Surprising Ideas You Can Come up With in A Pinch!

Have you ever wanted to dome something in metal clay only to find you don’t have the correct size or slope? I've had that  happen to me. So, I looked around my studio to find an object I could use that had the correct size and dome. I wanted a small round high dome so I could make this bead.







I decided to make a mold of the ultra sonic lid’s handle. Here is what you can make on the spur of the moment with stuff sitting around your shop.  I pulled out these items.

Top to an ultra sonic cleaner   2 ea. Gatorade caps two part silicone mold compound two part epoxy a scale weight popsicle stick tooth picks colorant






Mix the two part silicone mold compound in equal parts until they become one color
Press into the cap. This gives the mold a flat surface at its opening.

Press the object into mold compound. In my case the lid’s handle. Weight it down so that as the compound sets it doesn’t push the object out.
Allow it to set (per manufactures recommendations).






 

Then make a form out of resin in the mold. I added a paper lip around the cap so I can pour extra resin making a footing for my form.
Mix equal parts of two part epoxy, enough to fill the mold. I added colorant to make it easy to spot the form on my cluttered workbench and just to make it fun.
Allow the epoxy to set, per the manufactures recommendation.




Remove dried epoxy and enjoy your own custom form!
Remember to lubricate the form before laying metal clay over it!  Do not place the form on a hot plate to dry the clay, it may burn!