1. Creating a negative mold

The first step was using alginate to create a negative mold of my finger. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of this negative mold, but it can be seen in the positive mold in the next section. I added water initially, and then kept adding alginate until the viscosity felt right. Then, I left my finger in for ~10 minutes, until the alginate dried.

2. Creative a positive mold

I used the 300/300Q liquid plastic to create the positive mold, per the instruction. I mixed two disposable shot glasses filled with A and B, and immediately the cup started to get warm. I used a disposable plastic cup, and I think the cup actually might have started to melt a bit because of the exothermic reaction. I managed to pour enough into the mold in time before it all hardened. I poured a tiny bit excess, to have a base to mount the finger to the wall.

3. Post Processing

After taking the mold out, I was very pleased with how accurately it reproduced my finger. There were a couple bubbles that I tried to chip off, as I wanted to limit the sanding since I thought that would reduce the precision of the finger. However, I took the plunge when I was still having bumps on the finger. The following image shows the finger before sanding.

I used 400 grit sandpaper, which helped removed the bumps but did not remove the wrinkles. I also focused my sanding on the bumps specifically.

 

The next step was to smooth out the base, to create a mounting plate for the screw. I also removed some of the excess on the sides, so it was more flush with the finger. To do this, I used the belt sander to remove the larger sections, and a file and 120 grit sandpaper to finish the job.

Overall, I think it could make for a good hook in the OEDK!