For this week’s assignment, I produced two rockite finger hooks using an alginate mold. The goal was to follow the provided tutorial to replicate a human finger and embed a screw for functional wall mounting.

Materials and Preparation

The materials used were:

• Alginate (33g per mold)
• Rockite (35g per cast)
• Water (125gfor alginate / 10g for rockite)
• Plastic cups
• Popsicle stick
• Screw
• Tape for a jig

Following the recommended alginate-to-water ratio, I mixed 33g of water with 125g of alginate in a cup and stirred for just under 4 minutes. I then inserted my finger into the mixture and held it steady until the mold set which took roughly 8 minutes total.

Casting Process

After removing my finger, I prepared the rockite mix using 35g rockite to 10g water and poured it into the mold. I used a tape jig to hold a screw in place while the rockite set, ensuring that it would be embedded properly.

The material was left to cure for about one hour. Once hardened, I carefully removed the cast from the alginate mold. The first cast retained sharp details. Since the second cast often resulted in worse results, I made one more alginate mold of the same finger and used that one for my second cast.

Finishing and Painting

After fixing some areas, I applied matte white spray paint. The result is a pair of functional, wall-mountable hooks with a sculptural appearance.

Item	Quantity Used	Unit Price	Total Cost
Alginate	3 oz	$0.50/oz	$1.50
Rockite	70g	$0.04/g	$2.80
Water	~0.5 cups	negligible	$0
Screws	2	$0.10 ea	$0.20
Tape/Jig	1	negligible	$0
Spray Paint + Clear	small amount	~$0.50	$0.50
Total			$5

No machine time was required for this process. Manual labor time totaled approximately 1.5 hours including preparation, molding, casting, and finishing.

Reflection

This assignment provided a straightforward introduction to mold-making using alginate and casting with rockite. Despite being relatively simple, the process emphasized the importance of timing and proportion. Future iterations could benefit from a more robust jig setup (since the first time I tried the screw fell into therockite and I had to dig it out).