Advice requested

[bodrighywood]

The customer makes a lot of candles and getting moulds made for each type costs a fortune so the idea is if I can make a wooden plug the shape and size of the candle the silicon can be poured in around it then peeled off when set. The hard part is as stated the need for ultra smooth finish (good practice for tooling LOL) The lignum vitae idea would probably work but would work out very expensive if I end up making a lot of them. Might be worth it to the customer if it is set against the cost of the moulds mind so worth thinking about and mentioning. The filler idea would work initially but I have used it before and found that is not guaranteed to stay in place if the wood is being used a lot though fine on decorative work. I will probably try several of the ideas mentioned here and see how they work as at the moment this is just an exercise to see if it is in fact practical.

Thanks for all the input, appreciated as I know little or nothing about such things a silicone etc.

Pete

[Mike Amphlett]

Would some sort of Telfon spray work?

[Mike Amphlett]

Hope links like the following are permitted. But I have just found this http://www.smooth-on.com/Release-Agents-and/c9_1123/index.html maybe something suitable.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Pete, a cheaper alternative would be YEW. it can be finished and polished to a high standard. The make up of the timber would probably mean that absorption of the silicon would be minimal. Finished with Cellulose sealer nothing will get in to ruin it, nice to turn too.

[Doug Barratt]

I've recently been turning some Delrin, you can get a polished finish off the tool & there's no grain so no faults,  I also can't  imagine silicone would stick to it, so would probably be a quicker alternative to wood.

http://www.dupont.com/products-and-services/plastics-polymers-resins/thermoplastics/brands/delrin-acetal-resin.html