Gypsum casting is the production of artistic and decorative products from natural environmentally friendly material. Despite the seriousness of such a business, the organizational cycle of this business is quite simple, and all stages of production can be reproduced at home.
It is quite simple to make a product from gypsum: gypsum (alabaster) is mixed, which is sold in any hardware store, and water flowing from a faucet. Ready mix poured into finished product molds or matrices. After the plaster hardens, it is removed from the mold. The product is ready.
Popular directions for the production of gypsum products are all kinds of imitation of stucco molding for the interior, gypsum figurines for the home and sculptures for the garden, and other decorative elements. Indeed, high-quality and original gypsum products are very expensive, at an extremely low cost - the price of the product is the cost of the matrix, gypsum and water. It is easy for anyone to get gypsum and water, therefore, the only and key point of such a business is original mold for casting plaster.
If you read the information on the Internet, it can be noted that the demand for ready-made matrices is high, and the offers on the market are quite expensive. At the same time, the production of matrices, as well as plaster casting, is quite simple home business.
How to make a mold for plaster casting with your own handsOn the market there are forms of different material. Solid plastic and fiberglass molds, for all their advantages (durability and shape retention), are difficult to manufacture and require a rather high skill of the molder. The main disadvantage of such forms is the limited range of products made from gypsum. This disadvantage is associated with the overall rigidity of the material. The use of plastic molds for plaster is a thing of the past. Modern popular materials for the production of gypsum matrices are molding sands.
Molding mixtures - gypsum, polyurethane - are plastic, easy to use, suitable for the production of complex gypsum products.
The main thing in the production of molds for gypsum is the fantasy and originality of the finished product. If you plan to produce molds for decorative stone, your tile matrix must be unique and interesting to the end user, that is, plaster products made from your matrix must be sold and liked by people.
Stages of production of silicone and polyurethane molds for gypsum:You can sell ready-made matrices. If you creative person and you get matrices of unique products - the demand is stable and guaranteed. You can also make customized molds to order - an individual baguette, stucco, sculptures and other decorative elements for all kinds of studios and firms for the decoration and repair of premises and facades. The reverse side of such a business, if you get unique products, then you can independently engage in gypsum production and sell ready-made gypsum products or make them to order. The most optimal solution for such a business is to simultaneously sell the final products and forms for them. So you cover all the demand in the market.
Estimated cost and profitability of the businessA kilogram of silicone or polyurethane molding sand costs from 500 rubles. Sculptural plasticine - from 50 rubles. The box, your imagination and work are priceless, so it is difficult to take into account their value. The cost of manufacturing a small matrix is 650 ... 1000 rubles.
Gypsum from 200 rubles per bag. Water from 20 rubles per cubic meter. Cost price small product from a small matrix - 200 rubles.
The cost of selling finished plaster products is from 700 rubles to 700 thousand (for a huge sculpture). Ready-made matrices - from 2500 rubles apiece.
Today, polyurethane, silicone, rubber and plastic molds are widely used in the construction industry. With their help, tiles, soda paths, artificial stone are made, and gypsum casting is also made.
Entering this segment with the opening of the production of such forms is quite simple, but it is necessary to rely on the high quality of the manufactured products.
A wide range and large production volumes can only be pursued by large enterprises. And for mini-production, it is better to produce high-quality and reliable products.
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Rent production premises.
For organization own production molds made of silicone, plastic, polyurethane and rubber will need a room for a warehouse and workshop. It is best to rent a room with an area of at least 50 m2. It is important to choose a heated room with low humidity and good ventilation. At the same time, the availability of water supply and sewerage will also positive moment. The power line in the building must withstand 380 watts. It is best to rent a room outside the city or in an industrial area. The cost of monthly rent of this type of premises will be about $430.
Equipment for making molds.
For the production of molds, you can buy both a fully automated line and a semi-automatic one (the second one will be cheaper). The automated line consists of the following equipment:
1. Extruder - $12,000;
2. Dosing equipment with continuous process volume control - $8 thousand;
3. Device for feeding and sorting products - $ 3.4 thousand;
4. Line for packing products into boxes - $ 1.6 thousand.
The cost of the automated mold production line is $25,000.
