I am so grateful for this. I have 4 printers. 3 FDM. It has opened doors to many hobbies. Now I am needing to learn how to do THIS to mold articulated action figure parts. I want to give toys to kids for Christmas. Poor kids.
I've been printing molds with Siraya Sculpt for a couple months now and didn't know of anyone else doing it until I found your channel. I never considered printing them standing up because of the print time, but after seeing this video I tried it and had great success. Thank you man! It's how I'm printing my molds from now on.
I've found it easier to print the molds with the back on the build plate. I get a much better surface finish on the inside of the mold. To make removal incredibly easy I add a small fillet to the edges that will contact the build plate and once done printing, wash any uncured resin away and pop everything in the freezer to cool off. After maybe 20min it comes out and is left to warm back up at which point the models can be pushed off or sometimes just fall off on their own. If you're impatient you can speed up the warming with some hot water.
I have had mixed results printing that way, especially on larger molds. The suction forces become a pain to deal with. The other advantage to printing on the back is that it prints very fast! I have used the freezer trick though, its a good one!
You are an absolute life savor please keep making videos! The basic print on the build plate cost me so much time and effort it was just about give up time. I suspended my last print above the built plate and it worked but i had to know there was a better way. It might take longer but printing to the bed fixed every issue I had.
You are correct about the heat deflection not being higher then the temperature of the molten plastisol but I don’t think it’s fair to write off fdm printing for injection molding. Just because the plastisol is 300 degrees when injected doesn’t mean the plastic gets anywhere near that temperature. Plastic is a very poor conductor of heat. The glass transition temperature is just when it starts to soften. Just because it hits that temperature doesn’t mean that the mold will melt or leak either. How soft at what temp varies wildly from plastic to plastic. I’ve been injecting fdm molds for a while now.i originally started using abs but had issues with the mold cracking do to slight warping from the heat. The mold was still usable but had some cosmetic issues from plastisol leaking into the infil. If you want to give it another go around I’ve recently discovered that petg is a much better choice. I’ve had no issues with melting or warping so far.
Yep it totally can be done on FDM but personally I think the results are way better and more consistent and you can produce molds faster with resin (with more cost and more mess for resin) so go with what you like, and have the gear for. If you are starting out though I always recommend resin because of better detail and most people want great detail. If you have an FDM printer already, by all means go for it!
Ive been on a binge with all of your videos man! Thank you for all of this knowledge lol, I am going at this completely blind but have I am very family with photoshop, editing apps and website design, so I'm hoping it'll at least help with this new learning curve haha, I have a ANYCUBIX Photon Mono X 6Ks on the way and am hoping it will do the job. I don't plan on pumping out molds to sell but am really looking forward to taking the time on creating a design and offering stuff completely new! Definitely got a lot of learning to do though.
hi, your videos are great. I am a ceramic manufacturer. I decided to make my own molds with a resin printer. I have anycubic m3 max. I used basic and Tough resin. I did a lot of tests but I couldn't prevent the outer surface flexing. My patterns are big. maybe I can give a maximum of 10-15% inclination at 150mm height. I tried 2d or 3d hollow. I tried 2mm or 4mm outer thickness. I tried everything, but I could not prevent the outer surface (the important surface of the mold) from deteriorating. maybe there is 0.5 mm distortion, but I take a silicone or polyurethane mold from the 3d output and get a plaster mold from it, the distortions are very annoying. how do i solve it? Do you have a discord channel?
I print all my molds solid. Yes it takes a lot of resin but it is the only way I found to prevent flexing. No discord currently but I might set one up soon!
I made 2 injection molds (Salmon Eggs, something simple) with my Prusa Mini+, with PETG, I don't have any deformation myself and i inject around 350 degrees, and for some reason the DeadOn Plastic just gels and makes the Plastisol stick to the cavities like no other. I've tried multiple times too and the molds look great, its just sticking to everything ... Even with a bit of oil to lube the cavities, it still sticks. But i'll inject the same plastisol in the same session of baitmaking, in my Aluminum Molds, and they are perfect. I was wondering if moisture was a factor in the plastic pucks i was melting down, but that wasn't the case so i'm a bit stumped.
Unless you coat the mold with something the PETG is going it have a ton of little gaps/holes that are going to "grab" the plastisol making it hard to remove. You can try shooting at a colder temp to see if it helps but that is just another problem with FDM printed molds.
So how large does my printer have to be? I’m looking at buying a printer primarily for this but also some other projects. The one I’m looking at is a Voxelab Proxima 6.0. The measurements are 130-82-150mm and I would like to know if that would be large enough.
