Creating Molds for Concrete Coasters: A Step-by-Step Guide

Hey guys, we're Evan and Katelyn today we're gonna show you how we made these molds for our concrete coasters. We sell products wholesale to West Elm and this past December was our first holiday rush and it was crazy. The only way we could do it was by making a lot of these, so we're gonna show you how we use our CNC to make mold masters and everything we figured out along the way.

We've been carving a high-density urethane foam for the first time to make these master that looks awesome. Just to give you an idea of what this material is like, it's really lightweight and easy to work with. We're using a 3D printer to create the molds, which allows us to achieve really intricate details. The urethane foam is also very flexible, so we can bend it into different shapes and forms.

One of the challenges we faced when making these molds was figuring out how to get them to dry properly. We wanted to make sure that they were stable and wouldn't crack or break during the manufacturing process. To solve this problem, we started experimenting with different primers and sealants. We tried using a variety of materials, from standard epoxy to specialized products like polyurethane foam. It wasn't until we discovered a specific primer that our molds finally dried properly.

We also had to figure out how to get the mold masters to fit snugly inside the concrete molds. This was a bit tricky, as the mold masters were quite large and heavy. To overcome this problem, we used a combination of adhesives and mechanical fasteners. We applied a thin layer of adhesive to the mold master and then attached it to the concrete mold using screws or clips.

One of the most surprising things we learned during this process was how important it is to have a consistent workflow. With thousands of molds to make, consistency is key. We started by developing a strict protocol for making each mold, including the order in which the materials were applied and the number of coats used. This allowed us to ensure that every mold was made exactly the same way, resulting in a much more uniform product.

Once we had our mold masters created, we could start filling them with concrete. We mixed the concrete using a combination of Quikrete and water, adding just the right amount of mix to achieve the desired consistency. We also used a specialized tool called a "mold release" to ensure that the concrete would come out smoothly and evenly.

As we worked on making these molds, we started to realize just how important it is to have a reliable supply chain. With thousands of orders to fill, we needed to make sure that our materials were in stock and that we could get them delivered quickly. We started working with suppliers who could meet our needs and deliver high-quality products on time.

One of the most exciting developments during this process was discovering a new sponsor for our business. Quikrete is a well-known brand that specializes in concrete products, and they agreed to support us on this project. We love using Quikrete because it's not expensive and easy to use - just the right combination for a small business like ours.

As we finished making these molds, we realized just how much we had learned from the process. From the importance of consistency in our workflow to the need for reliable suppliers, every step was crucial in creating high-quality products. We're excited to see where this new technology takes us and can't wait to share more behind-the-scenes content with you.

Behind the Scenes: Our Coaster-Making Process

We recently decided to try something a little different with this project - we poured two coasters a bit earlier than usual today, and we're going to de-mold them now. Let's see how they compare to the ones we made in the past!

This one is still curing up, but that's okay because it looks perfect! The mold it came out of is good as new - it's ready to use again. We're really happy with how these coasters turned out, and we can't wait to start making more.

As we finish up this coaster, I just want to say that I think this business model could be a game-changer for small businesses like ours. By batching out our products in advance, we can scale quickly and meet demand without sacrificing quality. And with the help of our CNC machine, mold masters, and Quikrete, we're confident that we can produce high-quality products on time.

We'd also love to let you know about some cool new shirts we've designed over the past few months. You can get your own by visiting shop Evan and Katelyn dot com - just click on the link in our video description! We're really excited to share these with you, and we hope you'll check them out.

Outro

Thanks for watching, everyone! If you liked this video, be sure to check out our aftershow at patreon dot com. In it, we'll be talking more behind-the-scenes stuff and sharing some extra content that we can't fit into this video.

Also, don't forget to check out our cool new shirts - they're perfect for anyone who loves 3D printing, CNC machines, or just great products in general. We hope you like them!

And finally, happy birthday to me! It's your birthday now, Evan...

