Going into this project, I was a little creeped out by the casted finger.

To create this creepy hook, I built the mold first using a 4:1 water to alginate ratio by weight.  I then put my finger into the mold for 5-10 minutes for it to solidify.  I then poured plaster in a 2:1 water to plaster ratio by volume and added a screw secured by tape.

Unfortunately, only my first molded finger worked and the second broke in the mold, requiring me to build a new mold.  I created a new mold and poured the plaster in for the third attempt.

Then I got COVID.  I found out my third attempt at the finger broke in the mold and we were out of alginate so I was out of time and materials to get a second finger built.  I also went into isolation on the day I was planning to post-process my fingers and take photos of everything.

I wish that I had been able to complete the post-processing of my fingers before going into isolation because I would have had a much better product.  However, given my circumstances I am happy enough with my one wall hook.

For the future, I would spend more effort making sure the plaster doesn’t cover as much of the screw.  I would also spend time using fine sand paper on my hooks as well as clear coating or painting the final product.

Cost Analysis

Alginate: I made two molds with about 1 cup of total alginate.  I would estimate this to cost $5.

Plaster: I used about 1/2 cup of plaster in total and would estimate that this costs $2.

Cups: If I were to purchase silicon cups myself, it would cost about $8 from Home Depot.

Screws: For the three screws that I used, I would estimate a cost of $1 total.

Labor: I spent about 2 hours on this project (although I would’ve loved to have spent more on it), which would be $50 total with my $25/hour rate.

Overall this would cost me $66 to produce my one wall hook!  The largest portion of cost by far is my labor, which I would be able to reduce by having practiced the process for future projects.