One thing to consider, with any printer you get, is the largest dimension is the largest you will be able to print. So the printer you mentioned has 150mm which is a shade under 6" as the longest dimension which means for molds you should be good for anything 5" and under. I think that is totally fine for starting out and figuring out how everything works.
If you print the moulds on their side, is the surface where both halves of the mould meet really flat? I would imagine some Z wobble in the system would screw up the flatness of the surface. If orientated flat as you would with FDM the surface would be really flat.
@@WMBayouLures Thanks! This is the main reason that keeps me from investing in a SLA printer. I’m So in doubt. But the durability of the Moulds I make now is not optimal (FDM). I already bought the resin you use though 😂😂
@@roeljonker I print vertically with very little issue and the resin has enough flex that you can easily use bolts and/or vices to flatten out any issues
I'm trying to print a large mold (120 x 120) on my Saturn S using Siraya Tech Sculpt Grey. The X and Y dimensions are almost perfect. But, the Z dimension is about 33% taller than it is suppose to be. Did you have this issue when you printed your molds flat on the build plate? Do you have any idea what might be causing this? Thanks.
Wow 33% that is crazy. I would try increasing lift distance, I am at 8mm currently and also make sure rest after retract is at least 1 sec, I am currently at 2sec
I'm late to the party but I was also printing moulds with Siraya Tech grey on my Saturn 2, and all of my prints were fine on the X & Y, but everything I printed was out by around a full 1mm. I did ridiculously extensive troubleshooting (3 bottles of Sculpt worth!) and am getting a refund from Elegoo since it seems to be an issue with the printer, which I've seen a number of other people have. What did you end up doing with yours?
@@rachelcoenen9257 I never found a solution. I have the 4K Saturn S. I love the printer. And, I use it a lot for other prints. I think the Z axis issue is related to the strong suction generated during the lift. If I print hollow versions of my molds, the dimensions are excellent. I can also print a calibration cube just fine. The problem occurs for me only when I try to print a large solid item flat on the build plate. Otherwise, my prints have excellent dimensions. My plan was to use the scale function in Chitubox to proportionally reduce the Z dimension of my molds. But, I got sidetracked with other projects. If you find a solution, please let me know.
Yep no problem! Just keep in mind that the max build height (aka max Z height) on the printer is the maximum size you can make the mold and the bait will need to be smaller by roughly 15-20mm to make room for the sprue, venting etc. If you are making an open pour then you might lose 5-10 mm. What printer are you looking at?
@@WMBayouLures I’m looking at anything by ELEGOO in the $189-$350 price range so that would be the creality, mars 2 or 3. What molds have you been able to print on the creality and what do you think I would be able to print on the mars 2/3?
@@prestonlogan on a printer the size of the Mars 3 you are looking at making molds for baits that are less than 150mm. You might be able to get 2-3 cavities but it really depends on the bait design. FYI you generally want to print the mold vertically no matter what size printer you have, that usually produces the best results.
@@prestonlogan oh and this video goes over some considerations when choosing a printer for lures/molds How to Choose a 3D Printer for Fishing Lures in 2021 th-cam.com/video/gihN6qD5_bw/w-d-xo.html
Big tip on the enclosures guys!! Dont buy those expensive 3D print enclosures, instead buy a 2 by 2 indoor grow tent and use that, same exact thing, about half the price!!
Not gonna thumb this down, and I’m not trying to be rude, but some constructive criticism… don’t do tutorial videos or really any videos with 90% of it concentrated on your on your face. As pretty as you may be, we’re here to watch a demo, not someone talking to a camera.
I do not, I have a patreon group where members can download my files and print there own and there are people that sell molds in the group. Patreon group is here - www.patreon.com/gulfstreamoutdoors You can also email me - bill@gulfstreamoutdoors.com and I can put you in contact with some people that will print a mold for you.
I am so grateful for this. I have 4 printers. 3 FDM. It has opened doors to many hobbies. Now I am needing to learn how to do THIS to mold articulated action figure parts. I want to give toys to kids for Christmas. Poor kids.
Awesome happy to help!
I've been printing molds with Siraya Sculpt for a couple months now and didn't know of anyone else doing it until I found your channel. I never considered printing them standing up because of the print time, but after seeing this video I tried it and had great success. Thank you man! It's how I'm printing my molds from now on.
Dude so happy to hear that!
I've found it easier to print the molds with the back on the build plate. I get a much better surface finish on the inside of the mold. To make removal incredibly easy I add a small fillet to the edges that will contact the build plate and once done printing, wash any uncured resin away and pop everything in the freezer to cool off. After maybe 20min it comes out and is left to warm back up at which point the models can be pushed off or sometimes just fall off on their own. If you're impatient you can speed up the warming with some hot water.