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys we're Evan and Katelyn today we'regonna show you how we made these moldsfor our concrete coasters we sellproducts wholesale to West Elm and thispast December was our first holiday rushand it was crazy the only way we coulddo it was by making a lot of these sowe're gonna show you how we use our CNCto make mold masters and everything wefigured out along the wayso we're carving a high-density urethanefoam for the first time to make thesemastersthat looks awesome just needs a little bit oflet's see how it's goinghow's it look check this outisn't that crazy all of the lines are gone 100%non-porous that's what we want for themold we used to have to make these one by oneusing this the single mold master we 3dprinted and spent a long time paintingsanding painting standing a day's worth ofwork whereas this we did in what lessthan half an hour right seven moreokay so why go through all the upfrontwork of making masters and making moldsto make concrete coasters whentheoretically we could just cut out somewood coasters on the x-carve and thereason is concrete batches and scalesreally easily it's just as easy to makea huge batch as it is to make a singleindividual batch so we can make a lot ofcoasters and it's really cheap as a materialyou look like you're ready for a partythe master molds are all sanded sowhat we're gonna do make sure there's no dust in here.and then we're gonna spray mold release. you do need to shake it. wear a mask!we are going to stir these this is just one to one silicone so it's pretty easydo we need directions on how to open it? it's gonna get all over my jacket.ok I see what you're sayin'oh that's weird it's like so weirdwhat am I doing?!it's time are you ready for theresponsibility? no.so we're gonna we're try vibrating this seeing if we get any bubbles out.teeny teeny tiny bubblesso we poured the first four and we'll just let these sit overnight! But we're gonna take theminside because you have to let these cure right temperature. see how they do in the morning.aww she wants us to come inside tooall right it's the next day we made it alittle longer than four hours needed butwe're gonna go ahead and demold thesesee how they turn out and see how ourmold masters survived yeah fingerscrossedoh yeah kinda have to like break the seal Isee it oh yeah oh oh my gosh oh that's so satisfying!oh it's perfect! a little bitmoist still... still looks like it setproperly it's not that it was bad it just wasn't yeah. that one's betterso three came out pretty good this guy is kind of a hot mess. he's notcured at all I'm kind of hesitant to eventouch him and you can even see a lot ofresidue left I'm happy with what we madejust not what came out of what we made.we were having issues and we did some Instagram stories to ask for help and you guys are awesome yougaveus a lot of really cool ideas so we'llstart with a few general tips we learnedone is that if you pour from higher upthe thin stream of silicone coming outactually helps remove the bubblesone more is to brush on a thin layer soit comes before pouring it in that wayit gets to any little nooks and cranniesand then the last one i forgot what it was stir from bottom to top yeah cuz like when you stir it in acircle part B kind of sticks at the bottompart A is at the top totally makes senseyou have to stir like vertical also Ithink the main thing that went wrongwith this though though the best theoryis that this is Precision Board Plusit's a high-density urethane butevidently platinum cure silicone doesnot do well with urethan so we havetwo options one we can fix or changethe mold and we're going to try coating this with primer automative primer orworst case scenario we go out and buysometin curing silicone and that shouldsolve the problem so keep on watching to find outwhat we doI'm just prepping this wood mold thatwe made so that we can test doing theautomotive primer here and seeing if thesilicone works with automotive primer atthe base before we spray it on to ouractual pro precision boardjust to test things we use the stirringbrushing and pouring techniques we learnedfrom you guys on the unprimed urethane -that is so clean all right this looksgreat but before we jump to anyconclusions let's test this that we pouredat the same time because we applied some ofthe new tips and techniques we learned to both of these so let's see if it was thetips and techniques or the mold materialyeahit's better it's still stickyhold both of those up show those corners that's ahuge difference look at how much cleanerthis one is that is so crisp okay so oursilicone type in the material we madethe mold masters from is incompatible soI think the way we're going to moveforward from this is to paint over thisand create a barrier between the moldmaster and the silicone using the sameprimer that we did for this onethe adventure continuesyou can de-mold I can film. there you gofingers crossed. it's perfect is absolutelyperfect no bubbles fully cured not stickythat solved it. which one do I look at?we solved it yeah by we mean you guysokay let's get the rest of these de-molded andfinish our coaster orders yeah we have alot to dowhen you're mixing concrete a little bitof water goes a long wayyou can add a bit more mix and/or wateras you go until you get the rightconsistency then agitate the molds toremove bubbles ahahaha this looks weirdalrighty while these cure we want to tell you about our sponsor Quikrete we love using Quikrete for ourside hustle products because it's notexpensive it's also really easy to usebecause you just add water which is goodwhen we're in a rush and we can scale itand keep our business just the two of usbecause we can mix a lot at once forthis project we're using the PrecisionGrout- where does it say Precision Grout, right here?because it's really strong and we'vehave to ship these to various West Elmsaround Texas and we don't want them tobreak now we just have to wait for theseto dry and then we can start packing ourorders you can remove the form from themolds a little bit earlier but let themfully cure before paintingall the coasters got done our order issent off and now we have all of thesemolds for the next orders six monthslater so we wanted to try something alittle bit different with this projectand see how the molds and the coastersheld up after making hundreds of themover a long period of time so we pouredthese two coasters a little bit earliertoday we're gonna go ahead and de moldthem and see how they compare to theones that we made in the past. let's do it. that was easy. how do they look?it looks better now this one obviouslyhas a little bit of moisture so it's stillcuring up but this is perfect this isjust as we want it to be and the moldit's good it's good to go ready to useright now to make another coaster that'spretty exciting I mean I think that thisis a really awesome business model ifyou wanted to go down this route ofbatching out a whole bunch of productswe get a thumbs up now let's do theoutro thank you guys for watching I hopeyou liked our video and if you did youmight also want to check out ouraftershow which is where if we keeptalking about more behind the scenesstuff and there's a lot for this one yeah sowe'll have that at patreon dot com slashevan and katelyn and one thing that youmight have noticed in the past bit ofthis video are these cool new shirtswhich we designed and made over the pastcouple months and you can get your ownover at shop Evan and katelyn dot com Idon't know why every time I do a URLspread my arm is like it's magically appearingit's gonna be up here. Bye!step one. cut a hole in the lidalright that wasn't horrible! got your wheels turning too hopefully oh I was twitching around like crazyit's like 1am right now. this is how we spend our evenings! attacking goop!happy birthday to me! ah it is your birthday now! Happy birthday!\n"