Resin Jewellery Moulds

How to Make Silicone Jewellery Moulds

1) Types of resin jewellery

2) Ready-made Jewellery moulds

3) Make your own Jewellery moulds

4) Making Silicone Jewellery

5) Pressing Polymer Clay into Moulds

6) Getting started with a kit

Types of Resin Jewellery

There are many types of resin jewellery. Resin is so versatile that you can replicate real stone or gem, reproduce metal effect or let your immagination run wild with multi coloured plastic resins. With resin jewellery moulds you are not even limited to resin. You can cast silicone rubber into jewellery moulds to create flexible rubber jewellery and polymer clays can also be pressed into the moulds.

Some different resin jewellery ideas

Amber Jewellery	Multi Coloured Bangles	Jewellery with Embeddments

Ready-Made Jewellery Moulds

The quickest and easiest way to cast resin jewellery and embedding items is to use one of the many new ready-made casting resin moulds that we have just got in stock. These moulds come in many shapes and sizes and can be cast immediately and last for a long time producing high quality glossy clear castings.

Most commercial moulds are made from heavy duty polyethylene plastic due to its easy release qualities and resistance to degradation by the clear casting polyester resin. Decorative items produced in these moulds may be made with one pour of the clear casting polyester resin or in several colours known as “Multiple Colour Pours”. This technique will be described later in the article.

Polyethylene moulds are widely used in the craft industry because they are inexpensive, reusable, require no mould release and produce castings with a high polished finish. The plastic is vulnerable to scratches, which show up in the finished product, so care must be taken in handling these moulds.

Check out our full range of ready-made resin casting moulds on our store

Make your own Jewellery Mould

I am often asked for simple straightforward instructions on how to make jewellery moulds and how to go about making a mould of a simple flat backed object such as a pendant or a badge or even perhaps of a wall plaque. The techniques for making any of these objects is basically the same.

Silicone resin jewellery moulds can be made either by brushing or by pouring. For flat backed objects it is easier and quicker to make the mould by pouring.

SELECTING A CONTAINER IN WHICH TO MAKE THE RESIN JEWELLERY MOULDS

As with any poured mould the first thing we have to consider is how we are going to contain the liquid silicone around the model.

Fortunately with these smaller objects many suitable containers are to be found ready to hand. Plastic containers are suitable and come in shapes and sizes. What we want is a container that is about 1 to 2 cm bigger all around and about 5 cm taller than the model. The clear disposable plastic containers used for take-away food are ideal and come in a variety of sizes.

For smaller items we fix the model to a small board and surround it with a non hardening clay such as Plastelina rolled out flat to about 1 cm thickness and cut and shaped to make a suitable surround . Another method is to use Lego blocks built up to the make a closed container around the model.

All of the methods require the model to be fixed to the base of the container to save it moving or floating up out of position when the silicone is poured in to the container. The model can be glued with a hot glue gun or simply press the model down on a small ball of Plastelina.. This will squeeze out any surplus clay from under the model and firmly adhere it to the container base. It will be necessary to clean any excess clay from around the base with a small pointed tool.

USING A PLASTIC FOOD CONTAINER AS A MOULD DAM

(1) Leave the lid on the container and cut out the base

(2) Place the container on a flat level surface and secure the model to the base using either a glue gun or Plastelina clay.

(3) A release agent is not usually required as silicone will not adhere to most articles, however there are exceptions. It is good idea to test if using anything new. When required we use a release of vaseline or petroleum jelly. As it is difficult to spread it on evenly we dissolve 10% of petroleum jelly in a solvent such as white spirit and spray it on with a cheap hand garden sprayer. This evaporates quickly and leaves an thin even film of the jelly.

(4) Silicone for our resin jewellery moulds come as a two part kit which must be weighted separately as per the instructions that the manufacturer supplies. CraftSil 750 a commonly used silicone for general mould making for instance requires 10 parts of Part to 1 part of Part B by weight. Usually the amounts required for measuring are supplied for those that do have accurate scales, however this is not as reliable a method as weighing.

(5) We find it convenient to use waxed disposable paper cups to weigh and mix the two parts using wood stirrers. Mixing is very important, as improperly mixed silicone will leave weak uncured parts in the mould.

Pour the Part B into the container containing Part A and mix thoroughly, scraping the sides and the bottom with your mixing action. Try not to be so violent as to mix air into the mix rather use a folding action. Pour the mixed silicone back into the first cup and remix before pouring into the mould.

(6) If there a great deal of detail or any undercuts it is sometimes advisable to brush on a thin coat of mixed silicone onto the model before commencing to pour. This will ensure all detail is picked up by the silicone in what will be the detail reproducing part of the finished mould.

Commence pouring a thin stream of mixed silicone into the mould into the lowest section of the mould allowing the silicone to slowly rise and cover the higher sections as you continue pouring Continue pouring until you have at least 1 cm of silicone above the highest point of the model.

The thin stream of silicone you are pouring of silicone will ensure that all air bubbles remaining in the mixture are broken before reaching the mould. Hold the container from which you are pouring the silicone at least 45cm above the mould container into which you are pouring the silicone.

Another method is to drill a small hole near the bottom of the paper cup in which you are about to mix the silicone and tape it over. After mixing place it on a ledge or similar above the mould container and remove the tape letting the silicone pour in the required thin stream into the mould container. This is a good method for those who do not have a steady hand.

(7) Leave overnight and demould the following day by removing the container lid and pressing gently from the top. Our completed resin jewellery moulds should come out of the container quite readily and the model removed ready for casting.

Making Silicone Jewellery

The easiest way to create your own silicone rubber jewellery is to use one of our ready-made resin moulds. You can pour in any one of our silicones. We have a wide range of silicone pigments to colour your silicone and there are also clear silicones which can be cast as is or embedded with objects to decorate.

There is no need for a release agent when casting silicone into the resin moulds but if you are casting silicone into your own custom made silicone mould you need to be carefule as silicone can stick to silicone. Make sure you use a release agent. We use petroleum jelly diluted in a solvent. We use white spirit to make a runny solution. After painting the solution onto the surface of the mould let the solvent evaporate and what remains is a fine, even coating of petroleum jelly. You can then cast in the silicone.

Pressing Polymer Clay into Moulds

Polymer clays are quick and easy to use. You can make really interesting effects and beatiful jewellery pieces by simply pressing some polymer clay into a mould and then hardening them in an oven.

We have a new book on polymer clays to give you some great ideas and teach you many tricks. We also have a wide range of colours of polymer clays.


Click here for our range of polymer clays	Click here for more information on this book

Getting Started with a Kit

How to Make Resin Jewellery Kit

This is one of the most exciting kits we have assembled. It is a complete introduction to making the moulds and casting resin jewellery.

The kit contains everything you require to start producing designer quality resin jewellery. It includes the latex and full instructions on resin jewellery mould making and also a finished mould to make 11 different beads. This is a high quality assorted mould which produces high quality resin jewellery pieces.

A 24 page full colour book that is included, contains one of the best descriptions of resin jewellery making that we have seen up to date.

The kit contains high quaility Crystal Cast Clear epoxy resin which is a low odour and easy to use resin for jewellery. We prefer using this resin as it does not require the highly toxic MEKP that Polyester resin requires. The low odour means no more headaches and you can make your resin jewellery pieces from the comfort of your own living room or kitchen.

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