Basics of Mold Making How‑To's

Basics of Mold Making
These videos and step-by-step photo tutorials will introduce you to basic techniques for successful moldmaking. These tutorials are suitable for beginners. Whether you are interested in how to make a mold for reproducing a sculpted figure, an antique picture frame, an industrial pattern, an architectural molding, a fossil, animal skin (taxidermy), the texture of a piece of fabric, or a toy, you start by making a rubber mold. Whether you want to make one or one thousand reproductions of an original, you can do it using a mold. Whether your original model is made from clay, wax, plaster, sand, concrete, stone, metal, bone or almost any material, making a rubber mold makes it possible to reproduce that model – exactly.
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Turning a Clay Sculpture Into a Metal Cold Casting

Turning a Clay Sculpture Into a Metal Cold Casting

Milo demonstrates how to make a silicone mold of a clay relief sculpture, then creates a metal cold casting.

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Molding and Casting a Cosplay Cloak Brooch

Molding and Casting a Cosplay Cloak Brooch

Learn to make a mold and casting of a translucent cloak brooch perfect for cosplay.

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Custom Design Cheesecake Treat Using Food Safe Silicone Putty

Custom Design Cheesecake Treat Using Food Safe Silicone Putty

Heather lets her creativity shine by making handcrafted cheesecakes.

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Making a Lightweight, Strong, Hollow Casting by Rotocasting Matrix Dryve™

Making a Lightweight, Strong, Hollow Casting by Rotocasting Matrix Dryve™

Milo shows how to rotocast Matrix™ Dryve™ polymer gypsum

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How to Make Holiday Snowflake Candles Using a Silicone Mold

How to Make Holiday Snowflake Candles Using a Silicone Mold

Learn to make quick and easy reusable silicone molds for candles, perfect for the Christmas season.

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Download our How-To Booklet

Download our How-To Booklet

Smooth-On is here to take the guesswork out of making flexible molds and castings

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How To Make a Silicone Mold Using Mold Star™ 15

How To Make a Silicone Mold Using Mold Star™ 15

Learn how to make a simple silicone mold using Mold Star™ 15 liquid silicone rubber.

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How To Cast Smooth-Cast™ 300 White Liquid Plastic

How To Cast Smooth-Cast™ 300 White Liquid Plastic

The Smooth-Cast® 300 Series of liquid plastics are ultra-low viscosity casting resins that yield castings that are bright white and virtually bubble free.

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How To Make a Simple Block Mold Using OOMOO™ Silicone

How To Make a Simple Block Mold Using OOMOO™ Silicone

This mold making tutorial video shows how to make a one piece silicone block mold using OOMOO® silicone rubber

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How To Make a 1 Piece Silicone Cut Mold

How To Make a 1 Piece Silicone Cut Mold

Mold Star® 15 is perfect for experienced mold makers or people just starting out.

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How To Make Your Own Mold Knives

How To Make Your Own Mold Knives

Milo shows how you can make your own mold knife using readily available, affordable blades.

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How To Make a 2 Part Silicone Mold Using Mold Star™ 15

How To Make a 2 Part Silicone Mold Using Mold Star™ 15

This video outlines the 2-part block mold making technique using silicone rubber.

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How To Cast Smooth-Cast™ 325 Urethane Resin

How To Cast Smooth-Cast™ 325 Urethane Resin

In this resin casting tutorial video, we demonstrate how to mix and pour Smooth Cast 325 liquid plastic resin.

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How To Make a 2 Piece Silicone Mold Using OOMOO™

How To Make a 2 Piece Silicone Mold Using OOMOO™

Mold box construction, model preparation and release agent application for a 2 part pour on mold are covered in this video.

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How to Make a Silicone Brush On Mold of a 3D Object

How to Make a Silicone Brush On Mold of a 3D Object

This tutorial shows how to create a Rebound™ 25 brush on silicone mold of a figurine

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How To Make a Silicone Block Mold of an Irregularly Shaped Model

How To Make a Silicone Block Mold of an Irregularly Shaped Model

Learn how to save material and money by making your silicone mold conform to the shape of your model.

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How To Make a Support Shell for a Brush-On Mold Using Plasti-Paste™

How To Make a Support Shell for a Brush-On Mold Using Plasti-Paste™

How to make a support shell for a brush on silicone mold using Plasti-Paste trowelable plastic.

