually not made using silicone molds. Therefore, ordinary medical syringes are used to mix the components of the fillings at home. Next, they are tinted with a drop of dye and poured into the mold through the injection hole stretched by a spacer.

Somewhere a couple of months ago, I got caught here this video is on YouTube, where a man made a mold from gelatin and glycerin. I really liked the video, especially because all the components of this recipe are easily accessible and not very expensive, at least for small volumes of forms. The video itself, although in bourgeois language, is nothing special to delve into; it was enough to hear fifty-fifty, after which it became clear how much glycerin and gelatin should be mixed. Therefore, I decided to try to repeat this recipe for homemade silicone or rubber, whichever is closer.

At the nearest pharmacy and grocery store, several vials of glycerin and the same number of packets of gelatin were purchased. Here everything will depend on the size of the mold; if you want to make a mold for something large, then accordingly you will have to purchase a little more of all these components.

Mix everything approximately 50/50, that is, by eye. Experimentally, I found out that if you pour more glycerin, the mixture turns out to be more liquid and fluid. But if there is not enough glycerin, then this gelatin paste will stretch like drying Moment glue and at the same time it is difficult to stir even in a water bath, let alone pour it into a mold with a part that has complex detailing. In general, 50/50 seems to be the best option. I have not tried adding glycerin more than twice (to find out the limit at which the mixture would remain strong and not sticky after hardening).

It’s ideal to heat the whole thing in a water bath, because you don’t have to control the temperature, but you don’t always have access to a gas stove, so for now I made do with an ordinary candle. The main thing is not to let the gelatin boil, otherwise it will start to burn and smell terrible, as if you were frying some kind of animal carcass :-) I heated and stirred this substance for about 10 minutes so that the mixture was homogeneous and without any lumps. There in the video he heats the whole thing in the microwave, but in order not to look for dishes for it and not to conjure with the required heating time, for now he decided to make do with ordinary heating over an open fire.

I tore this glass crystal off the chandelier for the duration of the experiment. I also bent a mold from a strip of plastic to a size slightly larger than this stone.

I poured a little of this silicone into the bottom of the mold and left it to cool to make something like a base for a stone. I decided to do this so that the thickness of this rubber would be more or less uniform on all sides of the crystal. Otherwise, if the mold is thin, it will not hold the desired shape well, and it may tear when the prototype is removed from it.

After that, partially dip the crystal into a bowl of gelatin to get rid of air bubbles from the bottom of the stone. Then we quickly transfer this pebble and place it on the bottom of the mold, along with the gelatin stuck to it, as if gluing it.

Now the simplest thing is to fill the form with gelatin to the edges of the formwork.

What's good about this homemade rubber is that it hardens literally before your eyes, as soon as it cools down you can cut it. There is no need to wait a week for this form to set completely, as is usually the case with acidic construction silicone. After the mass has cooled, unwind the plastic from this cube.

We make a cut at the top and carefully remove the glass crystal from our mold.

Then mix and pour epoxy resin into the mold.

The epoxy resin casting no longer came out of the mold as easily as the glass prototype. Therefore, I had to carefully cut the mold in a circle and tear it apart so as not to scratch the epoxy crystal with a knife. I don’t know yet what this is connected with, but the casting turned out cloudy and not transparent. Either the presence of water somewhere in the gelatin mass is affecting it, or something else. On the other hand, if you cast something colored in the mass, then it will no longer have much significance.

Also, purely for the sake of experiment, I tried to cast a fragment of this stone, but from plaster (alabaster). The results were disastrous. Gelatin begins to absorb water from the gypsum and as a result, at the end we get a sticky plaster stone and a form spoiled by water. Maybe something rough and without much detail can be cast from plaster in a gelatin mold, but then you will have to somehow clean the surface of the plaster cast from fragments of sticky gelatin.

In general, I liked the fact that this homemade silicone mold allows you to make castings from epoxy resin. While there is a lot of fuss with acid (assembly), and aspic is still expensive. Another positive feature of such gelatin forms is that they can be adjusted with a hot spatula, that is, if there is an unnecessary hole somewhere on the form, then you can simply cover it up by melting a fragment of this gelatin mass in a spoon. You can also easily melt and refill old molds into new ones. I remember how much I tinkered with this radiator, although with the help of this gelatin mold, it could have been copied even faster and with better quality. Of course, there are also disadvantages: this mold is afraid of water and temperature (it melts), so if excessive heating occurs in a massive epoxy casting, the mold may simply float along with the resin.

Afterword 1

After some time, I tried to polish this epoxy crystal to find out exactly whether it was cloudy in bulk or only superficially. I also created a separate page about hand polishing epoxy, in case anyone is interested. The results of polishing, of course, were not particularly impressive, because I had never really polished the resin myself. But some shine still appeared on this pebble, this is especially noticeable in the video that I added at the end of that topic. In general, epoxy castings in gelatin molds turn out cloudy only on the outside, at least for me, so keep this in mind if you want to cast something in such a mold.

Silicone is a soft and pliable material that is used to make molds. There is nothing difficult about making something like silicone at home from improvised materials.

How to make silicone at home - method 1

white spirit;
pipette, spoon, plastic glass;
acrylic paint;
liquid glycerin;
silicone sealant.

All components are mixed in the following proportions: for 30 grams of sealant, take 150 grams of white spirit, 1 drop of paint and 3 drops of glycerin.

Place the sealant in a plastic cup.
Add the specified amount of paint and glycerin. If you don't have a pipette at hand, you can use a straw.
Add white spirit.
Stir the solution until it is will not become homogeneous (paints will not should be visible).
Ready. You now have about 5 hours to use this silicone before it hardens.

