iTopSpin

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Author Topic: did you know you can thin silicone caulk?  (Read 22969 times)

Daveid

  • ITSA Jr.
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 332
  • pinwheels
did you know you can thin silicone caulk?
« on: January 20, 2013, 10:22:18 AM »

long ago i read online somewhere that you can thin it with lighter fluid, at the time i wanted it pourably thin, so i used a lot of lighter fluid... it really made me nervous using so much flamable liquid so i tried other things to mix it with, and found that mineral spirits also seems to thin it out, but for some reason at the time that i was doing that i didn't like the end result with the mineral spirits... now i can't remember why i didn't like it, but i'll probably be trying it again here in a few days just to try and re-figure that out.


i really like the idea of making things out of rubber, when i was doing it years ago i was using a very expensive mold rubber that i had left over from a friend at college and i wasn't really making much of anything interesting, just experimenting with what may or may not stick to the mold and what may or may not color silicone caulk, now that i've started making again... i want to try stuff that i never got around to figuring out, like for instance i was only in the experimental stage with making a rubber top.

this time i might actually go with trying to make a mold to make a rubber top, years ago when i tried i was just stretching some balloons over funnels (actually i think that could still work, the funnels are the shape  you want, the balloons are just there because you don't want the silicone to stick permanently to your funnels, the latex of the balloon sticks to it but if you're careful you can peel it off very slowly, if you're less than careful you can just rely on the fact that petroleum products eat latex)... one thought i have is to make a rubber mold of "The Love" from s8's crown area then make a throwaway positive to mold directly around then put that directly into a form that would make it part of a mold/funel-with-baloons thing...

or maybe i'll give up on the silicone top idea and just make rubber copies of my godzilla action figures... it'd give them a feel like those pro-wrestler rubber figures the kids i was jealous of had in the eighties.
Logged
like I always say:dead monkeys don't fly on sticks.

ta0

  • Administrator
  • Olympus member
  • *****
  • Posts: 14235
    • www.ta0.com
Re: did you know you can thin silicone caulk?
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2013, 12:12:52 PM »

I moved the thread from NSTR to modding because I really want  you to make a rubber top  ;D  I would love a top that could spin well but could also be kicked like a ball  . . .  ;D  8)
Logged

johnm

  • Ultrahero member
  • *******
  • Posts: 892
Re: did you know you can thin silicone caulk?
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2013, 07:01:33 PM »

Sounds very interesting.  You may already have searched but you might find some additional ideas or reports about someone already testing some of your thoughts by doing a new Google search.  Here is a link ( link = silicone instructable) to an instructable where a guy is adding corn starch to make thicker forms cure more quickly and completely.  This picture of a funnel form (from a plastic martini glass) looks promising as a top body especially if a second glass had been pressed into the silicone to hollow it out.  He even suggest sanding or using a Dremmel tool to modify the shape after curing.


Here's a link to a discussion more to the point of thinning silicone caulk (link = thinning caulk) in particular
Quote
If you feel you need to thin silicone caulking, xylene is the solvent of choice, but work outdoors and protect yourself from the vapors, they can cause health problems, so read the label. Mineral spirits will also work, but weaken the material and leave it with a greasy feel. Mineral spirits will also slow the cure from hours to possibly days.
Also, volatile solvents will result in shrinkage of the finished mold in proportion to the amount of solvent added to the silicone.


There have been many comments about having tops be of a flexible rubbery material like that of several diabolo bells, so your results will be of great interest to those of us playing tops in rough environments.  Good luck!
Logged

lincolnrick

  • ITSA
  • Hyperhero member
  • ********
  • Posts: 1312
Re: did you know you can thin silicone caulk?
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2013, 12:13:37 PM »

Quote
If you feel you need to thin silicone caulking, xylene is the solvent of choice, but work outdoors and protect yourself from the vapors, they can cause health problems, so read the label. Mineral spirits will also work, but weaken the material and leave it with a greasy feel. Mineral spirits will also slow the cure from hours to possibly days.
Also, volatile solvents will result in shrinkage of the finished mold in proportion to the amount of solvent added to the silicone.



Please be very very carefeul when working with any solvents, especially xylene.  That's some nasty stuff!!
Logged