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How To Make a Urethane Rubber Block Mold

How To Make a Urethane Rubber Block Mold

How to build a mold box, measure, mix, and pour urethane rubber to make a 1-piece block mold.

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How To Cast Smooth-Cast 300 Liquid Plastic Casting Resin Into a Urethane Mold

How To Cast Smooth-Cast 300 Liquid Plastic Casting Resin Into a Urethane Mold

Preparing a urethane mold for casting, measuring and mixing liquid plastic.

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How To Rotocast a Hollow Part Using Smooth-Cast™ 65D

How To Rotocast a Hollow Part Using Smooth-Cast™ 65D

Creating a hollow casting with high impact resistance by rotating a mold while casting.

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How To Make a Hollow Resin Casting Using Smooth-Cast™ 57D

How To Make a Hollow Resin Casting Using Smooth-Cast™ 57D

Using the slush method of casting to create a hollow, impact resistant piece.

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How To Make Metallic & Glitter Effects In Resin With Cast Magic™

How To Make Metallic & Glitter Effects In Resin With Cast Magic™

Cast Magic® Casting System is an easy way to add an endless variety of bright metallic, glitter and color effects to your castings.

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How To Create a Marble Effect Using Urethane Plastic

How To Create a Marble Effect Using Urethane Plastic

Creating a realistic cast marble effect is possible with Smooth-Cast® 325 liquid plastic.

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Rotocasting duoMatrix - How to Make a Hollow Impact Resistant Casting

Rotocasting duoMatrix - How to Make a Hollow Impact Resistant Casting

How you can use the duoMatrix NEO system and chopped fiber to create a durable, lightweight, hollow casting.

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How To Make a Metal Cold Casting With Smooth-Cast™ 325 Resin

How To Make a Metal Cold Casting With Smooth-Cast™ 325 Resin

The metal cold-casting process is faster and much less expensive compared with foundry casting of molten metal.

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How To Remove The Lid From a 1-Gallon Pail

How To Remove The Lid From a 1-Gallon Pail

Smooth-On one gallon pails are easy to open once you know the proper technique.

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How to Open and Dispense a 5 Gallon Pail of Material

How to Open and Dispense a 5 Gallon Pail of Material

Opening and dispensing from a 5 gallon pail properly will result in less wasted material.

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How To Use The Aluminum Pail Opener

How To Use The Aluminum Pail Opener

Aluminum pail opener opens and re-seals 1 gallon and 5 gallon plastic pails.

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How To Improve The Surface Finish Of Foam Castings Using Back Pressure

How To Improve The Surface Finish Of Foam Castings Using Back Pressure

Learn how back pressure results in a tighter cell structure and better foam castings

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How To Repair a Torn Silicone Brush On Mold

How To Repair a Torn Silicone Brush On Mold

How to use Sil-Poxy® silicone adhesive with a special reinforcement fabric to repair a torn mold liner.

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How To Repair a Torn Urethane Rubber Mold

How To Repair a Torn Urethane Rubber Mold

Repairing a torn urethane rubber mold using Ure-Bond® II urethane adhesive.

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How To Recreate an Antique Frame using Mold Max™ 29NV No Vacuum Required Silicone

How To Recreate an Antique Frame using Mold Max™ 29NV No Vacuum Required Silicone

Learn how to use Mold Max 29NV for creating a high-detail silicone mold

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How To Mold a Prop Shield For Cosplay

How To Mold a Prop Shield For Cosplay

Jon N. shows us how he creates a mold for his Thundercats shield.

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How To Cast Concrete Using Aquacon® Release Agent

How To Cast Concrete Using Aquacon® Release Agent

AquaCon® is a water based concrete release agent that aids in releasing concrete castings from Smooth-On rubber molds

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How To Make a Concrete Stamp Using Urethane Rubber

How To Make a Concrete Stamp Using Urethane Rubber

Project goal: transform a disused service entrance into an inviting stamped concrete walkway.

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How to Use a Concrete Stamp

How to Use a Concrete Stamp

Project: Replace existing service entrance with a decorative concrete walkway.

