
MarBuc
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Using PVA or Breakaway as a mold for silicon
MarBuc replied to MarBuc's topic in Materials & profiles
Thanks Geert, That's a lot of interesting info!! Thanks a million. As soon as I get any result (good or bad :-)) I will post it here. I think end of September or October, as soon as the lab is set-up. Now, the part about the use of a sex toy to remove the bubbles will definitely be a topic of conversation at tonight's family dinner. 😄 Cheers! -
Using PVA or Breakaway as a mold for silicon
MarBuc replied to MarBuc's topic in Materials & profiles
Just thought of a 3rd option where a PLA mold is split into parts not printed separately but held together by thin PVA layers. Unmolding = 1) dissolve PVA "seals" between PLA parts; 2) carefully remove the PLA mold pieces. Does this sound doable? Regarding e.g. adherence of PVA on PLA? -
Using PVA or Breakaway as a mold for silicon
MarBuc replied to MarBuc's topic in Materials & profiles
Hi gr5, Thanks for the mold release tip, as well as your feedback regarding PLA. The part we want to print is quite intricate and I still need to figure out how to unmold it. Option 1 = unmolding by disassembly of the mold. This raises a few geometric issues regarding the design of the mold. Also, a mold split into pieces can lead to silicon leakage at junctions (according to previous posts in this thread)... So this looks a bit tricky. Option 2 = unmolding by destruction of the mold. Mold destruction should not harm the part so "breakaway" might not be well suite -
Using PVA or Breakaway as a mold for silicon
MarBuc replied to MarBuc's topic in Materials & profiles
Yes, the piece will be quite small (10x10x10 cm max). I have no idea which nozzle will be used... We are experimenting a lot of things at this point, (resolution, molding, medical grade silicon, ...) and we are quite new to 3D printing! So please expect lots of trials and errors. :-) I'll keep the community posted. -
Using PVA or Breakaway as a mold for silicon
MarBuc replied to MarBuc's topic in Materials & profiles
We will be using an Ultimaker S5 with a 20 micron resolution so hopefully the finish will be clean. I'll let you know how this molding strategy works out... -
Using PVA or Breakaway as a mold for silicon
MarBuc replied to MarBuc's topic in Materials & profiles
Ok :-) One more thing. Do you happen to have a picture of the silicone part that was produced by your client? Just to have an idea of the level of detail. Thanks! -
Using PVA or Breakaway as a mold for silicon
MarBuc replied to MarBuc's topic in Materials & profiles
Dear wuzley and Brulti, Thank you very much for your input. I still haven't had the opportunity to try this technique... We should receive our printer in a couple of weeks and I will keep the community posted on our progress. Cheers -
Using PVA or Breakaway as a mold for silicon
MarBuc replied to MarBuc's topic in Materials & profiles
Dear Geert, Thanks a million for your comprehensive answer!! I will look into the leads that you mention. The topic looks tricky... I will post here once I have some results! Wish me luck. Cheers 😉 M -
MarBuc joined the community
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Dear all, Do any of you have experience with using PVA or Breakaway material to print molds for injecting silicone? I need to generate quite intricate silicone parts by injecting silicon in a mold, and there are 2 options to make the unmolding possible: Split the mold into separate "unmoldable" parts, then assemble the complete mold, inject, wait, unmold in the correct order. Print the mold in one shot, inject, wait, break away mold. Any advice, comments or sharing of experience would be of great help! Thank you all in advance :-) Marek