How To Make a Silicone Mold: A Complete Guide

Silicone mold is well-known by people because of its outstanding flexibility. it is used a lot by professional engineers, DIY makers, and housewives. However, As a beginner, you may be wondering what is silicone mold and how to make a silicone mold. Today, in this article, we will explain everything about silicone mold and the steps for making it.

What is silicone mold?

A silicone mold is a tooling made of silicone material to create replicas of original master pattern, liquid material can be poured into and then cured to form a solid object in the shape of the mold cavity. Different silicone materials used for mold can be used for various applications such as plastic parts and foods.

Silicone mold is easy to make and highly flexible due to the soft properties of silicone, however, this makes it not as durable as metal mold.

Advantages of silicone molds

Versatility

Silicone materials have different grades to make molds to cast different products. Some grades can be used for urethane casting plastic parts, some grades can be used for casting wax, and Food-grade silicone can be used for chocolate. This versatility allows for innovation and creativity in different product development.

Flexibility

Silicone is soft and flexible like rubber. the molds made of silicone carry on flexibility which means it can be made easily for any shape. and when you remove the parts from the silicone mold, it will not damage your part even if there are undercuts.

Stability

Silicone can withstand both cold and high temperatures from -60° to 250° degrees Celsius, this makes silicone mold stable when you put it into an oven or freezer to create objects such as cookies.

Durability

A silicone mold can be used not only one time but serval times for casting products before it degrades. this is because silicone mold can withstand the pressure during casting for a certain time. the lifetime of silicone mold can vary based on the application it is used for, for homemade silicone mold for chocolate, it can be used for a long time with proper maintenance

Low Cost

Silicone material is cheap and easy to get from the market, Silicone mold is also easy to make at a low cost, which makes it affordable for all the people who want to use it.

Type of silicone mold

One-Piece silicone mold

One-piece Silicone mold work for those parts has one flat side, and only one side needs to be shaped by the silicone mold. works like a tray, you only need to fill the material into the cavity and then let the material cure at a certain environment. It is commonly used for home-making cookies and chocolates, and also for DIY makers to make some craft which has one flat side.

Two-Piece Silicone Mold

A two-piece silicone mold means mold consists of two parts that form the master pattern shape cavity half and half. it can work for parts without a flat side. the liquid material is poured into the mold and cured, you need to open the mold to take the part out. it is perfect for creating custom-designed 3D parts.

Make a silicone mold at home step by step

The process is all same no matter whether you are making silicone molds for DIY products or industry plastic products, the difference is the silicone material, you may need professional tools to handle it when you are working on industry products. here we take an example of marking a two-piece silicone mold at home to explain the process.

Prepare Tools And Materials

• silicone material
• Modeling clay
• Mold release agent
• Cutting blades

Step 1: Purchase or create the master pattern

you can buy the master pattern you want to duplicate directly from the market or you can create a custom master pattern by Sculpting clay, carving wood, or rapid prototyping techniques such as 3D printing or CNC machining. this depends on how accurately you want the replicas from the silicone mold to be.

Step 2: Lay out the master pattern in clay

Put the master pattern on the clay and Embed it into the clay with one half of the pattern. this is to create one half of your mold.

Step 3: Create a Mold Frame

Create a Mold Frame with a proper size to contain the Clay with the master pattern on it, You can use smooth materials like wooden boards, acrylic sheets, or building blocks as a mold frame. Apply mold release agent to the frame’s surface to prevent adhesion.

Step 4: Pour silicone

Pour the prepared liquid silicone into the mold frame space until the master pattern is entirely covered and more. and then let it cure to form one half of your two-piece mold.

Step 5: Take out the half mold and master

you have to remove the mold frame, take out the half of the mold and master, and then clean the side of the master with clay and also the mold.

Step 6: Place the mold and master back in the mold frame

Place the mater pattern into the half mold, then put them together back into the mold frame and face up instead of down. Apply mold release agent again to the frame’s surface.

Step 7: pour silicone again

Put the silicone into the mold frame and let it cure to create the other half of the mold.

Step 8: take out the master pattern

After the other half mold is cured, remove the frames, split the silicone mold with a blade into half and half, and then remove the master pattern. until now, you can get your two-piece silicone mold.

Use of silicone mold

Urethane casting prototyping

A common use of silicone mold is making Urethane casting prototypes during plastic product development in various industries. it is a low-cost and fast solution for small runs of less than 100 pieces compared with other rapid prototyping methods such as CNC machining or Rapid injection molding with soft steel mold. it can create high-quality replicas of the master pattern.

DIY Products Making

DIY makers can use silicone mold to create a batch of crafts such as jewelry, and cute stuff for kids. without spending much time and money, you can make your unique creations through silicone mold to duplicate the creative master pattern you make.

Home use

One of the most common uses of silicone mold is to make homemade products like candles and small decorative items, and Also foods like cookies. you can purchase these silicone molds from an online shop easily and then use them at home.

Applications of silicone molds

Based on the advantages of silicone molds, they are popular for applications in Various industries as below：

• Automotive industry
• Medical device
• Consumer products
• Constructions
• Foods

Conclusion

Although you can make small DIY products at home with silicone mold, however, once you need to make a complex plastic product, you still need to professional supplier to make it. KUSLA, as a leading rapid prototyping factory in China, specializes in urethane casting services with high quality silicone mold. we can help you get the plastic product you need.

FAQ