Do I really need a pressure pot and vacuum chamber for eye making?

Maximilian Schmid

I was wondering if a vacuum chamber is really necessary and if I couldn’t high pour the resin into an eye mold, because I just have a mold for one eye and it would take forever to always run to the university to get access to the chamber. 

And do I really need a pressure pot can’t the eye dry by itself because I don’t have one and it seems very complicated. It would be so much easier to do it all at home without those tools... 
I would use eye white from motion picture fx for the core and epoxacast for the clear coat 

Matt Winston

Hi Maximilian,

Here's some advice from our Epoxy Eyeball course instructor John Cherevka. Hope it helps! - Matt

"It's highly recommended to use the vacuum chamber and pressure pot. You can try other techniques, but you may have rejects. Small bubbles tend to find others and make large ones. You can try pouring the EpoxAcast and letting it dwell for an hour. Then pop or scrape the bubbles off before closing the mold."

Maximilian Schmid

Thanks Matt! Over the day I was able to get in touch with John too but thank you so much for the effort and help!

Max

Matt Winston

Hey Max,

Glad to hear you were able to connect with John. Please be sure to share your results on the Forums. We'd love to see how your eyes turn out!

Matt 

Maximilian Schmid

absolutely, I’ll just have to wait for the kits and materials. long way from LA to Austria! The eyes will be part of phone cases!

have a Good day!

Steve Cairney

Hi Max, I made the jump and bought a pressure pot and a vacuum chamber to make eyes and John's excellent molds. The only thing I don't have is an oven for the cure. I looked at an electric smoker but they are hard to get over here in the UK, but Germany seems fond of them so you might be able to get one locally.

Failing that, I tested an electric blanket! £20 from Amzn. I was able to wrap the pressure pot in it, cover everything with a sleeping bag and maintained the right temperature for 8 hrs. To paraphrase @Matt Winston during the Epoxy eye lesson "They don't make stuff for special effects, we have to use things made for other purposes"

Here's a pic of it warming up. Good luck with your eyes!

Maximilian Schmid

Wow thanks for your answer Steve,
i do have excess to a vacuum chamber at the university but I only had one mold so only for one pour at the time. I upgraded this now to four molds. I will see if o will make it without a pressure pot and oven and without running to the university for a chamber. But if not I will most likely also get those things.
I didn’t know that an oven was really necessary.’but Might get one too! Interesting technique with the electronic blanket! Thanks for your effort to answer!

Matt Winston

Hey Steve,
What an ingenious use of the electric blanket!! Thanks for sharing your tips with Max.
Best,
Matt

Steve Cairney

Thanks @Matt Winston. Frank Zappa was right...

@Maximilian Schmid the heat is only really needed to speed up the cure of the particular epoxy John recommends. So if you can wait a few days between castings you shouldn't need to heat cure.

I will let you know how the blanket performs as I'm casting cores at the weekend (although we're experiencing a heat wave here in the UK so I might just leave the pot in my car for a day!) 

Chris Ellerby

Great solution with the electric blanket, I would never have thought of that!

/Chris

Maximilian Schmid

Very cool I’m still waiting for my kits to arrive and will gonna try my no pressure pot try...

thanks for the help!

~Max 

Steve Cairney

Hi @Maximilian Schmid , I demoulded two eyes today after clear-coating and leaving in the pressure pot for 24hrs, (the wait is the killer). I didn't use my blanket this time because 24hrs in the standard cure time in "usual" temparatures.

I can happily say that following the JC (John Cherevka, not the other guy) method, I came out a winner with no visible air bubbles.

I'll be making more so if you use instagram, look for me as @deadoptic and we can bounce off each others experiences.

Here's pics of them right out of the mould before a wipe and clean.

Maximilian Schmid

Very cool I followed you there:) I’m so excited when I will try it out myself but my kits and supplies didn’t arrive by now. 

Matt Winston

Hey Steve, Thanks for sharing your excellent results!! Great to see John's method working so well for you. 

Steve Cairney

Thank you @Matt Winston, I owe it all to you, the artists and your wonderful school, it's as simple as that.

Chris Ellerby

Wow, those are some great looking eyes!  The pressure pot sure does wonders to make those bubbles shrink way down.

/Chris

Matt Winston

@Steve Cairney Thanks for the words of support for Stan Winston School. It's a labor of love for all involved and we're so happy that we've made a positive impact on your creative life!

Steve Cairney

Zombie thread alert.

I thought I'd share my latest eyes after 7 months of trying. Since the ones above I've designed my own masters, printed them (I'm on version 3 currently) and made my own moulds.

The eye community is pretty small and I'm lucky enough to have had pointers and help from most of the big hitters.

I think these are my best yet so it just goes to show what perseverance, constant reviewing and testing can bring.

Matt Winston

Wow, Steve. Beautiful results! Your persistence and attention to detail really paid off. Looking forward to seeing what you make next!

Chris Ellerby

That eye looks fantastic, great worrk!  They are not easy to make, but those results sure make it worth it!

/Chris

Steve Cairney

@Chris Ellerby and @Matt Winston

Thanks both, it's almost become an obsession 🤣