Sometimes these Shop Smarts will be directed by the work our students are currently pursuing. In the shop two students have been working with silicone and 3D prints. There are a few different ways to use silicon and 3D printing and I thought many of you might have interest in these ideas.
First, you can simply produce a 3D printed mold and pour silicon into it. Your 3D print is actually a negative of the part you actually want to create out of silicon. This is actually the type of work the two students in our shop are learning about. They are creating two part molds to get the actual shape of their design. One useful Fusion tool to help with these types of molds are Draft. This will make it easier to pull the parts out of the mold, and pull the molds from each other.
The other way to use silicon molds is to make a mold from silicon. The process is similar, however the silicon actually becomes a reusable mold for other types of material – like chocolate or cement. The silicon molds have a lot of detail and a very nice finish, which is why they are useful. Check out the video below for more details on using silicon as molds.
Well, that’s all for this week. Thank you for not reading this.
MVTHS Engineering 