Dreads - The Continuing Saga...

[made007]

Great molding tech, keep the pics coming

 

[BonzRus]

Thanks Jose. I will be updating as I go. I am eager to mix up some foam and see what happens.

Steve,
maybe all of this will go away when I get my machine up and running and I can create some tight molds!!!!!

That would be great Clay...how long 'til you have it up and running?

Steve

 

[Eaglewood]

I am moving to a new studio in June so it will be sometime soon after June1st.  It will be one of the first things I get running.

 

[BonzRus]

OK...I was able to pour my first dreads over the weekend and I must say that while my processes need a little refining I have at least proved that the concept works. They demolded with no problems and are seamless!!! I am going to continue to play around with the cord and ratios but for my first attempt at this here is what I have. I made three dreads total using the BJB TC-266 foam mixed just as they specify with their Ultra Black tint. After three pours I have determined that for this paticular 19" long dread I need about 18 grams of part B and 8-9 grams of part A with one drop of tint. I poured these at my dining room table and all three turned out fine. I did not use any special mixer, just a metal putty knife in a paper cup as they outline in the video on their website. I pre-measured parts A and B, added the tint to B and mixed it thoroughly. Then dumped part A into B and mixed for the count of 10 and poured. They rose fine and set up in about 3-4 minutes. I demolded them in about 20 minutes using a tire pump to help break the seal while gently pulling on the cord. I will be coating these today with Plasti Dip spray and posting a video later of the process. All in all there is good potential here so I will proceed to make more silicone molds in order to increase out put.

I did not like how big the paracord is in the tip so I spliced a smaller cord onto the end of it with a small piece of aluminum tube.

Using an aluminum tube inserted into the end of the mold allows for the cord to easily pass through and out the bottom. Then you just remove the tube.

These dreads are 19" long and weight 20 grams but I believe I cand get the weight lower as a good part of that is the cord. They are seamless and also have the added feature of the cord which would make them very easy to securely install on a mask. I could even envision not having to use any hot glue or other adhesive to secure them meaning they could easilty be removed from a mask without damaging the dreads or the mask so there is good potential with the design.

Next, I will try some with just the thinner cord only.

I will post the video soon.

Steve

 

[made007]

Awesome, they are perfect

 

[BonzRus]

Thanks Jose. They are a little stiff to me but that could be the cord so I am going to try something a little different. Here is the promised video.

http://youtu.be/kyVXT2i1qlo

Steve

 

[sulaco1967]

Wow Steve...thanks for sharing...I have just spent the last hour talking too friend about your progress..I do not understand yet moulding processeces yet and have found your thread hard to follow...

However many thanks for the vid..things are clicking in to place after watching..

They look fantastic and from your track record so far these will be refined to perfection Sir....

And from the ashes of Bambooie arose a new contendor and the people came to know him as Bonzorus..however to his friends he will forever be known as a Willy the Wonka..lol...

Sean

 

[wonko]

I wish I had that kind of success with the Burman foam.  There's just a couple of things that I noticed Steve.  Not that I'm an expert by any means, just sharing my experience.  First (very minor) thing that stands out is the taper.  Almost all of the dreads I've seen have less of a "cone" taper.  What I mean by that is the dread tapers very slightly for about the first 2/3rd's of the dreads, then tapers rather dramatically for the last 1/3rd down to a round tip.  I did my first set of dread sculpts too cone shaped.  that's one of the reasons I'm doing them over.  You's look better than mine did, and it may just be the lighting or video that makes them look the way they do.  Don't get me wrong, the shape looks good, I'm basically pointing out what was pointed out to be by the few people that have them.  As far as the movement, they do seem a little on the stiff side, but that could be due to the paracord.  My suggestion is if you plan on using a cord down the middle, gut the paracord and use one of the inner strands.  They are small, and have all the strength you would need.  Plus, it may help with the movement a little bit.  I noticed that the Burman foam was a little stiff on the dreads I made with them, and the movement compared to the dreads I purchased was pretty bad.  For me, that was strike 2 against the BJB stuff.  Strike 3 was not being able to get them black.  Mine came out dark grey, up to the point where the tint affected the foam.  

