Summer Internship

5th Avenue On Site Mould 

While I was at Hyde Park, I had to privilege to go into New York City and take an on-site mould. We worked on a private apartment that was being renovated. There was a hallway inside and half of it had decorative pilasters and they wanted us to mimic those pilasters so they could match the other side of the hallway. 

This picture shows the ornamental capitol and shaft repeat pattern. We needed to make a mould of the capital and the repeat pattern so that we could take it back to the shop and make the complete pilaster.

We  used a material called body double made by Smooth On. It’s a mixture of two parts and is a silicone based material.  It has a very fast set time so once you mix the two parts thoroughly, you only have 3 minutes to work with it before it gets to hard to brush on.  Typically, you can complete the mould in 3 layers. The first you have to be very through so you don’t have any air pockets or bubbles.  The second layer is to build up the material and the third layer is to make it smooth so you don't have any undercuts that the case could get stuck on.

Once we had the rubber on, we put a clay border around the rubber and we put a grease material on top of the rubber and around the edges. The clay keeps the work area clean and makes it so that when we make the case, there is a clean edge and the plaster doesn’t drip down or stick to the wall.

Once we had everything prepped, we were able to start making the case. The case is for support so that when we take it off the wall, the rubber mould will keep its form so it can be cast. You have to start with a very thin mixture of plaster and the more you brush it, the thicker it will get. Once the material starts to build up, it will become easier to add more material without it sliding down. Once there was enough material to cover the rubber, we put wood boards and burlap in it for structural support.

In the above photos, you can see that we added wood and burlap for strength and support. The photos on the right are the final outside layer of the case. 

The last step was to clean up. We had to take the clay off the wall and clean the residue of the grease. After cleaning, the cases were dry so they just popped off the wall with a little help. After that, we were finished and we took the moulds back to the shop to be cast.

Once back in the shop, we casted the capital and cleaned it up. Eduardo worked on the shaft and made it to the length that was needed. Once he finished that, he added the capital to the top and made a rubber mould of it. From there, the pieces would be cast then installed. 

Running an Ellipse 

My last day, my mentor John taught me how to run an ellipse of any shape or size. We used a horse that was already made just to save time but he talked me through the process of how to make the horse. On the horse there are two pegs strategically placed to determine the width and length of the ellipse. 

We started by having 4 square planks of wood. We screwed one to the table and used the peg in the horse to determine the space between the two. You want the peg to fit nicely in the gap.If its too loose, you won't have a perfect line cause it will be too shaky  but you cant have it too tight cause that will cause it to not run smoothly. 

Next we took the third plank and took a square and lined it up perfectly with the first plank. This is so we can press the 4^th plank against that so it will be a straight line when we pull the third plank up. 

Once we did that we used the two pegs to determine the gap on one side then we used a wood shim that we made the same gap size. 

Here's the end product. All of the gaps are perfectly even and they all intersect at a perfect 90 degree angle. You can also see the two pegs that I mentioned earlier that are on the horse. 

From here, the process is almost the same as running a regular mould. We greased the edge of the mould and we put burlap down for the support. 

Here is the ellipse once it was finished! 

Running a Circle 

For running the circular moulding. We first got the horse ready and screwed a drill bit into the table so that the horse was able to spin on it.  From there we made a Styrofoam form so that we didn’t have to make the entire piece out of plaster.

  

Once we had the Styrofoam in place, we put burlap over the form so that the plaster had something to stick to.  We used a brush to brush the plaster onto the burlap against the Styrofoam.

We used a filler in our plaster mix so that the first few layers weren’t wasted plaster.  Once we got most of the way solid, we were able to use pure plaster to create the top finish layer. 

Here is the final product. We only needed to create 1/3 of the circle to make a sample. 

Trims and Crown Moulding

Most of the work I did,  I was working on custom trims. We would take a small section of the trim and cast more pieces so that we could point them and make them into a bigger piece so that we were able to pour rubber to make a mould.

I spent my first day in the custom shop casting these panels to put into a long section.  

Once I had all the pieces cast, we slid them in to complete the repeat pattern. 

We had to point the pieces to make it look like one continuous piece. Once we finished we were able to make a case then pour the rubber.  

Here is Eduardo examining the final mould. 

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As you can see in the picture, we took one egg and dart pattern and cast 3 of them to make a larger one. From there we made a rubber mould. When we were casting the pieces we put a thin strip of fiberglass mesh for strength. 

After we had enough pieces, we ran a trim section and we put the egg and dart pieces up against it and started pointing. 

Here is the final piece and its rubber mould! 

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I worked on a large piece of crown moulding. We cast over these small curved pieced to match the curve in the base. Once we had all the pieces we pointed them down to the pass and were able to make a case and a rubber mould from there!

Making a Sample

During my time at Hyde Park I was able to make a sample. A sample is a piece that is about 2 feet long and is basically a preview of a product for a client. It is a rather small but important project. If the client likes the proposed sample then they will accept it and we will re-create it in the shop on a larger and more precise scale. If they don't like it, they will work with the designers to change it and we will create another sample. This process can happen as many times as it takes until the client likes it. This sample that I made was the 9th for this particular client. 

Flat Pointing

There was a project I worked on where there was a large piece with a thick trim and we had to cut up the original piece to make it into different dimensions. Once we cut it and screwed the piece down to the table at the correct dimensions, we had to point the gaps and fill in the screw holes.