I have had mixed results printing that way, especially on larger molds. The suction forces become a pain to deal with. The other advantage to printing on the back is that it prints very fast!
I have used the freezer trick though, its a good one!
You are an absolute life savor please keep making videos! The basic print on the build plate cost me so much time and effort it was just about give up time. I suspended my last print above the built plate and it worked but i had to know there was a better way. It might take longer but printing to the bed fixed every issue I had.
Awesome so happy it helped and I saved you some headache.
Can't wait to see the 3D printed earthworms, would LOVE to try them out!!!
You are correct about the heat deflection not being higher then the temperature of the molten plastisol but I don’t think it’s fair to write off fdm printing for injection molding. Just because the plastisol is 300 degrees when injected doesn’t mean the plastic gets anywhere near that temperature. Plastic is a very poor conductor of heat. The glass transition temperature is just when it starts to soften. Just because it hits that temperature doesn’t mean that the mold will melt or leak either. How soft at what temp varies wildly from plastic to plastic. I’ve been injecting fdm molds for a while now.i originally started using abs but had issues with the mold cracking do to slight warping from the heat. The mold was still usable but had some cosmetic issues from plastisol leaking into the infil. If you want to give it another go around I’ve recently discovered that petg is a much better choice. I’ve had no issues with melting or warping so far.
Yep it totally can be done on FDM but personally I think the results are way better and more consistent and you can produce molds faster with resin (with more cost and more mess for resin) so go with what you like, and have the gear for. If you are starting out though I always recommend resin because of better detail and most people want great detail. If you have an FDM printer already, by all means go for it!
Dude, I didn't know you had a channel..awesome!
Ive been on a binge with all of your videos man! Thank you for all of this knowledge lol, I am going at this completely blind but have I am very family with photoshop, editing apps and website design, so I'm hoping it'll at least help with this new learning curve haha, I have a ANYCUBIX Photon Mono X 6Ks on the way and am hoping it will do the job. I don't plan on pumping out molds to sell but am really looking forward to taking the time on creating a design and offering stuff completely new! Definitely got a lot of learning to do though.
The mono X will be great for you man!
Looking forward to seeing the rest of this series!
Thanks! We get down in in next week!
hi, your videos are great. I am a ceramic manufacturer. I decided to make my own molds with a resin printer. I have anycubic m3 max. I used basic and Tough resin. I did a lot of tests but I couldn't prevent the outer surface flexing. My patterns are big. maybe I can give a maximum of 10-15% inclination at 150mm height. I tried 2d or 3d hollow. I tried 2mm or 4mm outer thickness. I tried everything, but I could not prevent the outer surface (the important surface of the mold) from deteriorating. maybe there is 0.5 mm distortion, but I take a silicone or polyurethane mold from the 3d output and get a plaster mold from it, the distortions are very annoying. how do i solve it? Do you have a discord channel?
I print all my molds solid. Yes it takes a lot of resin but it is the only way I found to prevent flexing.
No discord currently but I might set one up soon!
I made 2 injection molds (Salmon Eggs, something simple) with my Prusa Mini+, with PETG, I don't have any deformation myself and i inject around 350 degrees, and for some reason the DeadOn Plastic just gels and makes the Plastisol stick to the cavities like no other. I've tried multiple times too and the molds look great, its just sticking to everything ... Even with a bit of oil to lube the cavities, it still sticks. But i'll inject the same plastisol in the same session of baitmaking, in my Aluminum Molds, and they are perfect. I was wondering if moisture was a factor in the plastic pucks i was melting down, but that wasn't the case so i'm a bit stumped.
Unless you coat the mold with something the PETG is going it have a ton of little gaps/holes that are going to "grab" the plastisol making it hard to remove. You can try shooting at a colder temp to see if it helps but that is just another problem with FDM printed molds.
Artist painters spatulas work great for removing resin prints
Thanks for the tip! I have dialed in my exposure much better now and they are much easier to remove.
So how large does my printer have to be? I’m looking at buying a printer primarily for this but also some other projects. The one I’m looking at is a Voxelab Proxima 6.0. The measurements are 130-82-150mm and I would like to know if that would be large enough.
One thing to consider, with any printer you get, is the largest dimension is the largest you will be able to print. So the printer you mentioned has 150mm which is a shade under 6" as the longest dimension which means for molds you should be good for anything 5" and under. I think that is totally fine for starting out and figuring out how everything works.
Willing to make me some 5"senko molds? Or swimbait molds?
Sure man send me an email bill@gulfstreamoutdoors.com
Did you get the email Broham?
Do you think that I can use elegoo grey standard resin to print my molds ?
You can, they just probably won't last as long and will tend to warp more.
@@WMBayouLures ok thank you a lot !