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How To Make a Metal Cold Casting Using duoMatrix™ NEO

How To Make a Metal Cold Casting Using duoMatrix™ NEO

We demonstrate how to create a metal cold casting using the duoMatrix™ NEO polymerized gypsum system.

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How To Make a Simple Silicone Candle Mold

How To Make a Simple Silicone Candle Mold

OOMOO® Silicone Rubber is one of the easiest mold rubbers to use on the planet and is perfect for making simple candle molds.

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How To Build a Hot Box Oven For Heat Curing Materials

How To Build a Hot Box Oven For Heat Curing Materials

We’ve come up with a way to easily build a cheap “hot box” to any size you want...

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Making A One Piece Cut Block Mold

Making A One Piece Cut Block Mold

A one piece cut block mold is a popular mold making method that has some definite advantages.

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How To Eliminate Bubbles In Resin Castings By Pressure Casting

How To Eliminate Bubbles In Resin Castings By Pressure Casting

Bubbles in clear castings can be removed by using a pressure casting technique, a shown in this tutorial video.

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How To Reduce Bubbles In Castings By Vacuum Degassing

How To Reduce Bubbles In Castings By Vacuum Degassing

Clear resin performs best when the material is vacuumed before pouring, this tutorial video outlines the steps for degassing.

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UVO™ and So-Strong™ Comparison

UVO™ and So-Strong™ Comparison

How a casting made with UVO™ pigment and an equal amount of So-Strong™ compare

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How To Extend the Shelf Life of Urethane Rubber and Resin

How To Extend the Shelf Life of Urethane Rubber and Resin

XTEND-IT® is a dry gas blanket designed to extend the shelf life of moisture sensitive polyurethane products.

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How To Use The Kwikee™ Sprayer

How To Use The Kwikee™ Sprayer

Using the Kwikee™ Sprayer to spray mold making and casting release agents will save you over 60% vs. aerosols.

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How To Pre-Mix Urethane Casting Resin - TASK™ 3

How To Pre-Mix Urethane Casting Resin - TASK™ 3

Properly pre-mixing a urethane casting resin is important to ensure the material cures properly.

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How To Pre-Mix Urethane Casting Resin - Feather Lite™

How To Pre-Mix Urethane Casting Resin - Feather Lite™

This video will illustrate the proper way to pre-mix Smooth-On Feather Lite urethane resin...

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How To Make a Two Piece Silicone Mold of a Knife

How To Make a Two Piece Silicone Mold of a Knife

We demonstrate using Mold Star 30 silicone, a platinum silicone for mold making...

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How To Mix Urethane Casting Resin - Double Mix and Pour Feather Lite™

How To Mix Urethane Casting Resin - Double Mix and Pour Feather Lite™

Using the double-mix and pour technique helps to alleviate issues with unmixed resin.

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How To Pre-Mix Silicone Rubber - OOMOO™ 25

How To Pre-Mix Silicone Rubber - OOMOO™ 25

Not premixing silicone can result in the material not setting up correctly...

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How To Mix Silicone Rubber - Double Mix and Pour OOMOO™ 25

How To Mix Silicone Rubber - Double Mix and Pour OOMOO™ 25

This mold making essential video demonstrates the double mix and pour technique using a 1A:1B OOMOO silicone rubber.

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How To Use Glow Worm® to Make a Glow In The Dark Casting

How To Use Glow Worm® to Make a Glow In The Dark Casting

How to best use Glow Worm phosphorescent powder to create a resin casting which will glow in the dark for up to 10 hours.

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How To Measure Silicone By Weight - Mold Max® 20

How To Measure Silicone By Weight - Mold Max® 20

How to use a gram scale to accurately weigh rubbers, plastics and other materials.

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How to Double Mix and Pour Mold Max® 14NV Silicone

How to Double Mix and Pour Mold Max® 14NV Silicone

Inadequate mixing is the number one reason for silicone rubber not curing. This video demonstrates the double mix and pour technique.

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How To Measure Urethane By Weight - Simpact™ 85A

How To Measure Urethane By Weight - Simpact™ 85A

How to use a gram scale to accurately weigh rubbers, plastics and other materials.

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How To Vacuum Degas Silicone - Mold Max™ 30

How To Vacuum Degas Silicone - Mold Max™ 30

How to vacuum silicone to eliminate entrapped air and remove bubbles from your finished mold or casting.