Looks like you're on the right path, and I wish you success with future dreads.  

Brian

 

[BonzRus]

Thanks Sean & Brian...the Willy Wonka thing still cracks me up! I too have thought the taper needed to be less as it would move a bit more material lower on the dread and move the center of mass closer to the tip. This being my first attempt I am considering making some new plugs. I am using the Ultra Black tint from BJB and I have not yet loaded them up so that is another point I plan to experiment with. The paracord strand is a good suggestion that I had not thought of before. This is very much a variable element and I have seen them in different shapes or tapers so it may come down to preference. This is still a work in process and I really appreciate the input.

Steve

 

[Eaglewood]

Got the Motion Picture foam today-- I also ordered some of the 2-4-6 lb stuff.
Mixed up a quick test pour of each-- and I am already impressed with the 2-4-6
Poured the self skinning and it didnt rise as much as I expected, but I used the same ratios as the FF^ and the 2-4-6.
I will pull the pieces tomorrow and see what it looks like.

I will attempt to do a solid mold as well and use my air gun to release it. We will see!!!

 

[Eaglewood]

OK...I was able to pour my first dreads over the weekend and I must say that while my processes need a little refining I have at least proved that the concept works. They demolded with no problems and are seamless!!! I am going to continue to play around with the cord and ratios but for my first attempt at this here is what I have. I made three dreads total using the BJB TC-266 foam mixed just as they specify with their Ultra Black tint. After three pours I have determined that for this paticular 19" long dread I need about 18 grams of part B and 8-9 grams of part A with one drop of tint. I poured these at my dining room table and all three turned out fine. I did not use any special mixer, just a metal putty knife in a paper cup as they outline in the video on their website. I pre-measured parts A and B, added the tint to B and mixed it thoroughly. Then dumped part A into B and mixed for the count of 10 and poured. They rose fine and set up in about 3-4 minutes. I demolded them in about 20 minutes using a tire pump to help break the seal while gently pulling on the cord. I will be coating these today with Plasti Dip spray and posting a video later of the process. All in all there is good potential here so I will proceed to make more silicone molds in order to increase out put.

I did not like how big the paracord is in the tip so I spliced a smaller cord onto the end of it with a small piece of aluminum tube.

0327132000a.jpg

0327132013.jpg

0327132015.jpg

Using an aluminum tube inserted into the end of the mold allows for the cord to easily pass through and out the bottom. Then you just remove the tube.

0327132005.jpg

These dreads are 19" long and weight 20 grams but I believe I cand get the weight lower as a good part of that is the cord. They are seamless and also have the added feature of the cord which would make them very easy to securely install on a mask. I could even envision not having to use any hot glue or other adhesive to secure them meaning they could easilty be removed from a mask without damaging the dreads or the mask so there is good potential with the design.

0331132302.jpg

Next, I will try some with just the thinner cord only.

0331132303.jpg

I will post the video soon.

Steve

How do you envision using the cord to attach to a head if it is foam filled?? I have been thinking about installing nuts into the inside of the head in the dread sockets and then screws in the dreads so they can be interchanged

 

[AlphaTech686]

Wow I don't know how I missed this the last week or two. Here is my 2 cents worth. First, Steve there are looking great. I would guess they are a little stiff from the cord or may because the conical shape. I am a fan of the first film which had shorter dreads and a lot less ( teenage girl) head flipping. Now about TC265, I've used it for over 20 years and always got good results. To be fair I only ever tried one other foam and that was Monster Makers and it sucked i.e. heavy and stiff. TC265 seems pretty straight forward and trouble free. As for the tinting I would say for me at least mine tint pretty darn dark and they really need to be coated with something like spray Past-dip for some UV protection anyway. I would say you might not even need any cord at all. Last year, or whenever that was when I was experimenting with silicone molds and dreads, I had success with pulling them from the mold with no cord or air. It just took a little bit of working it out. Steve I will try to take a quick video of the sculpted dreads here in a little while. Keep up the good work.   

