With the growing popularity of mold making and casting, many people are becoming familiar with products like alginate, moulage, clay, wax, plaster, polyurethane resin, silicone rubber, and latex that are commonly used to make eye-catching casts and life casts. But did you know that sand is also be used as a high grade mold making material?
Indeed, sand is widely used in the foundry industry for metal castings, to make strong and resilient heat resistant molds of almost anything. But another question arises – what will hold the sand particles together when making molds?
The answer is water glass – or sodium silicate. This chemical compound is added to dry, clean very fine silica sand and works to glue the sand particles together very effectively. In fact, water glass is a high strength binder. It should be mixed into the sand with a sand mill and cured with carbon dioxide gas for making sand molded castings.
Sodium silicate has other uses for artists too. It is used as a high temperature adhesive and also works as an effective sealer for plaster and cement. Another beneficial feature is that the surfaces where it is applied become water repellant!
Not many people are aware that the realistic antique look on metal and ceramic items comes from a coat of water glass. The compound is just brushed on the surface and then quickly dried with a heat gun or blowtorch. Then the item is carefully expanded from inside to get an aura of instant antiquity!
Indeed, sand is widely used in the foundry industry for metal castings, to make strong and resilient heat resistant molds of almost anything. But another question arises – what will hold the sand particles together when making molds?
The answer is water glass – or sodium silicate. This chemical compound is added to dry, clean very fine silica sand and works to glue the sand particles together very effectively. In fact, water glass is a high strength binder. It should be mixed into the sand with a sand mill and cured with carbon dioxide gas for making sand molded castings.
Sodium silicate has other uses for artists too. It is used as a high temperature adhesive and also works as an effective sealer for plaster and cement. Another beneficial feature is that the surfaces where it is applied become water repellant!
Not many people are aware that the realistic antique look on metal and ceramic items comes from a coat of water glass. The compound is just brushed on the surface and then quickly dried with a heat gun or blowtorch. Then the item is carefully expanded from inside to get an aura of instant antiquity!