The semi-automatic version consists of the following elements:
1. Extruder with pneumatic-hydraulic pump - $9.5 thousand;
2. Dosing equipment with a continuous process of volume control - $ 8 thousand;
3. Press for the process of pipe sealing - $ 1.5 thousand.
semi price automatic line is about 19 thousand dollars.
The decision on which line to purchase is, of course, yours. First of all, it is necessary to evaluate the planned production volumes and possible investments in the business.
Materials for the production of molds.
For the production of molds from silicone, polyurethane, plastic and rubber, the following components are used:
1. Polyester resin;
2. Epoxy resin;
3. Polyurethane elastomer;
4. Liquid plastic;
5. Natural or artificial wax;
6. Silicon, chromium, boron, cobalt, manganese, copper, selenium.
It will take about $4.5 thousand to buy the necessary components for the production of molds.
Personnel in the enterprise.
To work on the production line will need about 10 people working staff. This is a specialist equipment adjuster, 3-4 operators per line, a designer, a security guard, a loader, a technologist:
The setup specialist will be engaged in setting up or (in the event of a breakdown) repairing the production line. The salary of a specialist will be about $200.
Operators on the line will keep the equipment running smoothly, their salary is about $180.
The designer performs one of the most important jobs. According to his sketches, molds will be developed and produced. His salary is $230.
The technologist will control the quality of the manufactured goods. He will receive a salary of up to $300.
Working staff - security guards and movers will receive a salary of $ 120.
In total, to organize production, you will need to pay about $ 2,000 monthly to pay workers.
Marketing activities for the promotion of this business include creating a website, printing and distributing leaflets, placing advertisements in newspapers and magazines, participating in presentations and exhibitions. Developing your own web resource will attract attention potential clients through the Internet.
Leaflets will allow you to cover a wide mass of potential consumers of the desired area or area. Advertising in printed publications will allow you to get to know about your product throughout the state, and possibly beyond its borders. Participation in social events will allow you to learn about new trends, present products and, perhaps, attract the largest customers. Price marketing activities about $160.
Basic costs.
To organize your own business for the manufacture of molds from polyurethane, silicone, rubber and plastic requires the following investments:
1. Rent of industrial premises - $430 thousand;
2. Purchase of equipment - $19-25 thousand;
3. Purchase of raw materials - $4.5 thousand;
4. Wage personnel - $2,000;
5. Advertising activity - $160;
6. Additional expenses - $120-150.
Considering all the above expenses, to open your own business of such a profile, you need - 26.2-32.2 thousand dollars.
Profit and payback period.
The cost of one finished form starts from $8. Most often, the markup is about 300%. This means that the market value of one of the simplest forms is about $24.
In conditions of uninterrupted production, about 1 thousand molds can be produced monthly. It means that net profit ventures can be around $16,000.
Excluding all taxes, additional and basic expenses, the monthly profit is about $8,000. This means that the full payback of all investments can be made within a period of 7 months to a year, but only if the product is sold well and the demand for goods is high.
Sales of goods and business development.
Polyurethane, silicone, rubber and plastic molds are widely used in the following areas:
1. To create paving slabs;
2. For the manufacture of basement bricks;
3. Production of fences;
4. For the manufacture of polymer stone;
5. Plaster casting;
6. For products of garden and park architecture;
7. Making garden paths.
Develop this business first of all, it is necessary to expand the range, increase production scale. When the range of products offered is really wide, you can start opening your own outlet. After that, you can begin to provide related services, namely, construction, repair and design work.
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Silicone has many useful properties: it repels water, chemically neutral and resistant to various temperature influences (it withstands from -70 to +250 degrees Celsius).
This material is characterized by high resistance to deforming force, minimal degradation over time, and resistance to hydrolysis and oxidation. The polymer may be in the form of a liquid, rubber (unvulcanized silicone composition), lubricant or rubber.
