Silicone mold putty problem?

First, is the clay baked or unbaked? I know with mold material like RTV Rubber you can NOT use Plasticine Clay because the sulfur in it will NOT let the RTV cure. I make masters for RTV out of oven cured polymer clay. The holes could be air bubbles. Not familiar with Alley Goop but again with liquid RTV they recommend using a vacuum table to draw out the bubbles, Not having one, I carefully slosh the RTV around the master and then spend a long time bumping the mold to get the air bubbles to rise to the top.

Alley Goop is a good brand of 2-part silicone mold putty and you should be able to use a hardened polymer clay object as a form to make the mold with. Alley Goop is a little runnier than some of the other silicone putties though... are you sure you're giving the putty enough time to fully set up before removing the item and touching it? ...and that you mixed it correctly, etc.? Here's some info about Alley Goop from the Molds page at my site: . . . the blue part is the "hardener", so if you want the putty mix to set faster, use more of the blue. Karen .......I found this out the hard way...I put more of it into the mix and it set up before I had a chance to set my piece in correctly, and wound up with a very indistinct looking mold. Gwen ...when I opened the jars after a time, there was a layer of 'oil' on the surface. I mixed it back into the compound but working with it was messy & slippery. Gwen .......that oil is a product of the silicone...you can mix it back in, pour it off, dab it off, whatever... .if you get rid of it, the putty just becomes thicker, but it does not affect the outcome of the molds since it's there to make the silicone putty easier to work with. Karen Karen also has a new, even thinner, liquid, brush-on Alley Goop product especially for making texture sheets http://www.clayalley.com/brushon.htm ...same cost as the regular AlleyGoop ...I have just purchased some of the Liquid Alley Goop and made one mold with it of an antique button. I had previously made a mold of this with regular Alley Goop. I do think the impression is even better with the liquid. (It takes about an *hour* to set up.) I'm anxious to work with it more. Jan . . . JUST FOUND THIS INFO on my page too: BUBBLES happen occasionally, more often in some brands than others ... both bubbles in the silicone (one cause seems to be in the makeup of the particular formula), and bubbles in the molded item from incorrectly pressing the object into the putty ...also, I found more bubbles with an older batch of Miracle Mold -after it sat in my shelf for six months, the molds I made did have a few tiny bubbles, as opposed to the first ones which had none (I'm at high altitude, and I mix the MM by hand) ........now I do a final squeeze/impaction of the MM lump before using it...press it hard in on itself and onto the work surface to force out any hiding bubbles. Sarajane ...I have had just a few molds (maybe only 10 out of a few 100!) where I did not push Alley Goop in the right direction, and I trapped some air and did not get as good an impression as I would like... so I then applied the Alley Goop in the direction to allow air to escape. (this mainly happens when surfaces are very smooth--this is not the same as the "gas type blow-outs" though). Jeanne R. ...Alley Goop gets the tiny bubbles as often as other brands I've tried so far (Micromark and Miracle Mold) ...sometimes, molding very smooth surfaces can be a bit troublesome (super detailed objects generally are no problem, but when you are doing a smooth/glassy surface there is just nowhere for those little airpockets to go....with a detailed object there are lots of opportunities for the air to get released) ........what to do in that case?....basically, you *shear* your object into the Miracle Mold, rather than pushing it straight in (in other words, you're trying to push away the excess air that may become trapped in the mold; once you shear your object in, then firm the mold material around the object. I kind of cup it in my hands and push it all together to make it conform .......also, often you can carefully poke into the airpockets with a needle. ..the air escapes and the mold flattens back down. Worth a try, caneguru ...overmixing the two parts can sometimes makes bubbles too . . . (You can find even more info about Alley Goop on that page too: http://glassattic.com/polymer/molds.htm > Silicone >> 2-Part Silicone Putties >>> Brands ...then scroll down to near the bottom of the paragraph on Alley Goop ) If none of those things is the problem, just give Karen a call or send an email...I'm sure she can tell you what's happening.

Alley Goop is a good brand of 2-part silicone mold putty and you should be able to use a hardened polymer clay object as a form to make the mold with. Alley Goop is a little runnier than some of the other silicone putties though... are you sure you're giving the putty enough time to fully set up before removing the item and touching it? ...and that you mixed it correctly, etc.? Here's some info about Alley Goop from the Molds page at my site: . . . the blue part is the "hardener", so if you want the putty mix to set faster, use more of the blue. Karen .......I found this out the hard way...I put more of it into the mix and it set up before I had a chance to set my piece in correctly, and wound up with a very indistinct looking mold. Gwen ...when I opened the jars after a time, there was a layer of 'oil' on the surface. I mixed it back into the compound but working with it was messy & slippery. Gwen .......that oil is a product of the silicone...you can mix it back in, pour it off, dab it off, whatever... .if you get rid of it, the putty just becomes thicker, but it does not affect the outcome of the molds since it's there to make the silicone putty easier to work with. Karen Karen also has a new, even thinner, liquid, brush-on Alley Goop product especially for making texture sheets http://www.clayalley.com/brushon.htm ...same cost as the regular AlleyGoop ...I have just purchased some of the Liquid Alley Goop and made one mold with it of an antique button. I had previously made a mold of this with regular Alley Goop. I do think the impression is even better with the liquid. (It takes about an *hour* to set up.) I'm anxious to work with it more. Jan . . . JUST FOUND THIS INFO on my page too: BUBBLES happen occasionally, more often in some brands than others ... both bubbles in the silicone (one cause seems to be in the makeup of the particular formula), and bubbles in the molded item from incorrectly pressing the object into the putty ...also, I found more bubbles with an older batch of Miracle Mold -after it sat in my shelf for six months, the molds I made did have a few tiny bubbles, as opposed to the first ones which had none (I'm at high altitude, and I mix the MM by hand) ........now I do a final squeeze/impaction of the MM lump before using it...press it hard in on itself and onto the work surface to force out any hiding bubbles. Sarajane ...I have had just a few molds (maybe only 10 out of a few 100!) where I did not push Alley Goop in the right direction, and I trapped some air and did not get as good an impression as I would like... so I then applied the Alley Goop in the direction to allow air to escape. (this mainly happens when surfaces are very smooth--this is not the same as the "gas type blow-outs" though). Jeanne R. ...Alley Goop gets the tiny bubbles as often as other brands I've tried so far (Micromark and Miracle Mold) ...sometimes, molding very smooth surfaces can be a bit troublesome (super detailed objects generally are no problem, but when you are doing a smooth/glassy surface there is just nowhere for those little airpockets to go....with a detailed object there are lots of opportunities for the air to get released) ........what to do in that case?....basically, you *shear* your object into the Miracle Mold, rather than pushing it straight in (in other words, you're trying to push away the excess air that may become trapped in the mold; once you shear your object in, then firm the mold material around the object. I kind of cup it in my hands and push it all together to make it conform .......also, often you can carefully poke into the airpockets with a needle. ..the air escapes and the mold flattens back down. Worth a try, caneguru ...overmixing the two parts can sometimes makes bubbles too . . . (You can find even more info about Alley Goop on that page too: http://glassattic.com/polymer/molds.htm > Silicone >> 2-Part Silicone Putties >>> Brands ...then scroll down to near the bottom of the paragraph on Alley Goop ) If none of those things is the problem, just give Karen a call or send an email...I'm sure she can tell you what's happening.

For what you are doing the wood putty does a fine job. I would dab on a heavy layer between the 2 pieces that are being joined and then nail or screw through the putty and into it mating part. The putty that oozes out can be wiped clean with a damp sponge. Many of the wood putties are water soluble.