For this week’s project I found a mold on Thingiverse and 3D printed for the first time on my own! I found a mold with an interesting shape (similar to a star fruit) and thought that it would make for an interesting shape to add some movement too.
I found a tube that I could create space for air to put in the air pump and mixed the silicon up and used the vacuum to help settle out the air bubbles. I was mostly successful with my plans, except for two major air bubbles that ended up hurting the structure of the mold (one at the top and one at the side). The one at the top was most impactful, as the mold essentially ripped and I lost the ability to have an air-tight cavity for the air pump to enter.
Once I got the air valve in, I realized something very key that I overlooked. The thickness of the silicon walls can impact the mobility greatly!! The mold moves softly and simply like a heart beating. In it’s own way it kinda is nice, but would really like to make something in the future that has better movement!
x.