Fingers are weird. They’re like little arms at the end of your arms used to grab stuff. How did Mother Nature ever come to this idea? Either way, for this week’s project, I had mold then cast one of my fingers. The sudden spike in the amount of people I can creep out is completely unrelated.
First, the mold. For this project I used a 1:4 mix of water to alginate (by weight). Specifically, I poured 8 fluid ounces of water into 2 ounces of alginate. After a rigorous beating with a drill, the mixture turned into a strawberry milkshake. Or at least, it had the consistency and color of one. Then, like a little kid at a diner, I stuck my index finger in.
Forbidden milkshake
I had covered my index finger beforehand with wax so that once the mold dried, it would be easy to remove it. However, either because I didn’t use enough wax or because my finger was in such an odd position, it wasn’t coming out. Thankfully, it’s resistance was futile and I got a pretty good mold. 
The next step was to make the cast. I mixed a small amount of liquid plastics in a plastic cup and poured it down the mold. Then, while it was solidifying, I stuck a screw in it. This way it could be attached to stuff. Also, it provided a pretty good handle to remove the cast! 
Once the mixture finished solidifying, I took it out. The result was a pretty good cast. Since this was my first mold, I overpoured the plastic mixture and got a pretty wide base. The base third of my finger has a weird yellowish tinge which may be because of leftover wax in the mold. The connection between the base third and the middle third has a black spot. I’m not entirely sure why this happened, but it’s probably black marker I had on my finger that transferred to the mold. Also, don’t worry, my finger is not broken.
From left to right: My finger, Nick’s finger, my finger
While doing a second cast, I briefly wondered whether I should put both mold and cast in a vacuum, as Josh did. However, that did not turn out for the best, so I’m glad I waited. It did sound pretty cool, so here’s a picture of it:
Here is Josh’s mold and cast in the vacuum machine
In the end, I did one mold and three casts. The only post-processing I did was sanding the base of the fingers. Sanding the other parts would remove the texture and details. 
I can’t wait to take these fingers home with me, although maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe I will wake from my bed with all my fingers replaced with plastic. Or maybe you will…