How to make silicone at home - method 2

To make silicone you will need the following components:

ethanol;
liquid glass.

Sequence of actions when preparing silicone:

You need to prepare a suitable container in advance and create working conditions. The container can be any. Pour ethyl alcohol and liquid glass into it in equal proportions. Mix the ingredients with any tool (wooden stick or spoon). When the solution begins to thicken, it can be brought to the desired state simply by rubbing it with your hand. A white dense mass forms in the container, which after some time will become similar to plasticine.
The required shape needs to be sculpted only when the mass begins to harden. There will be no problems with this, since the substance will be plastic and soft, similar to rubber. Once you have the desired shape, set it aside until it hardens completely. The silicone will harden and the mold will become less susceptible to deformation.

How to make silicone at home - method 3

Add 3 tablespoons of silicone sealant and the same amount of potato starch to a plastic cup. The resulting solution must be stirred for 7-10 minutes. When the silicone begins to easily come off your hands and knead well, you can begin making the mold, which is very simple.

How to make silicone at home - method 4

Buy several packets of gelatin and the same number of vials of glycerin. The quantity depends on the size of the mold. Everything is mixed “by eye”, approximately 50/50. Try not to violate the proportions: if there is little glycerin, the mixture will be liquid, and if there is too much, it will stick like glue. 55/50 is the best option.

All this needs to be heated in a water bath, but an ordinary candle will do. Yours main task– do not allow the gelatin to boil. Otherwise it will start to stink a lot. You need to heat and stir the substance for about 10 minutes until you get a homogeneous mixture.

How to make silicone at home - copying an object

Prepare a mold that is slightly larger than the item you are copying. Pour some silicone into the bottom and leave to harden. This will be the basis for the item. The thickness should be at least 1 centimeter so that the “rubber” reliably envelops the object from all sides. If the mold is thin, it will tear when the prototype is removed or will not hold its shape at all.

Partially dip the prototype into a bowl of gelatin to remove any air bubbles. Quickly transfer the item and place it on the bottom of the mold, gluing it down. Fill the mold completely with silicone. Homemade resin from the 4th method hardens very quickly - before our eyes. Immediately after cooling, disassemble the mold. Make a cut and carefully remove the prototype.

Mix and pour epoxy resin into the mold. The frozen casting is quite difficult to remove, so you will have to cut the silicone in a circle or completely tear it apart.

Getting rid of silicone

Wash the surface using any detergent designed for grease. You may also need a piece of pumice and a knife to get rid of the silicone. The hardened silicone is cleaned off with a knife, and all its remnants are removed with pumice. This method is only relevant for non-scratch surfaces.

Types of silicone and master models

Of course, when purchasing material for making molds, you should first of all pay attention to its technical characteristics. Today, only two main types of silicone are produced: coating and filling.

For both materials, master models made of metal and wood, as well as plastic, cardboard, or even just paper can be used in the manufacture of forms.

Coating silicone

Potting silicone

Elongation factor

What characteristics can be considered the most important when choosing a material such as liquid silicone? In principle, almost any variety of it is suitable for making molds. However, it is still worth paying attention to some indicators when purchasing. The most important parameter characterizing the quality of silicone is the elongation coefficient. For modern materials this figure ranges from about 200-1300%. The higher this number, the more the hardened silicone can stretch and the greater the number of castings a mold made from it can withstand.

Silicone viscosity

Viscosity is measured in CPS. For potting materials this figure usually does not exceed 3000 CPS. For comparison: water has a viscosity of 0 CPS, sunflower oil - 500, honey - 10,000.

Other indicators

In addition to viscosity and elongation coefficient, when choosing silicone you should pay attention to:

Working hours. The higher this indicator, the longer the material retains its viscosity.

Polymerization time. This characteristic is also quite important. It shows how long it takes for the poured form to reach the stated elongation factor.

How to use

Liquid silicone is used to make molds as follows.

The master model is fixed to the stand with a drop of superglue and coated with a special release agent. At home, this could be, for example, Vaseline or machine oil.

The evacuated compound is poured into the flask in a thin stream. This is necessary to ensure that as little air as possible gets into the liquid material.

The flask is placed in a vacuum installation for 1-2 minutes. Repeated processing is necessary in order to remove absolutely all the air from the silicone that got into it during pouring.

Viscous silicone molds

Liquid silicone for molds: price

The advantages of this material include not only the ease of making molds. It has earned great popularity due to its low cost. The price of high-quality silicone can range from only 450-750 rubles.

In specialized stores or on the Internet, you should look for silicone intended specifically for making molds. The fact is that today a variety of types of this material are produced. For example, liquid fishing silicone is sold. It is used to lubricate braided threads on fishing gear, which extends their service life and increases casting distance. Such silicone, of course, is not suitable for making molds.

How to make at home

Liquid glass and ethyl alcohol are poured into a plastic bottle in equal parts.

The mixture is thoroughly mixed with a wooden stick.

After it thickens, it needs to be removed from the bottle and thoroughly kneaded with your hands.

Silicone prepared in this way resembles plastic, sticky rubber and can be made into any shape.

Silicone molds for the oven

Of course, environmentally unsafe materials cannot be used to make such castings. In this case, liquid silicone for molds is made a little differently:

Three tablespoons of potato starch are poured into a yogurt cup.

Pour silicone sealant there in the same quantity.

Mix everything for ten minutes.

From silicone prepared in this way, you can easily make a simple baking dish. Before pouring the dough, it must be coated with vegetable oil.