gaspardsbs

Step by step guide to making an Acrylic1 object by using PVA mould.

Start by designing whatever object you have in mind using a 3D CAD design program of your choice -Fusion360/Rhino/Meshmixer-.

Make sure that the shape you eventually want your design to be is hollow, you're printing the negative.

Also, make sure that the thinnest part of your design isn't any thinner than 8mm, if you go smaller than this, the acrylic one is more likely to break.

You can do two things when designing your mould, either you design your shape by making a solid design, then place a solid box around it and hollowing the shape out or you again design a solid shape and later on change your printer settings so it only prints the outer walls, I'll further explain that at step 2.

Print your design using a PVA water-soluble filament - in this case, I used Form Futura's Aquasolve.

Because the Acrylic1 expands somewhere in between 0.3 to 0.6% it goes into all of the little grooves which creates a super-accurate print. This means that you can play around with the print settings to create textures to your liking.

If you've designed your object with a block around it (like you can see in my example) you can just start your print with the settings you see here on the right.

If you've designed your object without a block around it, make sure you set the infill at 0% in your slicer programme. Also, don't forget to turn on support.

Lay down everything you need before you start mixing the Acrylic1, this makes the process of filling it up a lot easier.

I've used a syringe to inject the Acrylic1 in the mold, this works great because you can be super precise.

Measure both components of the Acrylic1, 1 part of the water-based acrylic resin and 2 parts of the mineral powder. You can measure this by weight.

Fill up your syringe and push the Acrylic1 in the mould, do this in small steps and after each step rotate and tap your mould so that your mixture reaches every corner of your design. Tap it to a surface to make sure there are no air-bubbles.

In theory, the Acrylic1 is cured after about an hour, but, the longer you leave it out to cure, the stronger it will be. Because you use a water-based material in a water-soluble mould that elongates the curing time. If you have the time, it would say, let it cure for about 24 hours.

After that, you can dissolve your mould by putting it in a bucket of water. It does dissolve in cold water but warm/hot water speeds up the process.

It should dissolve in about 5 hours depending on the size of your design.

After your mould is dissolved and your object is completely dry, you can sand it to make a smoother surface. I however really enjoy the texture you get.

Take some nice pictures and enjoy :)