Future Zoetrope Fun

Artists at work...

Progress Reel

Can you cast silicone in silicone?

YES! 

I'm getting ready to cast the horses for the carousel and the fact that this technique works is going to make my life a lot easier. yay!

Tests in Glass

Cutting glass for the first time

A little scary at the beginning, but the good news it that the process is definitely going to work for what I need. 

Finished with Casting

I'm all done casting! Now onto sanding and painting.

Carousel Poles

      Casting the poles for the carousel horses has turned out to be one of the more challenging casts. I've been trying to avoid a two part mold in order to avoid seams, but my one part molds yield pretty inconsistent results. I do have the option of altering the casts after the fact by sanding and adding clay, but kind of time is not in my production schedule. So I was stumped for about a day... but.... tada! I found straws that are perfect for what I need! I ran wooden dowels through the straws and cut them down to size. They will work perfectly and they are pattern is consistent enough that I can actually make the poles spin on the zoetrope. Blessing in disguise.

Casting Begins

Casting is one of the processes that I've been looking forward to the most. Int he past, I have done some plaster casting with latex rubber and plaster molds, but nothing on this small of a scale. Larry Larson did a great demo of the mold making process this week.

For this step, I made a silicone mold of a piece baked Sculpy. Once cured, I pored in the casting medium--a two part urethane plastic and waited. Now all that's left is REPEAT! 

For the retaining wall, I used cut pieces of flexible baseboard material. To seal it, I hot glued the material to a piece of glass.

The original sculpted part and the silicone mold

The first cast!

And so it begins...

Shopping for Supplies

I found silicone rubber for casting at a great shop called TFB Plastics in Shelby Twp.

Samples of work from custormers

Soooo many choices... Thank you Mr. John the Salesman who helped me decide!

Drove past it twice, they should get a real sign :/

Also, if you didn't know, Michigan is cold and snowy in February. 

Laser Cutter!!

The final cutouts

Sooooo much detail!

The Bumblebee in action!!!!

Technical Drawings

New Table

Framing future assets in camera.

My new table—built from scratch and freakin sturdy!

Updated Production Schedule