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Making moulds from PLA prints?

danlad1631

Making moulds from PLA prints?
May 29, 2013 01:56PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 180

Is there a way to create a smooth mould from a PLA print?

Is there a way to fill in the lines then cast a mould?

Thanks

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tmorris9

Re: Making moulds from PLA prints?
May 29, 2013 04:45PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 1,171

With ABS I use a product called glazing or spot putty. It's used to fill small scratches in automotive paint before repainting. I then sand it smooth and then you can make a mold with silicone.

I would assume you could do the exact same with PLA.

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Ohmarinus

Re: Making moulds from PLA prints?
May 29, 2013 04:59PM

Admin
Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 3,096

You can use a technique called 'Vapor Treating'.

Read about it here:
[blog.reprap.org]

(Only usable on ABS!)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2013 05:00PM by Ohmarinus.

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tmorris9

Re: Making moulds from PLA prints?
May 29, 2013 06:53PM

Registered: 11 years ago
Posts: 1,171

Vapor treating is great but you can lose fine definition. If the model is complex with small detail best to do it with spot putty as it will just fill in the lines without losing fine detail.

It's more work, but gets the job done. And vapor as you mention is for ABS only while the OP specified PLA.