Introduction

In this post, I detail how I made a mold of my index and middle finger using alginate and casted these fingers using rockite.

Procedure

After gathering all of my materials, I measured 6.75 ounces of water and 1.5 ounces of alginate by weight. I mixed until there were barely any clumps and the substance took on a thick, yogurt-like viscosity.

Meanwhile, Evan measured out 70 grams of rockite and 20 grams of water. He mixed this in a seperate cup while I stuck my index and middle fingers into the alginate mixture and waited for it to solidify. After the alginate became firm, I carefully pulled out my fingers and Evan poured in the rockite mixture.

We put screws into a 3D-printed jig and placed the screws into the rockite, which are started to turn more viscous as well.

After this, we cleaned up our workspace. The clutter of materials on the sides are from the senior design teams.

I removed the rockite after 24 hours had passed, and the casts of my fingers had been completed. I sanded down the excess rockite at the base of the fingers as best as a could. I didn’t get it as clean as I wanted, but a wound on my (actual, real) finger reopened from the vigorous sanding so I decided to stop.

I finished my cast fingers by spray painting them. There were holes in the casts, possibly because the rockite mixture had started to solidify when we first poured it in.

Conclusion

My fingers are unnerving to look at when not on my hand. Also my real fingers hurt. This was fun though, I think I could have made it a bit better but that would require a couple more hours I could spend doing other productive things instead.

Cost Analysis

Total Cost: $32.85

Labor: $30 = 3 hrs x $10/hr

Alginate: $1.79 ($1.19 per oz)

Rockite: $0.35 ($0.005 per g)

Spray paint: $0.27 ($0.54 per oz)

Sandpaper: $0.44 ($0.22 per sheet)