[cstovin]

Hi all,

I can't carve to save my life; I have been looking all over the internet for small candy molds, or other types of molds of a bucking bronc/cowboy and bull rider to no avail. I am looking for something about 1.75 inches tall, and even if I could just get silhoutte form would be a start. I tried to get drawings off of the internet, trace that on my clay, let my clay harden a little, then carve the outline, and I can't even do that right.....


I emailed a few people on Etsy that make candy molds and they quoted me $50 each for a small mold with very little detail of what I am looking for....does anyone else have any other ideas? I tried searching soap molds, candy molds, ceramic molds (none that small).....I tried to make my own.....there are no cookie cutters that small that I can find; anyone have any suggestions? I want them to help decorate some of my larger items but there has to be something out there for those of us that are not artistic :0)
Charlene

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•  13043016-rodeo-bull-rider.jpg (11.65K)
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[Chantane]

cstovin, on 21 August 2012 - 08:31 PM, said:

Hi all,

I can't carve to save my life; I have been looking all over the internet for small candy molds, or other types of molds of a bucking bronc/cowboy and bull rider to no avail. I am looking for something about 1.75 inches tall, and even if I could just get silhoutte form would be a start. I tried to get drawings off of the internet, trace that on my clay, let my clay harden a little, then carve the outline, and I can't even do that right.....


I emailed a few people on Etsy that make candy molds and they quoted me $50 each for a small mold with very little detail of what I am looking for....does anyone else have any other ideas? I tried searching soap molds, candy molds, ceramic molds (none that small).....I tried to make my own.....there are no cookie cutters that small that I can find; anyone have any suggestions? I want them to help decorate some of my larger items but there has to be something out there for those of us that are not artistic :0)
Charlene

Have you tried the molds used with Fimo? they usually have fairly good detail. To use with clay, dust mold with baby powder.

[Lucille Oka]

You can try Tandy in Texas, they may have something you can use.

Dick Blick has a Bronco metal tooling mold item # C62926-0019 it is 4"x 4" cost is 94 cents.

[cstovin]

What is Fimo? I am looking for a mold smaller than 2X2, I do leatherwork also, Tandy doesn't have anything that will work, but thanks for the suggestion - 4X4 is too large for what I need - back to the drawing board.....

[Idaho Potter]

You might be asking for something that's not out there--yet. If you could find someone to make your molds--close to the detail you want--$50 bucks sounds okay to me. A mold maker would do a prototype from your original, then make production molds and charge you over $100. Remember, the smaller the item is, the more difficult it is to include detail. This makes everything more expensive.

I would suggest you use your silhouette figures--provided they are clip art (so they are free of copyright law)--take them to Kinko's and make copies the size you want. Make your simple molds, and apply them to your work . Enhance them with color or slip for raised motifs.

If someone came to me and asked for a smaller than 2x2 design with detail, I'd turn them down, flat. It would take a lot of dollars to compensate for the time involved, and it would not be lasting for you. Each time the mold is used, the detail would slowly disappear. You'd be back with something without detail, and out a lot of money. Sorry to be a downer, but if you could get a mold (candy would probably be the smallest, wouldn't it?) close to what you want for $50, I'd jump on it. Whether you have to lower your expectations; change your vision of your finished work; pay the quoted rate; or take some classes to learn how to do this yourself, I don't think there's a quick solution to your problem.

Shirley

P.S. Fimo is a polymer clay similar to Sculpey--it's great for small molds because it doesn't seem to lose detail as fast as plaster.

[Chris Campbell]

Don Goodrich ... http://dongoodrichpo.../dogs/index.htm ... Who sometimes drops in here makes small dog molds for his work and might be willing to share some tips.
With the detail you are looking for and the size ... It's going to be hard. My suggestion would be to try to find real three dimensional objects that have your design on them. Then build up a mold by applying several layers of liquid latex. Wait for dryness between coats. Eventually you will have a good flexible mold to use. The detail lasts longer than plaster and the flexibility makes it easy to remove the clay.

[Lucille Oka]

I did a little research and found out there are a lot of 'bucking broncos' out there, however they are under copyright ownership and have been placed on belts, plaques, statuary, jewelry and whatever else you can imagine.

If I couldn't afford to have a mold made and my skills to make them were limited, I would buy the mold that will allow me to reproduce the image. I would reproduce it in clay or metal clay which has a high shrinkage level to get it to the dimensions that I need. Or use shrink pellets that can be used in the kitchen oven or toaster oven. But this requires some testing and getting the proper product and supplies. Or spend the $50.00 for the mold with sole exclusive use and reproduction rights.

[clay lover]

Use the clip art to get the general design on a leather hard block of porcelain. carve as best you can to get a general impression of what you want, fire the clay mold to bisque. Then use it to get the general impression onto your clay pieces, then use fime detailing tools to add what you think it needs to be more like what you want. That approach works for me, and I can't draw either. Don't try for a perfect mold, use the not perfect mold to get something like what yuo want and then clean it and detail it later it's on the pot. Can also add details with slip trailed onto the soft sprig when it's on to the pot.

[Flo's Ceramics]

clay lover, on 24 August 2012 - 05:36 AM, said:

Use the clip art to get the general design on a leather hard block of porcelain. carve as best you can to get a general impression of what you want, fire the clay mold to bisque. Then use it to get the general impression onto your clay pieces, then use fime detailing tools to add what you think it needs to be more like what you want. That approach works for me, and I can't draw either. Don't try for a perfect mold, use the not perfect mold to get something like what yuo want and then clean it and detail it later it's on the pot. Can also add details with slip trailed onto the soft sprig when it's on to the pot.

Would you be interested in making a antique auto or truck mold? I do not care which make or model. We are going to have a car show here and we would like to sell them as fund raisers to be used to pay for scholarships and other charity projects. You may contact me direct if interested, papatom2010@aol.com. Let me say, I do expect to pay for the mold.

[Mossyrock]

Just a thought, but what about purchasing a belt buckle similar to the one attached (it's $5 online), taking off the bucking bronco and making a sprig mold from it? This one looks to be thick enough to make a good sprig mold. Or finding a bucking bronco piece of jewelry online to make a sprig mold from. You said you wanted it to help decorate some larger items so I'm assuming you want to attach something like a sprig to your pieces.

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