Hello New and Looking for some answers!

Hello,

I have attempted to use google-fu, and it was not super effective.

So I found this place and hopefully you all can help me out. I would like to start building some props because I love building things but I dont feel I have enough experience to jump into anything crazy.

To start off I have basic carpentry skills, I can cut / glue / drill to within 1/32 of an inch and that little bit can be sanded down easily, I understand the basics of painting ect and I have a shop (Table saw, Jigsaw, bandsaw, sander, drill press) so I think I have most of the "tools" required.

On to my question!

I would like to start building a portal cube. Id like it to be about 24" when completed and durable enough to be used as a place to sit / place things on in a room.

I have a sheet of 1/2" MDF and I will be using that for the "box" in the center

the 24" cube has 1.5" is the width of the "edge pieces". So a center box of 21".

I can do that no problem. Where I run into the problem are the corner pieces. I can make it out of paper but I dont know how to "cast" anything.

I would like to create a mold that I can create 8 of the corner pieces out of and 16 of the middle pieces (2 cubes total).

I Dont care about all that stuff give me the really simple question:

I am looking for a tutorial on casting / molding plastic / rubber parts.

Also, I am looking for a good place to buy some styrene. Home depot only had insulation styrene.

Thanks for the info guys!

Smooth-On has a really fantastic series of videos for learning about mold making and casting. Mold Making Videos and Photo Tutorials presented by Smooth-On, Inc

For styrene, if you are needing small amounts, things link for-sale signs are frequently styrene. If you are needing larger sheets, you'll probably have to find a local plastics distributor.

After looking further into the costs of this method, is there a way to make a complex object like the corners of a portal cube without casting?