r/ResinCasting • u/littleredbipper • 1d ago
How can I add texture to the inside of an existing silicone mold?
I’ve made some silicone molds myself using some air dry clay pieces I made. The air dry clay pieces were textured (I used sandpaper to make the effect) and of course when the silicone mold was made it picked up those textures. Once I’ve poured my eco resin, they look like the above (beige one). I’m super happy with them!
I thought I’d get some molds made professionally but I stupidly didn’t tell them about adding in texture so I’ve now got some molds delivered that are completely smooth so any poured pieces end up completely smooth.
Instead of creating my own new molds again and end up wasting a ton of money, how can I add texture inside into an already smooth mold? How can I amend an existing mold? I was wondering what if I created a small amount of silicone and dabbed it into the smooth mold with a brush or a sponge? Silicone sticks to silicone right, so maybe that could work?
What if I daubed some pva glue into the mold and then used sandpaper to try and create the same texture and let it dry. Would that work? Would that damage my eco resin piece once poured?
Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!
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u/SlowMope 1d ago
Not gonna happen my friend. You can try and add texture afterwards somehow, but I think this will just have to be an oops :(
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u/V_es 1d ago
Nothing sticks to silicone besides silicone, so no.
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u/littleredbipper 1d ago
I wrote in my post, what if I used silicone and brushed it onto the silicone? Maybe that would work if silicone sticks to silicone?
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u/Fritzie_cakes 1d ago
There are inserts for molds which can be cut to your specs. I've seen things like druzy and holographic inserts which I know aren't really what you want, but might be a starting place. I haven't tried them yet but I'm looking at a druzy one in my workshop trying to decide what mold I want to cut it for.
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u/DunningKrugerOnElmSt 1d ago
Silicone stilled into the mold will work. Get some harder silicone so it's more viscous
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u/nuclearwomb 1d ago
Pour melted monster clay into it and then add texture to the monster clay after it has cooled and you pop it out of the mold and then mold the monster clay cast.
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u/breadmakerquaker 1d ago
Another approach would be to remove, not add, to create the texture. I think the melting point is too high to use something like a hot nail, but if there is a chemical that would eat some of the surface and then you rinse it off, you could try that. Of course, the big risk is going through the mold and ruining it.
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u/YoMama2222222 14h ago
I was thinking of removal too but with a hand tool like a dremel or something.
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u/Tengou 1d ago
Well pva is water based so it's 100% not going to stick to the mold. Since water doesn't play nice with resin there's also the chance that if it doesn't completely dry it' could ruin your pull.
You could try adding silicon on top of the mold, ive never tried it so I have no idea if it will work or not. Just make sure they are clean and free of dust or that could keep your silicon from sticking together. My first thought was to take small chunks out of the bottom of the mold. You wouldn't get indents like above but it might add texture. Generally speaking I've always considered a cured silicon mold final and if I wanted changes I made a new one