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How To Vacuum Degas Urethane Resin - Smooth Cast™ 326

How To Vacuum Degas Urethane Resin - Smooth Cast™ 326

This video demonstrates vacuum degassing Smooth-Cast 326 to remove entrapped bubbles.

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How To Build a Mold Box

How To Build a Mold Box

Making a mold box for mold making. The mold box serves as a containment field for the mold rubber.

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How To Use duoMatrix NEO™ For A Rotational Casting

How To Use duoMatrix NEO™ For A Rotational Casting

duoMatrix NEO® is a versatile polymer modified gypsum system that has superior physical and performance properties

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Types Of RTV Mold Rubber

Types Of RTV Mold Rubber

Examining the different types of RTV mold rubber available for mold making and casting from Smooth-On.

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Moldmaking And Casting Terms

Moldmaking And Casting Terms

Common terms and definitions in the mold making and casting processes from Smooth-On.

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How to Make a Silicone Mold of 3D Print

How to Make a Silicone Mold of 3D Print

This video demonstrates how to use Mold Star 20T to make a silicone mold of extruded PLA.

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How To Mold and Cast Foam Props - Via Tested.com

How To Mold and Cast Foam Props - Via Tested.com

Via Tested - How to make simple silicone molds to cast and paint foam replicas of props like shop tools

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How To Make a Metallic Finish Using Cast Magic™ Powder

How To Make a Metallic Finish Using Cast Magic™ Powder

How to use Pearly Green Cast Magic® powder on a black ONYX® resin casting to get a beautiful metallic finish.

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How To Restore an Antique Picture Frame Using PoYo Putty

How To Restore an Antique Picture Frame Using PoYo Putty

How to use PoYo Putty silicone putty to repair a damaged picture frame

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How To Open a Stuck Container Lid

How To Open a Stuck Container Lid

Milo shows how you can easily remove stuck lids and keep them from sticking in the future.

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Making a 2 Part Mold Using Mold Star™ 16

Making a 2 Part Mold Using Mold Star™ 16

Smooth-On fan Victoria P. demonstrates how she makes a two piece mold of a glossy figure.

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Coloring duoMatrix™ NEO Using Buddy Rhodes Pure Collection Powdered Pigments

Coloring duoMatrix™ NEO Using Buddy Rhodes Pure Collection Powdered Pigments

Buddy Rhodes Pure Collection Powdered Pigments can add vibrant color effects to duoMatrix NEO polymer-modified gypsum.

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How To Create a Bronze Finish Using Cast Magic™ Powders and duoMatrix™ NEO

How To Create a Bronze Finish Using Cast Magic™ Powders and duoMatrix™ NEO

Cast Magic powders can add a stunning metallic, pearlescent, or glittery finish to duoMatrix NEO polymer-modified gypsum.

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How To Eliminate Surface Bubbles in Your Casting

How To Eliminate Surface Bubbles in Your Casting

Milo demonstrates how you can use a pressure chamber to achieve bubble-free castings.

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How to Make a Support Shell with duoMatrix™ NEO

How to Make a Support Shell with duoMatrix™ NEO

Milo demonstrates how you can use the duoMatrix NEO to create mold support shells.

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How To Use Glow Worm™ Powders With Resin, Rubber, Foam and More

How To Use Glow Worm™ Powders With Resin, Rubber, Foam and More

Learn a variety of resin casting color and finishing effect techniques with our Glow Worm™ Glow-In-The-Dark Powders.

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Live! - Casting Silicone With Milo

Live! - Casting Silicone With Milo

Milo demonstrates how to cast silicone and explain how to choose the proper mold material for your application.

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Using the Green Meenee Mixer™ To Mix Liquid Materials

Using the Green Meenee Mixer™ To Mix Liquid Materials

The spiral blade of the Green Meenee quickly mixes a variety of Smooth-On products faster than hand mixing.

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How To Choose The Right Method For Making a Rubber Mold

How To Choose The Right Method For Making a Rubber Mold

Discover the advantages and considerations behind block molds, brush-on molds, and cavity pour molds.

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DIY Custom Valentine Candle Making Tutorial

DIY Custom Valentine Candle Making Tutorial

Learn how to easily make a custom candle.

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