In this project I created a reusable mold of the Dragon Spaceship the size of a chess pawn and created 8 playing pieces.

To start out I created the needed CNC and 3D printing files.  The CNC files were used as an exercise, and any actual product made was through the 3D printing->Molding->Casting route.   I used a model available on Thingiverse and edited it to create a mold friendly box.  This included walls and pegs/holes for the mold pieces to fit together.  At this point I attempted to sand to reduce layer lines, but was able to achieve very little.  I would have rather printed in ABS instead of PLA so I could use an acetone smoothing process to get rid of layer lines, but I was unable to access an ABS machine in a timely manner.

Next I created a mold using an A:B solution.  I left this to dry overnight.

After the mold was created I tried multiple times to create a cast.  To stick my two halves together during the drying process I started out using masking tape, then eventually successfully moved to rubber bands.  During my first attempt some water got into the mold, ruining the A:B activation process and leaving a sticky residue in my mold.  It took multiple washes and cast pieces for this residue to disappear.  Once this (really annoyingly sticky) artifact was cleaned up all my pieces came out decently.  There was flashing in each mold that I was able to sucessfully trim away with an exacto knife.  The hole I used to pour the mold in left a solid pillar that was difficult to cut with an exacto knife so I used scissors to try and achieve the same effect.

Cost Analysis:

3D filament: $3

A:B mixture: $15

Mold mixture: $20

Time: 6 hours -> $150

Total Cost: $188