Silicone is used in various fields- in building structures for sealing windows and glazing, for water supply and sewerage, for sealing the surfaces of engines, gearboxes, sides, hulls, for sealing roofs, pipes.
Chemically inert and biologically compatible silicone is used for implants. It is produced from medical devices(capillary, drainage, vacuum tubes, blood transfusion systems, cords, porous products, tapes, multichannel and sealing products).
Even covers are made from silicone rubber. mobile phones and women's bags. These polymers are widely used in cosmetics. For example, the most popular of them are the antifoam agents Dimethicone and Phenyl Trimethicone, the antistatic agents Cyclomethicone and Methicone.
To organize your own production of silicone, you will need premises for a workshop and a warehouse (the area depends on production volumes), as well as special high-tech equipment.
You can purchase both semi-automatic and fully automated lines. The first includes: an extruder with an air-hydraulic pump, a dosing device with continuous volume adjustment, a tube sealing press. The automatic line also consists of an extruder, a dosing device, as well as a feeding sorter and a boxer.
The decision on which line to choose depends on the size of your start-up capital, the type of product being manufactured, as well as the planned production volumes. In any case, when servicing a semi-automatic or automatic line, you cannot do without the help of a service technician. A minimum of ten workers will be required to work on the line. The organization of such production is a large-scale project that requires large investments, which amount to several million rubles or even dollars.
In addition, you can purchase a mini-workshop for the production of molded products from polyurethane and silicone. It includes everything necessary equipment, tools and equipment. With the help of such mini-workshops, it is possible to produce pillows and silent blocks for cars from polyurethanes and silicone. The cost of used equipment for a mini-workshop is only about 300-350 thousand rubles, depending on the configuration. To work in such a production, two or three workers are enough, provided they work in shifts.
Components such as silicon, chromium, boron, manganese, nickel, tungsten, selenium, copper, cobalt, etc. can be used to produce silicone. They can be released under high temperature or if the silicone is damaged and cause harm to human health. Therefore, such potentially hazardous components are used only in the production of building silicone. The requirements for medical grade or food grade silicone are, of course, much more stringent.
If you do not have a large starting capital, pay attention to narrower and, accordingly, budgetary spheres of production. For example, in great demand among Russian consumers use silicone molds for baking, for the production of soap at home and souvenir products. They are produced both on an industrial scale and by the piece - according to the sketches and drawings of the customer.
For making silicone molds, it is best to use food-safe silicone from the USA as raw material. There is no need to purchase expensive equipment. Such molds are made using ready-made matrices, into which cold-curing silicone is manually poured, which hardens at room temperature. For such production, there are no strict requirements for the premises (special ventilation system, personal protective equipment, etc.), so you can do this at first and at home.
Souvenir soap, jewelry and bijouterie, cooking and cosmetology, food industry and construction - and this is an incomplete list of possible applications. Before moving on to recipes for independently obtaining an analogue of elastic polymers produced by manufacturers, let's recall their qualities.
Molding polymersA versatile material obtained by dissolving crushed quartz nitric acid. When mixed with one of the catalysts, it is somewhat reminiscent of rubber. The substance is non-toxic, resistant to alkalis and acids. In finished form, it has elasticity, impact resistance, water resistance and unlimited service life. It is very easy to look after products from it, it is simple to store them.
By appointment, two-component compounds, consisting of a paste and a hardener, are divided into casting, coating, and also silicone for making molds. With your own hands, you can make from these mixtures not only blanks for souvenir soap, but also strong templates for pouring paving slabs, obtaining decorative stones and gypsum stucco.
To give the substance a solid state, it is mixed with a tin or platinum catalyst before use, which is included in the kit. Some qualities of elastic rubber depend on the type of hardener:
- transparency or haze;
- tear or tear strength;
- dimensional stability and heat resistance;
- hardness;
- final hardening time;
- durability and resilience.
For example, mixtures with tin catalysts are used in industry and construction. For the production of artificial stone or strong plastic products, the most durable materials are needed. for the manufacture of molds into which chocolate and caramel are poured, they are produced on the basis of platinum hardeners. The softness and elasticity of these compounds is more suitable for "sweet" industries and baking.
