For this project, I worked alone to produce two molded fingers of mine. The theming of this project was to produce these fingers to act as wall hooks. This was the first time I did a project with this process, so it was a neat experience working with new materials such as alginate.
PHASE 1: Mixing the ALGINATE MOLD
The first part of this project was to properly mixing alginate to create the mold for the fingers. I worked as a group with Callum and Cris to produce a larger batch of alginate with a 1:1 ratio of water to alginate. This batch would be used for our own individual projects. The batch was mixed for about 4 minutes before setting and being used for the finger mold.
PHASE 2: Molding the fingers
After the alginate mold was created, I placed both my ring fingers in and waited for about 10-15 minutes for them to completely set. Afterwards, the 2:1 plaster to water mix was poured into the mold, and when stable in the mold cup, the screws were placed where the ends of the fingers would be, and the were stable enough on their own in the plaster. The plaster was allowed to dry for about 3 hours to make sure it was completely dry as to avoid the fingers breaking when released from the mold.
The plaster in the mold with the screws inserted
PHASE 3: Post processing and finishing
After the plaster was dry, the fingers were removed with no issue. They came our pretty detailed and ready for post processing.
The first step to the post processing was to trim away excess plaster from the base of the finger. This was one using a small set of pliers.
Trimming away excess plaster
Next, the base was smoothed out using a file and some sandpaper, starting at grade 220 and ending at grade 320.
Filing to smooth out ends
After the part was smoothed-out, it was time to paint the part. The chosen color was an aqua color because it looked pretty neat. To have the part stable when drying, a foam block was used. After some coats of paint, a clear coat was used to finish the part. Multiple coats were used as some paint chipped off when dry.
Painted fingers
Clear coat for the fingers
PHASE 4: PROJECT COMPLETION
After the clear coat dried, the fingers were then placed on another foam block to have a place to keep them held. While maybe not serving 100% as hooks, the final product would still look pretty as a displayed peace sign.
The fingers on the foam block
Peace! (With two ring fingers..)
PHASE 5: REFLECTION AND COST ESTIMATE
For my first time molding something, I think this was a neat project to work on. The overall process of creating the part was not as complex as I was expecting it to be, which was pretty relieving when working on the project. I had no issues at all when working with the mold, nor not many with painting. Overall, this was a successful project, I would say.
If I were to repeat this project, I would look into maybe doing a more complex level of molding, such as maybe molding a more complex part. This would require me to do a higher lever proficiency project, which would be a pretty interesting challenge to look into one day.
The following is an estimated cost of the molded fingers:
- Material: Alginate –> 213 g x $0.03 (from Amazon)= $6.39
- Material: Plaster –> ~7.5 ounces x $0.21 = $1.58
- Material: 1 Foam Block: $14.00/100 Count = $0.14
- Material: Paint and Clear Coat: Negligible
- Labor: $19.74/hr (national average for a spray painter by Payscale) x 2 hours = $39.48
- Labor: $17.50 (national average for Modeler, Shaper, Caster by Payscale) : x 1 hour: $17.50
The estimated cost for the finger molds were $65.09. To reduce this cost, a strategy to follow could b to possibly reduce post-processing times, as labor was the largest portion of the cost for the parts.
