Printing Kiln Casting Molds for Glass

Printing molds sounds exiting, and it is!

The printing of the 5 molds. 2 molds with thicknes of 2.5 mm and 2 with 5 mm. And the result

Two of the molds got some extra investment with a mix of 2 parts plaster of Paris (Dutch[gips]) powder and 1part of chamotte fine clay powder. Wet the mix out and apply as an extra surface to the molds.

The molds need to be pre fired to get rid of the toxious binders. After 4 hours at 200 degrees Celcius in a pottery kiln they still look rather filty:

An hour at 800 degrees Celcius in the same pottery kiln and all materials which could not handle the heat are gone. Boy this is smelly, but look at the result:

What next: Now the molds are pre fired and are still holding (even the ones withoud any extra investment) the next step is to fill them with glass at 900/950 degrees Celcius using 1 of 2 menthods.

One is to put the glass into the mold when it is still cold, the other one is to put the glass in a small flower pot above the mold and let it leak out when hot.

Greating, Hans Puijk

puijkh @ gmail . com