Despite the variety of compounds on sale, some craftsmen prefer to do everything on their own. This is usually justified by economy and creativity.
Making silicone for molds with your own hands is possible in several ways. It should be clarified that the resulting substance differs in characteristics from industrial mixtures. And these differences are not always positive. If branded liquid silicone for making molds is used to create large and small products, then homemade rubber is made only for home creativity.
Starting to make silicone for molds with your own hands, put a container, box or box for the main work. It is made of cardboard (if the sample is small), wood or plastic. It can be collapsible or solid. From the first it is easier to release the frozen workpiece. There should be no gaps between the parts of the container, since all types of elastics have fluidity.
Before putting the "model" into the container, it is covered with a separator. This lubricant must be wax, grease or soap. To get a matrix for a vertical souvenir, it is attached to the bottom of the container by a support on a piece of plasticine so that it does not float up. Then, a pre-mixed compound is poured around the model in a thin stream. Filling the container starts from the corners, completely covering the figure installed inside.
If you need a small amount of elastic rubber for a small product, you can use one of the options below. Making silicone for molds at home begins with the preparation of a dish, a spatula for stirring, components, a main container for pouring and a small souvenir, the so-called master figurine, a cast of which is planned to be obtained for “cloning”.
For the first method, glycerin and gelatin are taken in equal amounts and placed in a small container. The composition is melted in a water bath with constant stirring, avoiding boiling. Heating lasts 10-12 minutes.
Recipe details #1The bottom of the prepared tray made of cardboard or wood is evenly covered with the resulting mixture. Then the souvenir is dipped in homemade silicone and quickly placed in this box. The sticky figurine is immediately poured with hot composition, filling the tray to the brim.
Liquid silicone for making molds, obtained in such a simple way, hardens in a few minutes, almost before our eyes. After the mass has completely cooled down, the resulting bar is removed from the box, a cut is made from the bottom side and the souvenir is carefully removed.
The resulting figured cavity can only be filled in. Manufacturing according to this recipe has several disadvantages:
- the finished master product absorbs water, so you can not use it to make plaster castings;
- the mass melts when trying to fill with a hot substance, therefore it is not suitable for creating designer soap.
- after several uses, the inner surface of the mold deteriorates, loses its gloss and quality.
A plus is the ability to repeatedly remelt old stamps.
Making silicone for molds with your own hands requires some effort. Plastic clay craftsmen make patterns and molds in this way to bring their ideas to life. So, one of the types of resistant to high temperatures building sealant and ordinary food starch or talc. It is advisable to work in the same way. Since the setting of the sealant occurs within 10 minutes, it is necessary to put an object next to it from which the cast will be prepared: a shell, a figure that is flat on one side, something else. The mold will turn out to be hard, with a concave recess, therefore it is suitable for the production of only one-sided souvenirs.
Recipe number 2: details
The first of the advantages can be called the reusability of the resulting template. The material retains all its qualities. In molds made of starch, you can pour a hot soap base, after sprinkling it with alcohol from a spray bottle. Do-it-yourself silicone for making molds withstands temperature loads on a par with industrial formulations.
Among the minuses are the sharp acetic smell of sealants and the rapid solidification of the “dough”. But the master can prepare such an amount of a substance that is necessary precisely in this moment time for a particular job.
On gyktimes already about in, but this time we will pour silicone into plastic.
Brief background. We were faced with the task: to make a certain number of rubber buttons from car keys according to the model. We tried to print them on a rubber filament 3D printer, but the quality was not satisfactory. It was then that the idea came to reverse the technology of casting in silicone. What came of it, read under the cut.
Technology overview
Plastic injection molding
Not exactly rubber, but the essence is the same: a special machine - an injection molding machine (TPA) - brings the raw material (2) to the melting temperature and injects the melt into the mold (4.6) through the output die (3). Typically, thermoplastics are used as feedstock. 
