Cleaning Chavant from Ultracal molds

Hi everybody,
I am a mask maker and often make ultracal molds on Chavant NSP Med. Sculptures.  I crystal clear them, several fine coats, the night before I make the mold.  I have recently started using a bit of dulling spray for tooth before I do the detail/splash coat.  Sometimes I can pull the clay cleanly from the mold after it has set, but most often I have to dig quite a bit out of the recesses with wood tools.  I then slip cast neoprene rubber into the mold but the first pull is usually corrupted by impurities on the mold surface, which I then clean with acetone and then castille soap with a trimmed chip brush.
My question:  What process do you people use to prepare/release your sculpture before molding, and how do you clean the ultracal surface afterwards to remove impurities.  
My method gets the job done, but I am always looking to improve my process for speed and quality.
Thank you.
Mark A Schneider
Faust & Company Masks
www.faustandcompany.com

Comments

  • Greetings Mark,

    My process is pretty much the same as your own.   Couple thin coats of crystal clear, allow that to dry and fully cure (I try and wait a full day if I can)

    I've not tried the dulling spray, how are you liking that?

    And for cleaning out the mold I'll use a trimmed down chip brush, old toothbrushes, and sometimes wooden tools (often a tung depressor that has been trimmed to form a bit of a point)

    If it's really stubborn I'll get out the solvents.

    If it's a hot day and my mold is small enough, I'll try and chill it in the freezer to make the clay a bit more rigid.  Depending on the sculpt this can help pop it out in one piece.  But if there's water in the stone or the sculpt has a lot of overhangs that would make pulling firmer clay out difficult/dangerous I avoid it.

    I've never tried casting with neoprene.  How do you like it and what types of projects to you use it for?

    Cheers,

    /Chris


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