making a mold

[charlotteda]

Okay. I cant stand it any longer. I'm going to make me a wooden mold.

What would you say is the best one ? A log mold ? I'm thinking for easy cutting.

Inside measurements... 3 " wide - 3 inches tall (+ 1 inch for overfill) and the appropriate length ?

charlotte

 

[artisan soaps]

..

 

[cleanwater]

Charlotte,
There's a sticky by soapmakerman up at the top of this page on calculating weight of oils for a mold. If you take the equation and turn it around, you can get the length of mold for your standard recipe. Sounds like you've chosen a log mold (I agree, easy cutting) and your soap bar dimensions:

Inside measurements... 3 " wide - 3 inches tall (+ 1 inch for overfill) and the appropriate length ?

So the calc goes like this:
If
O = weight of oils in oil
L = Length of mold in inches
W = Width of mold = 3 inches
H = Height of soap in mold = 3 inches
Then
O = L x W x H x 0.40 (0.40 is a constant factor)
so
O = L x 3 x 3 x 0.40
or
O = L x 3.6
or
L = O / 3.6

So, for example, if your standard recipe is 3 lb of oils (48 oz) then
L = 48 / 3.6 = 13.3 inches

Hope this helps, all credit goes to soapmakerman Any errors are mine...

 

[heyjude]

If you go with a bigger log mold, I find that my 18" log is perfect, the freezer papper is 18" long and there is no cutting or hassle involved.

I have fun foam on the ends so it's a breeze to line.

Jude

 

[cwayneu]

What Jude said. Plus with 18" you can of course get 18 bars, or make a dam (wood block) to fit inside and block it at 8, 12, or whatever number of bars you want.

I do have a posting for a 12 bar slab mold. I have a reference there to a video by Keith Brown where he makes a 12" log mold.

http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewto ... 486#116486

Good luck.

 

[Sparklebrook]

Fun foam? I'm going to have to research that.

I love my log mold. It's pretty big but I have a little piece that I can block off a part of it and have a smaller mold within the bigger. That would be something consider if you make a log mold.

 

[cwayneu]

Yes we use fun foam (from Walmart) on the bottom of our slab molds I mentioned above. Our Lexan sides and dividers work great, but for some reason it always sticks on the bottom. The fun foam just peals right off every time.

 

[charlotteda]

mold

Thank you all... yea an 18" log mold sounds good.

I would love the see a pic of you using that fun foam...dont really understand the "why" of it .

thanks
charlotte

 

[cwayneu]

Re: mold

Thank you all... yea an 18" log mold sounds good.

I would love the see a pic of you using that fun foam...dont really understand the "why" of it .

thanks
charlotte

On the log mold you have a piece of fun foam cut for each end. Tape them to the mold on each end. It keeps the soap from sticking to the wood on the ends. You line the long sides and bottom with a single piece of 18" freezer paper. For a slab mold, if you look at this video we made, at about 7:45 minutes, you can see Billie peal the fun foam off the soap during unmolding.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vBH_DyH6u8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vBH_DyH6u8[/ame]

 

[misty]

Wayne, your method of lining a log mold seems so quick & easy, however I am a bit concerned about the four corners, how do you keep the soap from running thro. Does the fun foam overlap a bit over the freezer paper
on the sides thus covering the corners (if you know what I mean.....)thanks for any input.

 

[cwayneu]

Actually, we only use fun foam on our slab molds. That was Jude that uses it on a log mold. I use lexan on the ends of my log mold, glued to the wood.

If I were using fun foam on the log ends, I would put my freezer paper in first. At 18" long it should go end to end. Then have the foam cut so it fits exactly inside the paper and against the wood ends. They would each be exactly 3 1/2" wide by 2" to 3" tall, depending on the height of the mold. You should only need to tape it at the top corners to hold it in place, just like I assume you are taping the freezer paper near the top.

If this is all to complicated to can skip the fun foam and just cut and fold freezer paper to cover the ends, and overlap the 18" long paper by about an inch. It's just that the fun foam is reusable, and should allow you to skip the cut/fold mess on the ends each time.

Hope this helps.

 

[donniej]

Here's a link to a post about my molds.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/vi ... hp?t=11470

I did end up modifying them... They're 3 pieces, top, bottom and sides. The piece that is all 4 sides got modified, I took the screws out of 2 of the 4 sides. This made 2 "L" shaped sides which I clamp together. This makes getting the loaf out much easier. I also coat the inside of the molds with mineral oil to help release the loaf.

 

[misty]

thank you Wayne, you answered my question nice & easy......