DIY Tube Molds?

[homesteaders]

I would like to make a silicone tube/column mold for embeds in a log mold, but I have been unable to find any tutorials. I have a silicone candy mold that I use for embeds, but it only makes a few at a time, and I can only use them in a slab mold. That's too time-consuming. I thought about making numerous individual plaster of paris "embeds" in the candy mold, and then sticking a bunch of them together to get the length I want before attempting to make a two-part silicone tube mold. Would that work, or am I way off base? Maybe there's already a tube mold out there somewhere --- bear, horse, deer, etc. So far, I have only found basic shapes like circles, stars, crescent moons...
Thanks!

 

[lsg]

Why not use a paper towel tube? You can cut it down the side and roll it up to make a smaller diameter. You can then line the tube with freezer paper and seal the bottom with freezer paper and tape. You will need to find a way to keep the tubes vertical, maybe use heavy cardbord. Just make holes in the bottom of a cardboard box and set with holes on the top. Push the embed tubes down into the holes and prop up on the bottom to keep upright. You could also use a Pringles can to keep several tubes upright.

 

[homesteaders]

Thanks for your reply, but it sounds like you are explaining how to make a small diameter round tube mold. I want to make a tube mold in animal shapes. Once I remove it from the mold, I'll set it in the rectangular loaf mold and pour the soap batter around it. This is an example, except that this is a duck. http://www.crafters-choice.com/Prod...s+Choice™+Duck+Column+Silicone+Soap+Mold+2013 I want a somewhat realistic-looking bear and other wildlife. I haven't seen any, so I'm trying to figure out how to make my own.

 

[lsg]

Yes, I misunderstood, sorry. You can try using Sculpey clay.

 

[homesteaders]

I've thought about giving that a try. I could make individual animals, but I don't think I'm good enough to make a detailed mold that long.

 

[scard]

I saw this video... Is this what you were trying to do? If so maybe mold out of clay, insert into a cylinder and pour in wax and when hard remove the clay and pour silicone...maybe? I love the technique in the video. Etsuko Watanabe is so talented, beautiful work.

 

[homesteaders]

Wow! Those are beautiful. Very creative technique. I wonder how she made the fish. That's what I want to do with bears, moose, and such, only I think that if I tried to do a log with it looking like an animal on both ends and all the way through, it would look distorted in the center of the log. What I had in mind is much simpler than the video (although I want to do that!!! . I made some basic soap with a heart tube mold from amazon. I think it's about 12" long. Then after I removed the heart log, I used it as an embed in my loaf mold --- poured most of the soap, set the heart log in place, then finished pouring. When I cut the bars, there was a little heart in each. Really simple and not creative, but just made it as a quick and easy gift for a few people on Valentine's Day. I wanted to do something similar with wild animals that would appeal to hunters, but I'm not sure how to make the bears. That's why I thought of using the silicone candy mold I have with moose and bears. I've used it for soap embeds, but instead of soap, I was thinking of trying plaster of paris to pour into the molds for the moose and bears. Then, when it hardens, stick them together (some sort of glue?), and then make a silicone tube mold. I've seen tutorials on YouTube for similar things. Most are for solid objects, but I think it would work for this. I'm just not sure if the plaster of paris wold hold its shape with the wet silicone poured around it. Might be able to coat it in something. I found a company, hobbysilicone.com. I'll give them a call next week and see what they think might work. If I were a better carver, I'd have this done!

 

[earlene]

Yes, your idea will work. There are tutorials how to make silicone soap molds all over the internet.

Crafters Choice sells an oak leaf column mold for embeds. And I have seen butterfly molds in addition to the standard shapes you mentioned.

CC mold: http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/products/oak-leaf-mini-soap-column-mold.aspx

Butterfly mold: https://m.ebay.com/itm/Big-Butterfl...ne-Mold-Candle-T0004/132346341171?_mwBanner=1


But how about this gingerbread man column mold? It looks a lot like a teddy bear.
http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/products/gingerbread-man-2-inch-column-silicone-soap-mold.aspx


See this link for more Crafters Choice column molds for embeds:
http://www.crafters-choice.com/Stor...ategoryID=3264&CategoryName=Column+Tube+Molds

 

[Lindaloulou]

Wow! Those are beautiful. Very creative technique. I wonder how she made the fish. That's what I want to do with bears, moose, and such, only I think that if I tried to do a log with it looking like an animal on both ends and all the way through, it would look distorted in the center of the log. What I had in mind is much simpler than the video (although I want to do that!!! . I made some basic soap with a heart tube mold from amazon. I think it's about 12" long. Then after I removed the heart log, I used it as an embed in my loaf mold --- poured most of the soap, set the heart log in place, then finished pouring. When I cut the bars, there was a little heart in each. Really simple and not creative, but just made it as a quick and easy gift for a few people on Valentine's Day. I wanted to do something similar with wild animals that would appeal to hunters, but I'm not sure how to make the bears. That's why I thought of using the silicone candy mold I have with moose and bears. I've used it for soap embeds, but instead of soap, I was thinking of trying plaster of paris to pour into the molds for the moose and bears. Then, when it hardens, stick them together (some sort of glue?), and then make a silicone tube mold. I've seen tutorials on YouTube for similar things. Most are for solid objects, but I think it would work for this. I'm just not sure if the plaster of paris wold hold its shape with the wet silicone poured around it. Might be able to coat it in something. I found a company, hobbysilicone.com. I'll give them a call next week and see what they think might work. If I were a better carver, I'd have this done!

Did you ever find a way to do the animal tube moles?

 

[homesteaders]

I sort of did it, but it needed a bit of refinement. The silicone was rather expensive, and I didn't buy enough to practice as I should. The main problem I had was making the outside box in which to pour the silicone around the column of bears made from plaster of paris. I just made it from cardboard glued at the edges and corners with hot glue. The silicone is a two part mixture that heats up and melted the hot glue. I didn't have enough for another try. The plaster of paris held up well, and I could seem from what little didn't leak out all over my platform that it would have worked. Definitely something I'd like to try again. I'd probably use corrugated plastic and a glue that will withstand the heat. Well, maybe the corrugated plastic would melt. I'll have to check the temperature of the silicone, as well as the temp tolerances of whatever materials I use for the box.

 

[tstrebe]

Thanks for asking this question. I'm looking for a paw print or bone column mold and am not having any luck! If I used a clay and cut out pieces with a cookie cutter then stacked them and poured silicone around them, would that work?

 

[Kcryss]

What a great idea! Have you seen the videos on YouTube making silicon molds out of 100% silicon chalking mixed with corn starch? Wondering if you could use the plaster of Paris as you described, then use paper mache to fill gaps and smooth it out etc, then use the silicon for the actual mold.

 

[ziggybond_007]

Thanks for asking this question. I'm looking for a paw print or bone column mold and am not having any luck! If I used a clay and cut out pieces with a cookie cutter then stacked them and poured silicone around them, would that work?

I’m about to try this myself