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Mold making with room temperature vulcanizing silicone rubber

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2017

Dan S. Chaney
Dan S. Chaney*
Affiliation:
Department of Paleobiology, U.S. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560
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Extract

Specimens of all types and sizes can be molded with room temperature vulcanizing silicone rubber (R.T.V.). Mold making procedures, when using R.T.V., differ little from those followed when molding with latex, polysulfide, or polyurethane rubbers. The most important difference is that when using R.T.V. separators are not, under normal circumstances, required either in the making of the mold or in the production of the cast. This allows for the ultimate in surface detail replication in the cast. Thus R.T.V. compounds are ideal for molding small specimens and portions of larger specimens requiring examination using electron microscopy, typically used in vertebrate paleontology for the examination of micro-striations on teeth (for masticatory functions and dietary studies) or bones (for pathologic and taphonomic examinations).

Type
Replication of Fossils
Information
The Paleontological Society Special Publications , Volume 4: Paleotechniques , 1989 , pp. 284 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 Paleontological Society 

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References

References

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Additional References

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