Chocolate Record Schallplatten aus Schokolade

[cuttercollector]

Could you make a flat smooth surface of silicone with no bubbles and press the record into it rather than smearing it around on the record?

[VRCM]

Well this time instead of smearing it around I put a glob of silicon in the middle and slowly worked it out to the outer edges using that food cover plastic (syran wrap?). It did have a blemish but I think that it was some sort of hard piece of silicon or something. The majority of the groove was ok (also still using the old tube of silicon I found). It did take the label off the record so watch out for that. My first attempt at making a record off of it did not go well. I tried the spray paint again (6 coats) but I waited to long, it dried, and it cracked as I took it off. I tried making another one using a different process. This time a put down one layer of spray paint and then put a heavy coat of polyurethane over it. I put a 7" manila folder cut out into to the urethane to give it more strength ( don't want to have to wait a week for the polyurethane to dry; this way I can have a much shorted drying time yet a strong record). I also put a small can of paint on top to keep it all flat (the silicon mold can buckle some times, I don't know why). This worked better than the first attempt but I waited until the polyurethane dried somewhat before I put the manila down. As a result it had a large bubble behind the spray paint that made the record skip. Other than that the sound was event better then my first attempt at this. I will do it once again but I will put the manila down in the urethane right away. The reason that I don't want to put the urethane down first is because it is very easy to create bubbles in it. The spray paint, I think, works into the grooves better. I guess I could try spray polyurethane.

Also, a thought occurred to me while I was working on this, this would be a great system (if I can get it to work correctly) for making picture discs. Spray a clear coat on, lie in your picture, and then finish it off with more urethane.

[Jccc]

Well i experimented with the stuff and i gotta say it transfers sound really well.
The only draw back was that the urethane when it dried had small little air bubbles in it causing the record to have pops in it. Also it dried uneven in certain areas making the final product warped so the needle would skip.

[oliver8bit]

Was this polyurethane like the clear stuff you seal wood floors with? Cos I always thought about experimenting with it but never got around to it. Did it dry to a hard enough finish to remain flat? Originally when I read this article my main inspiration was to make picture disc/clear records with things embedded in them, and polyurethane would be a real inexpensive way to do it....

The local paper (Creative Loafing) interviewed me and my friend yesterday and are going to do a blog article so I'll link to that when it goes up.

[Jccc]

The urethane i used was the Smooth-On task 4 stuff. When it dries its really hard and it feels like a real record.

The only thing is that you have to pour it evenly or else it will have bumps in it. ( meaning on the bottom of the record)

The playing side sounds really good it just i have a problem with small air bubbles causing the surface to have pops when the needle runs over it.

[blacknwhite]

The playing side sounds really good it just i have a problem with small air bubbles causing the surface to have pops when the needle runs over it.

Buy or build a "vacuum degasser". Its simply a small box (maybe 1 foot square) that's sealed on the edges with caulking, that has a vacuum pump to suck some of the air out. If you install a window, you will see your plastic mix foam up as all the air bubbles are sucked up and out, then it falls back down. Do this after mixing. It makes nice, noiseless records.

- Bob

[petterz88]

Here's his negative:


He made it from a real 7" record, said he had to file down the edges a little to make them less sharp and more cylindrical. The silicone rubber stuff was diff from the Smooth-On but basically the same material. Its kind of pricey - roughly a dollar an ounce - but totally worth it. Heat resistant and you can cast anything but more silicone into it and it will come right out. Without even needing a release!

The flexi idea is a good one, but I tried a similar thing last year of doing this process with plastic plates and it failed. The plate was too thin to withstand bending as the silicone cured so i ended up with bumpy and curvy records. Gluing them completely flat might fix this tho!

maybe you could get another solution , maybe you can use metal or something try it if you want


_________________
Plastic Training

[alienmanstk]

How does one keep the mold clean, should there be somekind of oil sprayed onto it, before spraying the polyurthane, like "pam" for example?
The spraypaint probably smooths out the mother over time, any ideas?

[VRCM]

No I do not think so. From what I have tried it seems to continue to work well. I do not think that the spray paint would dry on the pam. Plus if there was dust I think that it would get obsorbed into the paint. I have not been fooling with this to much cause I trying to finish school but I be experimenting with it in a bit. I got some new clear silicon caulk to try since I got good results from the old tube of white bathroom sealant. I just need to work on getting the bubbles out. Someone was suggesting a vacuum, and I might actually try that.

[alienmanstk]

Interesting! Sounds too easy! Maybe instead of a vacuum,place the mold with whatever you are using as a laquer on a table with some kind of vibrating device, idk what though, but something that shakes out the air bubbles.