Beyond the Basics
Mold Finishing
Creating different finishes.
Silicone molds made with an FDM 3D printer have ridges, caused by the way the printer lays down plastic in layers. Silicone is a high-fidelity material that will pick up the tiniest details of the mold, so if you use a 3D printer to print molds, you'll find these ridges in the finished sex toy.
This isn't really a problem, as you can clean and sterilize silicone by boiling it, but some people might want a different finish with their sex toys.
Changing the Finish
Download - Print - Pour - Enjoy
For a glossy, smooth finish on sex toys you make from 3D printed molds, you can use a self-leveling 3D printer finishing epoxy. This epoxy is mixed in two parts and then applied to the inside surface of the mold with a foam brush. It flows into the ridges, creating a hard, smooth finish on the mold.
Smooth-On makes a hard, self-leveling 3D smoothing epoxy just for this purpose. It works well to create a smooth surface in your 3D-printed mold that creates finished sex toys with a smooth, shiny surface.
To use it, mix the two-part epoxy according to the directions (unfortunately, the two parts are not mixed 1:1), then apply it to the inside of the mold with a foam brush.
Note: Applying it correctly is a little tricky! Do not use a normal paintbrush! It will leave streaks in the epoxy. I've found it's better to daub than brush the epoxy in the mold. Be careful not to leave air bubbles in the epoxy, or they will result in little pits on the finished sex toy!
If you finish your molds with 3D smoothing epoxy, you must spray the mold with a mold-release spray before you pour the silicone! The silicone will stick tenaciously to the epoxy if you don't, which will ruin your sex toy and your mold.
Be careful not to get any of the epoxy on the mating surfaces where the two halves of the mold touch! If you do, you may find the mold doesn't fit together properly, and the finished sex toys will have a prominent seam. You can use masking tape on the mating surface of the mold to keep this from happening.
For a silky, velvety finish, you can coat the inside of the mold with a thin layer of melted beeswax. This is a little more difficult than using 3D finishing epoxy, but the result is an absolutely gorgeous finish that rivals professionally-made sex toys. It also fills in the mating surface of the mold, so your sex toys will not have a seam.
To do this, you will need a hot plate, a double boiler, and some 100% pure, unscented beeswax.
Melt the beeswax in a double boiler. When it is completely melted, quickly but carefully fill the assembled mold to the top, then immediately pour the beeswax back out of the mold into the double boiler.
When you drain the beeswax from the mold, be sure to hold it perfectly vertically and tilit it back and forth so no drips remain inside the mold. The goal is to do this smoothly and quickly, so that only a thin layer of beeswax remains in the mold.
Let the beeswax cool and harden, then fill it with silicone. There's no need to use mold release agent; the wax itself makes an excellent mold release.
Use only 100% pure cosmetic-grade beeswax with no oils, scents, plasticizers, colors, or ingredients to lower the melting point. These ingredients can all inhibit silicone curing, meaning you'll end up with a mess and a ruined mold.
Be extremely careful when melting wax and handling melted wax. Only use a double boiler. Do not melt wax without a double boiler, to prevent risk of fire. Do not spill the beeswax on yourself or property—it's veryem> hot! Use a double boiler you won't use for anything else—it's quite difficult to remove beeswax even from stainless steel.
If you are making a toy with a cum tube, place the cum tube in the mold before you coat it with wax. Then carefully scrape the wax off the cum tube several millimeters down into the mold, to give the cast silicone something to grab. Don't open the mold after it's coated: coat, let it cool, and cast the toy.
What You’ll Need
For epoxy mold finishing
For beeswax mold finishing
- A stainless steel double boiler
- A hot plate
- 100% pure cosmetic-grade beeswax (make sure it contains no oils, scents, or plasticizers—these will inhibit silicone curing)
License
By downloading mold files from this site, you agree to the following terms:
The mold files and sex toy designs are protected by copyright. You may use the files to print a mold on a 3D printer. You may use the molds to cast sex toys for your own personal use, You may not:
- Sell, give away, or otherwise transfer the mold files to anyone else
- Use the molds to make sex toys for sale to others
- Use the molds to make sex toys to give away to others in combination with sale of another product
- Reverse engineer the sex toy designs for sale, or to create derivative molds or designs for sale