Nobody agrees with me, but I say we should cut the curing time for resin-bonded sand in half.

4 comments

4 Comments

Yeah but that curing time is there for a reason. Honestly, rushing it just risks ruining the whole mold from my experience.

the_ben1mo ago

Totally get where you're coming from @ruby310, that patience is the hardest part. I learned my lesson the hard way last year trying to speed up a silicone mold with a heat lamp. The outside felt solid but the inside was still soft, so when I demolded it, the whole thing tore and wasted the master. Now I just set it and forget it for the full time, no shortcuts. Rushing really does just set you up to lose everything and start over. Your point about ruining the whole mold is spot on, it's never worth the risk.

charles_young921d ago

My uncle tried to rush a concrete patio once, same kind of idea. He pulled the forms off a day early because it looked dry, and the whole edge crumbled. Had to break it all out and mix a new batch, which took way longer than just waiting would have. It taught me that cure times are written for a reason, no matter what material you're using.

joelburns1mo ago

Ugh, that's so true, and something else I've seen is people forget how much extra time a failed mold actually costs. Even if you save a few hours by rushing the cure, you then waste all the time you spent prepping the master and mixing, plus the wait for new materials to arrive. You end up losing days, not hours, and it completely kills your motivation to even restart the project.