The desired musical spoon was the first 3D printed in order to make a model to be used when creating the ceramic mold. You are looking at a musical spoon made of Virgin PLA plastic. It is 3d printed and non-recyclable through conventional methods.
A 2-part press ceramic mold was created to form plastic spoons. It was important for the mold to be designed in a way that would make it easy to open and remove the opject
The mold has the Cottle system using the 3D printed model, so you can still see the texture and layers of the model itself. Having a weaker print is preferable, in order to ensure the mold does not get stick together. Also smoothing the model would have helped reduce the lines

Using the previous mold as an outline, a ceramic mold was made from clay. I manage to make 3 molds and I let them dry completely before the next steps.
The molding technic created deep crevasses in some areas. To reduce the impact of these crevasses I fill the crevasses with blue-green cone 6 engobe and a tiny brush. Then I coated the rest of the inside of the molds with two coats making sure it is really dry in between coats.
After bisque fire I sprayed a clear glaze cone 6 to 9 over the green engobe. I was not sure how much I should put but I stop praying when I see small bumps accumulate. I washed the underside of the molds with iron oxide to complement the harsh texture. I'm hoping for an interesting contrast with the smooth green inside.

Test 1

I bought a tiny toster oven at Fripe-Prix Renaissance at the Plaza St-Hubert in Montréal. I chose this one because it add a « stay on » fonction and could go up to 450°f.
I also liked the squared shape and the two shelves, this way both sides of the mold fit together. In this test, I preheated the oven and the molds at 350 °f
I poured the shreds into the mold and baked them until they turned transparent.
I closed the mold and put a brick on top and allowed it to cool for a few minutes.
Unfortunately, once it had cool down the mold was impossible to open. The plastic had stuck to the textured glaze. In addition, there was not enough plastic to fill the entire cavity.
I reheated the mold to get the part out but it tore apart because it was too soft at this point. Still, some features of the part were molded correctly and this gave me hope for the next round of tests.

Test 2

This time I melted the plastic first outside of the mold and I used a baking tray lined with parchment paper, which has a silicone coating for the plastic to be removed from the tray more easily.
I brushed a little bit of murphy’s oil soap to act as a release agent on the inside of the mold, this way the plastic would be easily removed.
I melted the plastic on the baking sheets. At 400°F until it turns clear.
I formed a tiny log from the melted plastic around the same length as the mold.
I preshaped the log in to the cavity of the mold by pressing and stretching it with the silicone spoon.
I continued to reheat the formed object one last time and shape it in the cavity of the mold.
I continue to do the two previous steps until I reached the desired shape of the spoon I wanted.
We can see that the excess material flowed in the chamfered edges around the cavity. The mold of designed for the excess material to be around the edges in order to trim more easily. I trimmed the excess material using Use protection gloves and glasses.