This was a really fun project, even though I had to repeat the process three times before I was happy with the final product! It was my first time working with plaster and alginate to make molds and casts so that was really neat.
I started by mixing the sodium alginate with water according to the ratio on the back of the Perfect Mold. After crunching some numbers on the calculator, it came out to 28g of alginate to 4 ounces of water. I poured the water into the container that held the alginate and started mixing until I got a smoother consistency, somewhat similar to pancake batter.
Bag of alginate molding material
Alginate and water ratio measurements
Once the desired consistency was achieved, I stuck my fingers into the container and waited for about 12 minutes or so. At this point, my fingers were completely sealed, and I wiggled my fingers out hoping to preserve as much of my fingers true outline as possible.
Forming the mold with two fingers as the alginate mold solidifies around it
The next part was to prepare the plaster which was supposed to be mixed in a 2 to 1 ratio by volume, powder to water. In order to ensure I had enough, I mixed 60 mL of powder and poured 30 mL of water. Once again, I began stirring until a somewhat runny consistency was achieved and then poured the plaster into the mold that I had created of my fingers.
Plaster of Paris, which we mix in a 2:1 volumetric ratio with water
I let this sit overnight and came to the OEDK the next day and was pleasantly surprised by th results. I started by removing the whole mold and cast from the plastic container and then began removing the alginate around it, which was rather satisfying. After admiring the result for a minute, I went to the back and painted both my fingers in gold spray paint and then a clear gloss finish.
Raw product after alginate mold was removed
Gold spray paint, followed by a clear gloss finish
Overall, I was happy with the way my fingers turned out. While there were some imperfections along the side and at the base of the finger, the actual geometry and details of my hand such as wrinkles and fingerprints were surprisingly very intact. All in all, really fun project!
Final result of my golden casted fingers
Finally, here is a picture of the cleaned up workspace after I finished:
Clean outdoor workspace after finishing
Below is the cost analysis/breakdown for the project:
| Cost Type | Cost | Price | Source | Quantity | Total |
| Materials
|
Alginate | $11.99/1.5 lbs | Hobby Lobby | 50 g | $2 |
| Water | $6/1,000 gal | City of Houston | .25 gallons | $0.0015 | |
| Plaster of Paris | $7.99/4 lb | Michael’s | 30 g | $0.13 | |
| Screws | $46.98/25 lbs | Home Depot | 6 g | $0.02 | |
| Rust-Oleum Spray Paint (Deep Blue) | $5.98 | Home Depot | 6.60 g (Based on a rate of 0.33 g/sec) | $0.12 | |
| Rust-Oleum Spray Paint (Clear Gloss) | $6.98 | Home Depot | 6.60 g (Based on a rate of 0.33 g/sec) | $0.14 | |
| Design | Engineering and Development | $8/hour | https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/molding-and-casting-worker/salary/ | 1 hr | $8 |
| Iterations/Quality Control | See above | 2 | $21.16 | ||
| Misc. | Waste and Scrap | $0 (in city of Houston) | https://houstonlanding.org/city-council-oks-study-of-houstons-solid-waste-department-that-could-recommend-garbage-fee/?utm_source=chatgpt.com | NA | $0 |
| TOTAL COST | $31.577 |