 

[AlphaTech686]

Hey Steve here's the video you asked for.
http://s3.photobucket.com/user/alphapredator686/media/003-39_zps9788d258.mp4.html 

 

[monsterroom]

Ive used the 265 for years to get the black just tell them to tint it black thay chang the mix on there end to get it black not the gray
if you add the pigment it just turns dark gray and stiff

 

[made007]

They look great bonz, a few dread beads and nobody will notice the stifness, i want to try that foam

 

[BonzRus]

How do you envision using the cord to attach to a head if it is foam filled?? I have been thinking about installing nuts into the inside of the head in the dread sockets and then screws in the dreads so they can be interchanged

Good point Clay...I haven't got that far yet. definitely something to consider. I like the idea of the screws.

Wow I don't know how I missed this the last week or two. Here is my 2 cents worth. First, Steve there are looking great. I would guess they are a little stiff from the cord or may because the conical shape. I am a fan of the first film which had shorter dreads and a lot less ( teenage girl) head flipping. Now about TC265, I've used it for over 20 years and always got good results. To be fair I only ever tried one other foam and that was Monster Makers and it sucked i.e. heavy and stiff. TC265 seems pretty straight forward and trouble free. As for the tinting I would say for me at least mine tint pretty darn dark and they really need to be coated with something like spray Past-dip for some UV protection anyway. I would say you might not even need any cord at all. Last year, or whenever that was when I was experimenting with silicone molds and dreads, I had success with pulling them from the mold with no cord or air. It just took a little bit of working it out. Steve I will try to take a quick video of the sculpted dreads here in a little while. Keep up the good work.   

Thanks for the video Jeff. I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. It helps a lot to see other dreads in action. I am still playing with this and I see a lot of potential in the TC-266 so I am going to keep working with it.

Ive used the 265 for years to get the black just tell them to tint it black thay chang the mix on there end to get it black not the gray
if you add the pigment it just turns dark gray and stiff

This is great! I considered asking them to pre-tint it but when I read that it reduced the shelf life considerably I opted to add the tint myself. Seeing that I am in no position to pour a bunch of material to use it up quickly and without any prior experience with the stuff I didn't want to risk it. Have you had any self life issues with the pre-tinted stuff or have you never had it sitting around long enough to have a problem?

They look great bonz, a few dread beads and nobody will notice the stifness, i want to try that foam

Yeah Jose, I do think the beads would help a lot and if you are not too particular about their movement they might be fine. I have only made 3 so far so I have a lot more learning to do. I am going to make some new dread plugs after a little more research as I want to get the shape of them as close as I can to the originals and I do agree with Brian that my current dreads have just a bit too much taper.

I just wanted to take a moment to tell everyone how much I appreciate all the input on this. I am learning something new at every turn and I hope others are as well. Thank you all!!!

Steve

 

[Eaglewood]

I have tested the motion picture foam as well as the 2-4-6 they offer. Video coming

 

[made007]

Bjb told me in facebook that pre tinted orders are 5 gal minimum
So i guess i have to tint it myself

 

[BonzRus]

I have tested the motion picture foam as well as the 2-4-6 they offer. Video coming

Looking forward to seeing your video and learning more about it Clay.

Bjb told me in facebook that pre tinted orders are 5 gal minimum
So i guess i have to tint it myself

Thanks Jose...I was planning to call them today to find out more about the pre-tinting option so this is good to know. I have sprayed the ones I made with the Plasti Dip and it works well. I would prefer them to be black throughout but I am not yet at a point where I would need that much material. Bummer. I still may inquire with them as Monsterroom indicated they do something to the mix on their end that keeps it soft when they tint it. I am struggling to understand why or how it should make a difference. I mean, unless they physically change the formula for some reason in order to tint it which would make it a different product than what they send out I ought to be able to do what they do if I have the same ingredients and it is just a matter or ratios or time or whatever. I have so little experience with this stuff though so until I can find out more I don't want to be the the pot calling the kettle black.

Steve

 

[made007]

You should still call them, because remember im on puerto rico, maybe they do that order minimun to overseas, because we are far, maybe they let you order less qty , looking forward to seeing your results