Here is the final piece ready for the rubber to be poured.

Ornamental Grille 

I worked on an air conditioning vent cover system. The small flowers are about a square centimeter so you can image how small that is and how much work goes into it! You can see the gaps where the shadows are- we had to point all of those so that when we poured the rubber, it would seep through. Something that may seem so easy took about 2 weeks. we had to make 4 different sizes so it was a lot of cutting and pointing! Once we cut and pointed then we poured the rubber and moved on to the next one. 

Ceiling System

My last project that John and I worked on was a ceiling system for a private in-home library. We started with a small square section of the basket weave pattern that was printed using a 3-D printer. We then made a rubber mould of that and cast those pieces to point them and make them into bigger panels. We then put our boarder down first and pointed that (almost like a frame).  In the picture below you can see the separate panels. Once we had them all in, we started pointing and thats when I left to head back to South Carolina so John finished the project without me.

A few days later he sent me this picture of one of the completed rubber moulds. He has to make another size panel and do the same process.  

I was able to get a picture of the plans for the project. There are some different shaped panels in there so thats what will take the most time. Some of them have squares and circles in the middle of them for an added decorative element.

Other Usefull Skills

Making a Case

On almost every project I worked on, I had to make a case for the rubber mould. At first I didn't think cases were important but I was convinced otherwise. A case is very important to cut down on the amount of wasted rubber, to support the rubber mould, to help cut down on expansion and deformations of the mould and cut down tremendously on air bubbles. 

To make a case you start with the general product shape. It doesn't have to be complete, it just needs to be the size that the rubber will be. 

First, you put down a layer of clear plastic wrap to seal the plaster piece. Next, you put down a layer of flat clay then a layer of soaked newspaper so it easily forms to the shape of the piece. 

Once you have the newspaper on, you can splatter plaster on it using a paintbrush.  Another method is to run a layer of plaster over it instead of splattering. It is important to put "locks" in it. The lock is
the thin raised strip that goes all the way around. The layer you see there is a replica of what the rubber will be. Once the plaster dries, you paint it with shellac and put on it so that you can pop it out once you pull the case off. 

Once the shellac dries, you can now splatter another layer of a very strong plaster.  This forms the actual case. Once you have a layer covering everything, you can start to put strips of fiberglass in it for extra support. As you sprinkle on the fiberglass, you brush it down with the same plaster mix and you normally do 3 layers of the fiberglass. For small projects that could be enough for a case. Since this was a large case we had to do a little more work.

Once that layer dries you can put in a metal bar for structural support. From there you mix up more of the plaster and you actually put the fiberglass in it to make it very thick. You put the fiberglass mixture all along the metal to hold it in place.  

Once that is finished, you cut out the section in wood to put across to make it flat so when you flip it over it is level and not tilting one way.

Repeating the step with the fiberglass mixture you do the same along the pieces of wood to keep them in place.

I didn't get a picture of this step but once it dries you can flip it over and pop out the layer of plastic, clay, newspaper and the plaster with the locks. Once you pull that out you drill holes in it for air bubbles to escape and you're ready to pour the rubber! (after more prep work)

Once you drill the holes, you put clay balls over the openings and leave two large holes so you can pour the rubber in them with a funnel. When pouring the rubber, you leave the holes plugged and fill up the funnels all the way and one at a time you remove a clay ball and let the rubber ooze out for a few seconds and wipe the excess away with a cloth. Doing this allows for unwanted air bubbles to escape.

Once you finish pouring the rubber and it dries, you can clean it up and paint the case with shellac and grease so that when you are casting, the unwanted excess plaster won't stick to the case.

In this photo, you can see the yellowish material is the case. The reason it is yellow is because the shellac is tinted. The pieces have a certain curve to them so the case helps keep that same curve for every one that is casted.

Pouring Rubber

There are different methods to making a rubber mould. One is to put a border all the way around and simply pour rubber. This will make a flat bottom and its very flexible. 

Another way, as previously described, is using a case. To pour using a case you just mix the rubber then pour it into the funnels and it will evenly disperse itself throughout then you clean out the air holes one at a time. 

Before you can pour any rubber, the piece has to be prepped. Once its nearly perfect, you use an air hose to clean it the best you can to remove dust and excess dirt. Next, you use a liquid that basically acts like a sealer. It fills in tiny air bubbles in the plaster and makes it an evenly smooth texture. You put that on very liberally and use your brush to rub it in. As you rub it, it starts to bubble up then you let it sit for about 20-30 minutes and wait for it to "dry". This material doesn't quite dry-it just soaks in and thickens up. Once its ready, you dab it with a clean brush and "buff" it. Doing this takes away all the excess liquid and fills in all pores. Once you're finished buffing it it leaves a shiny and smooth lecture. After that, you finish with a spray called mold release. You let that sit for a few minutes then you're ready to pour the rubber! 

Here is a picture of the sealer once it bubbles up. 

Here I am buffing the piece! 

Making Tools

When is comes to detailed plasterwork, using the right tools is a necessity. Its important to be able to change the tools to your preference. John helped me make some of my own fine tools. It was very valuable to learn to grind and cut my own tools and shape them to my desire. 

And Last but Not Least…

Teaching Eduardo to take a selfie! 

I had an AMAZING experience and I want to thank everyone at Hyde Park Mouldings for taking me in and making my time up there so special!