If you print the moulds on their side, is the surface where both halves of the mould meet really flat? I would imagine some Z wobble in the system would screw up the flatness of the surface. If orientated flat as you would with FDM the surface would be really flat.
They would be flatter but suction and peel forces will cause a lot of failures.
@@WMBayouLures Thanks! This is the main reason that keeps me from investing in a SLA printer. I’m So in doubt. But the durability of the Moulds I make now is not optimal (FDM). I already bought the resin you use though 😂😂
@@roeljonker I print vertically with very little issue and the resin has enough flex that you can easily use bolts and/or vices to flatten out any issues
@@WMBayouLures that’s good to hear! No flashing?
@@roeljonker 0, I have a ton of tutorials on mold design on this channel that should help
Do you not hollow your molds at all?
Nope hollowing causes all kinds of problems with heat deflection, printability and durability.
This is awesome!
Thanks man!
I'm trying to print a large mold (120 x 120) on my Saturn S using Siraya Tech Sculpt Grey. The X and Y dimensions are almost perfect. But, the Z dimension is about 33% taller than it is suppose to be. Did you have this issue when you printed your molds flat on the build plate? Do you have any idea what might be causing this? Thanks.
Wow 33% that is crazy. I would try increasing lift distance, I am at 8mm currently and also make sure rest after retract is at least 1 sec, I am currently at 2sec
I'm late to the party but I was also printing moulds with Siraya Tech grey on my Saturn 2, and all of my prints were fine on the X & Y, but everything I printed was out by around a full 1mm. I did ridiculously extensive troubleshooting (3 bottles of Sculpt worth!) and am getting a refund from Elegoo since it seems to be an issue with the printer, which I've seen a number of other people have. What did you end up doing with yours?
@@rachelcoenen9257 I never found a solution. I have the 4K Saturn S. I love the printer. And, I use it a lot for other prints. I think the Z axis issue is related to the strong suction generated during the lift. If I print hollow versions of my molds, the dimensions are excellent. I can also print a calibration cube just fine. The problem occurs for me only when I try to print a large solid item flat on the build plate. Otherwise, my prints have excellent dimensions. My plan was to use the scale function in Chitubox to proportionally reduce the Z dimension of my molds. But, I got sidetracked with other projects. If you find a solution, please let me know.
If I was to buy a cheaper resin 3d printer with a smaller printing size could I print the mold vertical ?
Yep no problem! Just keep in mind that the max build height (aka max Z height) on the printer is the maximum size you can make the mold and the bait will need to be smaller by roughly 15-20mm to make room for the sprue, venting etc. If you are making an open pour then you might lose 5-10 mm. What printer are you looking at?
@@WMBayouLures I’m looking at anything by ELEGOO in the $189-$350 price range so that would be the creality, mars 2 or 3. What molds have you been able to print on the creality and what do you think I would be able to print on the mars 2/3?
@@prestonlogan on a printer the size of the Mars 3 you are looking at making molds for baits that are less than 150mm. You might be able to get 2-3 cavities but it really depends on the bait design. FYI you generally want to print the mold vertically no matter what size printer you have, that usually produces the best results.
@@prestonlogan oh and this video goes over some considerations when choosing a printer for lures/molds
How to Choose a 3D Printer for Fishing Lures in 2021
th-cam.com/video/gihN6qD5_bw/w-d-xo.html
@@WMBayouLures okay thank you and yeah I commented before watching the end of the video where you stated that vertical is always best anyway.
Get flexible beds life savers for removing parts
They fail on larger mold prints in my experience. Once you dial in your settings correctly you should have no problem removing your prints.
Do you have your STL files anywhere for sale?
Hey Logan thanks for asking! They are released to my Patreon group Patreon.com/GulfStreamoutdoors
Big tip on the enclosures guys!! Dont buy those expensive 3D print enclosures, instead buy a 2 by 2 indoor grow tent and use that, same exact thing, about half the price!!
For sure man!
Could I buy molds from you
Ngraves.com prints molds for sale and is an awesome dude!
Not gonna thumb this down, and I’m not trying to be rude, but some constructive criticism… don’t do tutorial videos or really any videos with 90% of it concentrated on your on your face. As pretty as you may be, we’re here to watch a demo, not someone talking to a camera.
Thanks man I am working on it!
Hey, do you sell softplastic molds by any chance?
I do not, I have a patreon group where members can download my files and print there own and there are people that sell molds in the group. Patreon group is here - www.patreon.com/gulfstreamoutdoors
You can also email me - bill@gulfstreamoutdoors.com and I can put you in contact with some people that will print a mold for you.
@@WMBayouLures awesome thanks, i will contact you soon!
Literally the only reason I got a 3d printer and it doesn't work
What printer did you get?