Pros: manufacturability, high speed of obtaining the product, the widest list of materials, high final quality, the highest degree of detail. Cons: here - manufacturability, unreasonably high cost for home use, high power consumption, payback only on large print runs.
Casting in silicone molds
The technology is simple and elegant, whoever wants to learn more can follow the links in the header, but here I will give short description. The master model is placed in a bath and filled with a liquid silicone mixture, after a while the silicone hardens. The resulting one is cut and the master model is taken out of it. Thanks to their physical properties, silicone immediately takes its original form with a hollowness in the form of a master model, where anything hardening should be poured. Hardened anything is removed in the same way as the master model.
Pros: simplicity, cheapness, repeatability. Cons: not everything is so simple, bubbles in the product, in some places a rather long process, a limited range of materials, dirt - then you walk around and stick to everything.
So let's go! Having trained a little on cats, it was decided to make a matrix not based on silicone, but on the basis of the same plastics that are poured into these same silicones. The principle here is the same: we mix the two components of the thermoplastic with each other and pour it into the finished matrix until curing. There are a number of reasons why I chose not to use silicone as a matrix. First, even when using a large number the separating lubricant was not always able to properly tear the model off the matrix, a few pieces had to be thrown away. Secondly, silicone matrices quickly become unusable, especially if they are boiled to speed up the polymerization process. Thirdly, silicone is still deformed, especially if you squeeze out air bubbles manually, and not with a compressor. Fourthly, I had a lot of plastic and little silicone, however, after a few failed attempts to have time to pour the mixture into the matrix before it polymerizes, the situation has changed to the opposite. And fifthly, I just wanted "like at the factory." A classic mold consists of a die (usually the bottom part) and a punch (usually the top pressure part). I decided to start by making a matrix, into which the master model will be “poured”.
I immediately apologize for the possible hidden advertising on business cards, I tried to remove everything from the sweat of the cat, initially the goal was not to post here. As you can see, the part itself is small, which means that laminated business cards can be used as formwork. Lamination, in addition to an aesthetically smooth surface, allows you to do without the use of a separating composition. Based on previous experience, I decided that the model would not just lie on the back of the business card, but on a small plasticine elevation. As a result, the product will be, as it were, drowned in the bath, which will give additional opportunity avoid bubbles.
Glued with superglue to plasticine, otherwise it does not stick.
Big photo
Tray inside out
We seal the holes
Result
To press the punch, I decided to “pour” four studs into the matrix along the edges. The bottom line is this: the back of the buttons, the one that is glued to the plasticine bath, is the counterpart for the punch, to which it will be pressed. Accordingly, we will “pour” the thread into the same part.
In the photo, part of the thread is closed with a tube, this is the counterpart of the punch.
Since it is very difficult to visually set the parallelism of the studs, on another business card I made holes in the same places and assembled something like this frame:
As you can see, the threaded ends face the inside of the matrix.
The result with formwork will look like this:
More photos under the cut
As a direct material for pouring, I used what the seller recommended with the words: "Keeps 120 Celsius and hardens in three minutes." Actually, this is a cardboard box with two jars of yellow and blue, half a liter each. The liquid in the jars is transparent, one is thinner than the other. Well, that is, the contents of the blue jar are thicker, and the contents of the yellow jar have a yellowish tint. After polymerization, the composition loses its transparency and becomes, I don’t even know how to put it differently, but gently white. The chemical composition is not really known, on the yellow it is written: 4,4 ′-Methylenebis (phenyl isocyanate) and a warning about urgent and inexorable death in the most terrible torment, if suddenly something happens. But the blue jar tells us that “No hazardous ingredients”, but WARNING is still on it. One way or another, the children of the Soviet Union cannot be intimidated by such trifles, which means we will work with what we have.
Actually, a photo of the cans:
It is necessary to interfere with this whole thing in a one-to-one ratio, which is damn convenient, unlike silicone, into which 3-4% of the catalyst must be poured. Go and measure when the final product weighs half a gram!
