MaceRider
New Member
Hi everyone,
I'm not new to making props, but I have never worked with casting and/or polyurethane. I want to make a couple training knives based on real knives I own, but am hesitant to buy any resins in case they don't work (are either too hard or too soft).
I'm currently thinking about making the prop knives from a urethane resin or rubber with a Shore hardness of around 60A (specifically, Smooth-On's Vytaflex 60). Hopefully this will be soft enough to be flexible on hit while at the same time not being brittle and snapping after the first bend. They also need to be hard enough to hold their shape (not floppy) and not rip or tear when they are being hit with some force into things.
I know that in this type of situation, Task 16 is probably the best solution, but I live in Russia where the whole line of Smooth-On products is not easy to find, and I can't really order from outside the country. Also, Task 16 is approximately 80A shore hardness, which I feel is pretty close to the Vytaflex 60, though I may be wrong. Maybe something like Smooth-On PMC 780 would be good? The one negative aspect about the PMC and VytaFlex rubbers are the long demold times.
I also have access to Smooth-Cast 45D, if that will work better.
I'm not new to making props, but I have never worked with casting and/or polyurethane. I want to make a couple training knives based on real knives I own, but am hesitant to buy any resins in case they don't work (are either too hard or too soft).
I'm currently thinking about making the prop knives from a urethane resin or rubber with a Shore hardness of around 60A (specifically, Smooth-On's Vytaflex 60). Hopefully this will be soft enough to be flexible on hit while at the same time not being brittle and snapping after the first bend. They also need to be hard enough to hold their shape (not floppy) and not rip or tear when they are being hit with some force into things.
I know that in this type of situation, Task 16 is probably the best solution, but I live in Russia where the whole line of Smooth-On products is not easy to find, and I can't really order from outside the country. Also, Task 16 is approximately 80A shore hardness, which I feel is pretty close to the Vytaflex 60, though I may be wrong. Maybe something like Smooth-On PMC 780 would be good? The one negative aspect about the PMC and VytaFlex rubbers are the long demold times.
I also have access to Smooth-Cast 45D, if that will work better.
Last edited:
