Has anyone tried to melt and mold TPE?

Sixhorses · Post by **Sixhorses** » Fri Jun 21, 2019 5:13 am

Some formulations of TPE will melt at a little above the temperature of boiling water. So it is not difficult to melt TPE.

So, has anyone actually tried to heat up TPE and pour it into a mold?

I would guess that even at a temperature where the TPE melted, it might be very viscous. Does anyone have any experience with this?

NorthBase · Post by **NorthBase** » Fri Jun 21, 2019 10:10 am

Yes its easy, i even used a plastic mold just let it float in Cold water then pour the melted tpe in, wait 20 min and its done, you dont need much heat at all. I have done it many times now in my own kitchen but remember to use baby oil in the boiler before you put the tpe. It will make some smoke, so open the Windows.

Dollyman25442 · Post by **Dollyman25442** » Fri Jun 21, 2019 10:30 am

I cast these in tpe yesterday using and old "Fry Daddy". Slowly gets you up to 350 degrees (outside) and makes for a perfect pour. This is a product called "Ultraflex, soft". It's a tpe made for this purpose from Douglas and Sturgess out of Ca. USA.

http://www.artstuf.com/

Reasonably priced small quantities.

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curiousswede · Post by **curiousswede** » Fri Jun 21, 2019 10:47 am

Gases from melted TPE are life-threatening to inhale so be very careful when playing around with "melting TPE".

BigBurrito · Post by **BigBurrito** » Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:16 pm

Dollyman25442 wrote:I cast these in tpe yesterday using and old "Fry Daddy". Slowly gets you up to 350 degrees (outside) and makes for a perfect pour. This is a product called "Ultraflex, soft". It's a tpe made for this purpose from Douglas and Sturgess out of Ca. USA.

http://www.artstuf.com/

Reasonably priced small quantities.

P1010824.JPG

Nice link, will keep that in mind when i need more

david 68 · Post by **david 68** » Fri Jun 21, 2019 5:09 pm

is there any portable melting machines that is for tpe ? :drinking:

Dollyman25442 · Post by **Dollyman25442** » Fri Jun 21, 2019 5:54 pm

david 68 wrote: is there any portable melting machines that is for tpe ?

Unless you need to melt more than a quart, a Fry Baby is perfect and cheap. Any walmart.

CicadaSound80 · Post by **CicadaSound80** » Wed Jun 26, 2019 2:15 pm

I used Xylene as an experiment. Only good for utilization of small/minor mods as the only thing that cures is the external part.

MrsMannequinMan · Post by **MrsMannequinMan** » Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:40 am

Hi Temp Silicone rubber to cast TPE into can be purchased by these suppliers, along with many other great products.

https://www.reynoldsam.com/product/mold ... /#purchase

others include
www.bitymoldsupply.com
www.industrialpolymers.com
www.bjbenterprises.com

BuilderOfCastles · Post by **BuilderOfCastles** » Sun Sep 01, 2019 6:06 pm

With TPE you need a very good temperature control.
To low - it doesn't melt
To high - it burns

and the good range is not that big.

Further, if you are using a large mold or a complex mold, you want to heat the mold so that the liquid TPE doesn't congeal to the sides and block the plastic flow.

So, you heat the mold to a little lower than your TPE melt, and then pour.
Then you let it slowly cool.

Things shrink as the cool.
And with rubber, it is not so bad because it flexes, but you want to have a reservoir that the shrinking areas can pull from.

Further, you may want to use vacuum to pull the resin into tight crevices.

agra · Post by **agra** » Wed Sep 07, 2022 10:29 pm

Remelt tpe
Is there anything that helps keep the oil in the tpe if I want to blend old and new tpe ?

Siliconeman · Post by **Siliconeman** » Wed Sep 07, 2022 11:09 pm

I use plaster mold for casting my add-on TPE labias

Cheers!

Sili

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r363b · Post by **r363b** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 8:46 am

Dollyman25442 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 21, 2019 5:54 pm
david 68 wrote: is there any portable melting machines that is for tpe ?
Unless you need to melt more than a quart, a Fry Baby is perfect and cheap. Any walmart.

This one worked and has temperature control. https://www.target.com/p/presto-electri ... nk=sametab

Socratus · Post by **Socratus** » Fri Jul 07, 2023 12:22 pm

Sixhorses wrote: ↑Fri Jun 21, 2019 5:13 am Some formulations of TPE will melt at a little above the temperature of boiling water. So it is not difficult to melt TPE.

So, has anyone actually tried to heat up TPE and pour it into a mold?

I would guess that even at a temperature where the TPE melted, it might be very viscous. Does anyone have any experience with this?

For the OP, I'm quite new to this, but have doing a lot of working on melting and shaping TPE. It's real easy to do and, being an artist, I'm finding it quite enjoyable. It's like art except with more volatile tools in 3D. I've done some basic repairs already, but hope to go advanced quite soon.

At 120c it starts melting which is when the real work (and fun) begins, but beware, it can sometimes start smoking if it happens too fast.

Just make sure you prep and have the right tools.Watch vids on it.