Casting Do you heat pre/post cure your molds and resin castings?

Well, if the particular resin you are planning on using recommends it, it's usually a waste of time *not* following the manufacturer's recommendations. I would personally prefer to use a resin that didn't require preheating or heat-curing. Preheating makes your silicon molds difficult to handle without burning your fingers, and causes the resin to set up really fast, sometimes TOO fast. Heat curing wouldn't be so bad, but it ties up your molds for a long time and would mean you wouldn't likely get more than one or two casts from a particular mold in one day.
For a person trying to cast doll parts or figurines out of their own garage or home workshop, I really don't think it's a feature in a resin you should be looking for.

 

I usually microwave my silicone molds to heat them up before casting. I find I get fewer surface airbubbles, but it does definitely set up quicker!

 

If you do want to get a separate oven just for hobby stuff, try getting an old toaster-oven or a second hand oven of some sort from St Vinnies or the Salvo's ~ also try classified ads etc.

 

EGADS! Don't waste your money on microwaves or convection ovens, get yourself a toaster oven! I got a nice oversized one designed for full-sized pizzas for around $35 on sale at Target, they're easy to find, inexpensive, and work perfectly for heating molds. Twigling knows what she's talking about - Toaster ovens are the best option for the least impact on your wallet.

 

All I can suggest is to experiment with the resin, try it without pre and post baking, try it with pre-warming only, and try it with the post-curing only, and see if it makes any significant changes to the final product, and make your decision from your findings.

I know I personally don't even want to buy a resin for use that's so fussy as to need all that extra work, but it may give you a product with the exact characteristics that you're looking for. There are a lot of resin products out there to choose from, and I know that making a selection is difficult at best.