Educational page
If you mix different content options from all four jars (yellow, blue, silicone and silicone catalyst) in any proportions, then absolutely nothing will happen. For the phases of liquids do not coincide and they do not mix. But if you mix everything together, and even in the right proportions, we get an indistinct mass, similar to very fragile polyurethane foam.So let's go!
Cooking proportions:
We mix:
With the help of a can and a compressor from the refrigerator, we degas (get rid of gases, that is):
...we can't do anything. The mixture has solidified.
But now I have a beautiful anyhow and minus one-fifth of the plastic:
This, by the way, is a very important point: you need to know exactly and be sure of what exactly you are going to do. If the whole process is done manually, including mixing, degassing, pouring back and forth, it must be understood that the pot life of the mixture must be sufficient to complete all these procedures. Well, a lot of small moments that are difficult to foresee without having a sad experience or experienced advice. For example, a degassing chamber. I assembled it on my knee from a refrigerator compressor and a glass jar with a lid. It seems nothing complicated, but a lot of bugs immediately got out. First, it is impossible to get your hand out of the jar if you hold a glass at that time.
Here's what I looked like the first time I tried it:
Secondly, the hose from the compressor enters exactly into the center of the lid from the can, respectively, when the pressure is normalized, the air hits exactly into the center of the mixture with force. As a result, minus the second fifth of the plastic and the white, opaque walls of the can. Thirdly, the hose is short and hard, and strives to overturn a small and light jar with contents. Minus the third fifth plasticity. Of course, after that I began to think through all my actions in advance, with various options for the development of events. As a result, I was able to achieve something:
I must say that in this case I decided to do without the use of a compressor. Next, you need to "undress" the matrix:
Clear plasticine and admire the result:
Put the master model in place
And assemble a new formwork:
More photos under the cut
Here we will fill in the mixture that will form the punch, this is the counterpart of the matrix. Of course, so that the studs are not flooded with plastic, tubes are mounted on them. If desired, they can then be pulled out of the punch. The inside must be lubricated with a release agent, for this I use a wax solution in the form of a spray.
Result after removing the formwork:
Big photo
A little tweaking and here is the result:
Big photo
A few words about plastic. During the polymerization process, the plastic can get quite hot, and heating speeds up the reaction. Accordingly, the larger the volume we mix, the more heat is released and the faster the mixture hardens. This must be taken into account. The intermediate stage - the gel - lasts literally a minute, at this stage there is still an opportunity to correct small flaws. After complete polymerization, a product is obtained that resembles ivory in texture. It is lighter than ABS and less durable, like it keeps the temperature better. It is easily processed mechanically, glued, painted (it is better to use a dye in the process of mixing the components), sinks in water, burns. With strong heating, it first passes into a less solid phase, then becomes very plastic. But not fluid! That is, it cannot be crushed, otherwise it will simply crack. With destructive overheating, the plastic begins to crumble, suddenly turns into a fluid mass, becomes transparent and changes its color to the color of burnt sugar. The stink and all that is of course present. Can it be used as a replacement for thermoplastics? It depends on what for, but in general cases, yes, and given the fact that this is not the most durable option on the market, it is definitely possible. Well, now the reason for which this whole thing was started is the manufacture of silicone copies. Since I only had white silicone, ...
Himself:
... and the buttons need black, I had to improvise with toner from a laser printer:
I already mentioned the difficulties with the selection of the silicone / catalyst ratio, here the insulin syringe came to the rescue. I stirred the whole thing and smeared the resulting kaku first on the punch, and then poured the rest into the matrix, where the “convexity” that I made from plasticine came in handy.
UPD in the comments drew attention to the use of unsuitable plastic cups for mixing the mixture - the material of the cup speeds up the reaction. That's why I think the mixture lasted longer in the glass.
After 10 minutes:
Result after trimming:
conclusions
The technology is working, there is nothing complicated, the materials are available. For the home or small series is a great option. Suitable for large products in the same way as thermoplastics. A very serious minus is mud. Maybe I'm such a pig, but the fact that I screwed up my workplace, very frustrating.
