I have a surface made of wood (teak to be exact) I need to take a mould from it. However, I cannot disturb the original. That means no sealers, primers, fillers etc. The surface looks quite porous so wax will take ages to build up and even if I did use wax, I don’t think I would be able to remove it. Thanks
Apply a thin layer of silicone and then construct a fiberglass support shell to strengthen the mold .
You could try self adhesive Teflon sheet or packaging tape to seal the mould before release agents.
I have used teflon sheet… Good stuff but not so good if you have compound curves and need to cut it as you will see the cut… But really good for simple parts…
Pva foil could work as well. Cover the part and laminate over it.
Vacuum Strechlon 200 vac bag over it. It can stretch to 500% it’s size, so you should be able to work out the wrinkles and get a nice smooth finish.
Something similar is done with amputees. You fill an envelope bag of Strechlon with small foam balls and press onto the amputee, then turn on the vacuum, pull away and you have a mold to make a new limb from.
How much detail do you need? And what product is being used to make a part from the mould? The silicone method gives great detail. A very thin layer of PVA could work, but I don’t know the effect on the wood itself. A last one is to oil the teak. I don’t know how grey it is now, and if it has to stay the same color. But I have released from wood before using motor oil. I guess you could do the same using a teak oil. Be careful not to contaminate your resin etc.
And do some test pieces! The only way to know for sure!
sheet wax…
which ever method you choose could you please post pics of the process? thanks, interested!
Can’t use wax, it has to be dimensionally accurate.
Tried dabbing a bit of PVA on a corner. It actually soaked into the wood, staining it somewhat. I had to apply a degreaser and dry paper towels to soak it back up.
Being teak, I will try applying teak oil. I think it will have to be quite be few applications, as the wood is almost bare. It’s had some treatment, but if anything it might have been only one layer of oil.
Here’s a photo of the surface:
3 layers of oil so far, it just seems to keep soaking it.
I would wrap it up in Aluminium tape to seal it then release agent over the tape. No mess, no fuss.
And I have loads of ali tape too!
Do you think its too late with all that oil on it?
if it don’t wanna stick, spray a coat of 3M 77
I have no idea, wipe some oil off and test. If that fails go with Tom’s idea.
I will second a previously mentioned method. Make a vacuum bag from stretchlon 200 bagging film. Stick the wood in and turn on the vacuum. Give the bag a coat or two or release and make your mold. The wood would require nothing and get absolutely unharmed or changed.
Too late, I’ve gone the ali tape way. I don’t have any stretchlon 200 anyway. I just have standard pink film.