Alginate for molds (temporary)

Skip:

All the dental talk finally jogged a stray question out of me.
Do you have any experience using alginate for molds? As in using
an object for a mold, shooting one wax and cleaning up the model
before making the permanent rubber mold?

Hi Jess,

Alginate is a seaweed(agar agar) product and is very sensitive
to heat and pressure. It also is not very conducive to clamping.
It will probably split and finally, it doesn’t reproduce fine
detail as well as you might think. I did once take an
impression of my cousins nose in it though. He is a clown(for
real) and wanted a custom clown nose but was going to be out of
town when the measurements were going to be made, so I took an
alginate impression in a custom tray and poured it up in dental
stone for him. It worked fine. Maybe I have found a new
profession and never realized it:)!

Regards,

Skip

                                  Skip Meister
                                NRA Endowment and
                                   Instructor
                                @Skip_Meister
                                10/10/9715:20:42

Hello Skip- This got me to thinking about one time when I used
alginate to make a model of my wife’s ear so that I could make
her an ear cuff. It worked out really well from my standpoint,
but then, I wasn’t the one with the alginate in my ear.:~) It
works better if you keep the mixture slightly humidified after
you release it from the form, is this not right? Skip, you are to
be commended for your willingness to share your knowledge and
expertise with all of us mere mortals here on Orchid. I don’t
know if anyone else realizes it or not, but I have tried many
times to seek about dental processes that could be
useful to the everyday jeweler from different dentists and dental
techs and I can tell you that not a lot of them seem to be
willing to impart some of their wisdom and knowledge to us. I
guess maybe it comes from their having to spend so much time
learning their craft and consequently it is a valuable commodity
to them (and rightly so) that they want to protect. Anyway, you
have my heartfelt thanks and gratitude for your openness and
willingness to share you hard earned knowledge. It takes a
special kind of person to teach, especially considering that the
only compensation that you get in return is our gratitude and the
feeling that you get from giving to another human being. Thank
you! With sincerest regards-Ricky Low

Hi Rickey,

I thank you very much for the compliments. The alginate mold
needs to be sealed in a zip lock with a water saturated paper
towel around it.

You know when I first started my apprenticeship more than 30
years ago, I ran into several of the older techs that just
wouldn’t show you the ropes and I hated that attitude. I
learned from those that would share and then I read everything I
could about the craft/profession, tooth morphology and the
chewing process right down to the bones and muscles. I realized
early on that once I mastered the materials I was using, I had
only mastered a small part of the whole ball of wax. Learning
how to make a finished restoration that was engineered to be
strong(the physics of bridgework). One that not only fit the
prepared tooth, but also fit into the overall scheme of the
mouth and functioned flawlessly was the goal to strive for. I
also learned that those people who wouldn’t share their skills
and expertise were, by and large, people who were not confident
of their skills and were also lacking in self confidence. I
have always operated under the belief and hope that the student
or apprentice should, in a reasonable number of years, at the
very least equal the skill level of the master and probably
exceed him(her). I have to say that I am the proud teacher of
three apprentices that have been immensely successful and are
owner/operators of rather large labs. It was extremely
gratifying to have each of them at different times tell me-“If
it wasn’t for you demanding S.O.B I wouldn’t have…” You know
what? They did it all themselves I was just a conduit.

Hey I just thought of something! The air force manual for
dental techs is available from the U.S. Govt. printing office in
Pueblo, Colorado for a nominal price. It has a great section on
casting. You folks might want to look into it.

Regards,

Skip

                                  Skip Meister
                                NRA Endowment and
                                   Instructor
                                @Skip_Meister
                                10/12/9702:53:15

All the dental talk finally jogged a stray question out of me.
Do you have any experience using alginate for molds? As in using
an object for a mold, shooting one wax and cleaning up the model
before making the permanent rubber mold?

I’ve used it for making molds of body parts,use your
imagination< as well as natural objects. Did a pendant that was
the bark of a tree cast. and some other things. After the
algenet had hardened, I used some plaster filled gause, used for
broken bone casts, to keep the mold from distorting. I poured the
wax into the mold using the lowest temp I could. I melted the
wax in a double boiler on the stove and then used a turkey
baster to transfer. I even made algenet molds of wax models to
see if it would work. It did.

If you can’t find the plaster gause, try some plaster of paris.

Experiment!!

Will Rogers never met a lawyer.

Bobert

Greetings,

What type of wax did you pour into the alginate molds? I have
tried it getting very mixed results.

Thank You ,

S. Bradley

All the dental talk finally jogged a stray question out of me.
Do you have any experience using alginate for molds? As in using
an object for a mold, shooting one wax and cleaning up the model
before making the permanent rubber mold?

Dental alginite being dental is very costly. Try

Douglas and Sturgess
730 Bryant
San Francisco, CA 94107
888-278-7883 415-421-4456

They sell a couple of different types or at least materials that
are made for the art industry. I went to a workshop in Santa
Barbara last year and one of the slasses was body molding put on
by Mark Prent of Pink House Studios. They have a couple of
alginite materials as well as a body safe silicon rtv. They have
videos on body molding and they should have a price list of
products.

There is also a material called molouage (spelling???) that
turns liquid when heated, and hardens upon cooling. The heat
required is not so hot that it will burn your skin so it could be
useful for quick, short lived (but longer than alginite) mold
material. Douglas asn Sturgess sells it also along with all
sorts of clays, waxes, RTV’s, colorants, tools and equipment.

So many folks are so fearful of giving out <> is
propirtary Most mold makers are so tight lipped
they squeek. I have been making rtv molds for jewelry, and
mostly for my foundry for about 7 years now and I am more than
happy to share what I know. I usually learn more than I give
whenever I am showing someone what I like and do not like in a
particular process. I just really find it offensive when I help
a person through years of learning curve, and then have them come
up with what they <> is a really new slant on something
but will not share it with you or anyone else. This happened
years ago when I was organic farming with a new to farming local
grower. Needless to say, I don’t bother to share with him
anymore!!!

Lastly, if you havn’t tried RTV materials, really take a look at
them. You can make a mold of just about anything and I do mean
anything. Surface coatings (hardeners), thickness building
methods (ie wax spray, schellac etc.) and release agents may or
may not be needed, but the choice of materials and propertied
available is amazing. I just cant understand why anyone would
use vulcanized materials except that if they have been using them
for ever and just are not willing to learn something new.

Brother, did I ever get a lot out of THIS 2 cents worth!!

John and Cynthia/MidLife Crisis Enterprises
Maiden Metals/C. T. Designs/ Bloomin’ Wax Works. etc.

PO Bx 44, Philo
CA 95466
Ph 707-895-2635 FAX 707-895-9332

If your’re headed in the right direction,
each step, no matter how small, is getting you closer to your goal.

What type of wax did you pour into the alginate molds? I have
tried it getting very mixed results.

Red or Aqua injection wax, Temp about 160deg F Make sure that
the algenet has no water pooled in the low places. If you pour
at too low temp you will get cooling marks. I plan on one wax
from each mold.

Will Rogers never met a lawyer.

Bobert

Hi,

The metal is mallots (sp.?) metal. It was used years ago in
dentisry. It melts in boiling water. A similar or possibly the
same metal is used by gunsmiths to make a metal casting of the
chamber of a firearm.

Regards,

Skip

                                  Skip Meister
                                NRA Endowment and
                                   Instructor
                                @Skip_Meister
                                10/18/9704:06:56