# Tube In Place Casting Without a Silicone Mold



## crokett

I have some fabric glued to a tube that I want to cast clear over. I have another that I cast the colors, then glued a decal and want to cast over.  I don't have silicone molds that will hold the tubes. I'd like to get some eventually, but I want to get these kits done early this week.   What are some options for casting clear over them?    What I am thinking now is plug the tubes with play-doh then fill a horizontal mold with a thin layer and let it kick most of the way, lay the blank down and then pour more clear over top.


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## theidlemind

That should work, just make sure dust doesn't settle on it and get trapped.


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## staushg69

This is 1 way I did it until I got some in tube-in molds. I would take a 3/4" dowel or pen blank and turn a taper on it so it fit in each end of the tube, then wrap duct tape around it from end to end, you can close off 1 side with the duct tape and it acts as your mold. then you can do 1 pour. The duct tape will peel of when done and then just cut off the wood ends and turn.


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## Si90

I use cork or rubber bungs in the tube and put in some fishing line weights to stop them floating. I then stick small pieces of lolly pop sticks to the bungs to act as legs to lift them off the bottom of your mold. This way you can pour all in one go. Worked perfectly for me so far.


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## crokett

Stan, that's a good idea. I can also put it in one of my rectangular molds, just in case it leaks, then I won't have a mess.  I wonder if the ductape is stiff enough that if I just taped pieces to the ends it would hold it off the bottom of the square mold while the resin cures?


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## Falcon1220

Si90 said:


> I use cork or rubber bungs in the tube and put in some fishing line weights to stop them floating. I then stick small pieces of lolly pop sticks to the bungs to act as legs to lift them off the bottom of your mold. This way you can pour all in one go. Worked perfectly for me so far.



Same way i do mine. Works fine


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## Russianwolf

Making a Universal pen blank mold with Easy Mold Silicone Putty.wmv - YouTube

hint hint....


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## navycop

I used to do mine this way: put clay or playdo in one end, add some BBs in the tube place, clay or playdo in the other end. Pour a layer of clear and let it set up (i covered it to keep bugs and dust out). Then put in the tube and cast again. Cut it out on a bandsaw. Drill a little and takeout the BBs. Brian (nikitas) has some videos on doing a wedding pen that way.


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## Kenny Durrant

The way I started vertical casting was to get a 1" piece of ridged aquarium tubing for an undergravel filter and rubber plugs for that and the pen tubes. Use a straight pin to fix the bottom pen plug to the bottom mold plug to center and hold it down. I also drill a hole in the top pen tube plug so if pressure is an issue the air can equalize that way and not seep out other places and ruin the cast. I use black electrical tape to seal the clear tube to the bottom plug. I still do things the same way only with different products because of costs but I could pick up these locally. Good Luck.


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## Pjohnson

One of the white cutting boards ... $4-$5 

I made two molds - one that has 6 slots for individual castings and a one slot for clear casting.

The mold is 6" long, 3/4" wide with holes drilled in each end to support the tube.
Insert a dowel through the end into the tube - do the same on the other end.

This mold was made for 2 blank kits - not sierra, polaris, etc ..

When not using it to cast over a tube, I file the holes with plumbers putty.


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## crokett

Russianwolf said:


> Making a Universal pen blank mold with Easy Mold Silicone Putty.wmv - YouTube
> 
> hint hint....




That's an interesting solution. I am going to have to try that.  I have some UHMW that I think will work for making the plugs.


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## Russianwolf

crokett said:


> Russianwolf said:
> 
> 
> 
> Making a Universal pen blank mold with Easy Mold Silicone Putty.wmv - YouTube
> 
> hint hint....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's an interesting solution. I am going to have to try that.  I have some UHMW that I think will work for making the plugs.
Click to expand...


It works really well for one off experiments. For production runs you'll want to switch to verticle molds, saves a lot of time.


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## crokett

Tomorrow I need to go out to the shopping center where hobby lobby is. I printed off a 40% off coupon.  I am going to get some molding rubber and make up a mold for at least the Mesa-style tubes.  I think that is the style I will be doing the most with.


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## denniszoomy

Use PVC pipe to mold the clear in.


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## denniszoomy

"I have some fabric glued to a tube that I want to cast clear over. "

What did you use to glue the fabric to the tubes. I have been trying to do that with no luck.

Dennis


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## crokett

I used CA glue.  I started with a thin strip of glue to anchor one edge to the fabric and let that dry,  then spread glue and pulled the fabric tight as I went.  After some experimenting, 2 layers of fabric hides the tube better than a single layer.  It also gives another layer of fabric to help make the cut edge disappear.  I will let the CA off-gas for another day or two, I did the glue up on Friday.


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