Tea Light Holder
concrete tea light holder
Concrete Tea Light Holder
Model Making / Mold Making / Concrete Casting / Problem Solving
I had been inspired by housewares I was seeing on the Design Milk Instagram, and I was interested in the concrete decor pieces. I wanted to explore 3D printing and casting molds with my own design.
Trial One
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Modern and Simple Design
I wanted to create a modern, simple, but practical piece. The extruded cylinder would be the housing of the tea light candle to go inside. After I designed it, I 3D printed the model so I could make a silicone mold.
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Casting the Silicone Mold
After I made my silicone mold, I cast the concrete and waited two days before I tried to remove the piece. I used Quikrete for this project.
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Design Problem?
After I demanded my silicone, I noticed I had a problem. The thickness of my extruded cylinder was too thin and crumbled.
In an attempt to save this mold and this design, I cut the mold in half and recast it as a two-piece mold. I thought by having two pieces, removing the concrete part might be easier and not break my model either.
Unfortunately, this method would not work because the thickness of the cylinder was too thin to cast in concrete. It was time to reevaluate the dimensions of my original design.
I now had this new design and it was successful, but the new dimensions changed the form language now. I felt I was losing the clean, sleek look of my original design.
Trial Two
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Rethinking the Design
Since my original design was not working out, I wanted to start again and go back to ideation. I decided I wanted to do a more solid piece so my mold would be successful but also add a feature to make it visually compelling.
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Concrete Tea Light and Match Holder
Two days after casting my mold, I was able to remove my new design! I experimented with how many air bubbles remained and how that changes the aesthetic look of each piece.
