Manip­u­lat­ed for cen­turies by skilled arti­sans to yield archi­tec­tur­al prod­ucts of intri­cate detail and design ele­gance, plas­ter has proven to be the ide­al mate­r­i­al in the cre­ation of orna­men­tal deco­rum, wall brack­ets and gen­er­al molding.

Why Work with Plaster Molding:

• Plas­ter mold­ings offer infi­nite flex­i­bil­i­ty. When spe­cial­ly for­mu­lat­ed addi­tives or late paint coats are applied to the hand­craft­ed molds, the col­or com­bi­na­tions avail­able to a design­er are endless. 
• Look­ing for an inex­haustible source of inspi­ra­tion, then Gyp­sum, the new gen­er­a­tion of plas­ter mold­ings, is ide­al. A Gyp­sum design ele­ment will intro­duce a pletho­ra of new dec­o­ra­tive ideas to any inte­ri­or designer.
• Plas­ter is an extreme­ly durable mate­r­i­al that is rein­forced with fiber­glass and capa­ble of resist­ing fire and moisture.
• Plas­ter mold­ings give any set­ting a touch of class and cre­ate an aes­thet­ic effect by mask­ing defects. Such defects could include cracks dam­age or unwant­ed spacing. 
• If designed with plas­ter, any mold­ing is eas­i­ly installed. As skill and expe­ri­ence is not a man­date, this real­i­ty allows any design­er or con­trac­tor to take on the mate­r­i­al as an inte­ri­or or exte­ri­or dec­o­ra­tive project.

The Industrial Process: 

While com­plex, the process involved with the pro­duc­tion of plas­ter mold­ings is cen­turies old and ini­tial­ly pro­posed by the ancients who were com­par­a­tive­ly dis­ad­van­taged in tech­nol­o­gy and mass pro­duc­tion. Today, the pro­ce­dure is not so dif­fer­ent. First, a plas­ter for­mu­la is mixed and a pat­terned mold — which will reflect the final design — is sprayed with a thin film of part­ing com­pound to pre­vent the plas­ter from stick­ing to the pat­tern. The plas­ter is then poured over the pat­tern or mold and the unit is shak­en to ensure that the plas­ter fills any small fea­tures. With­in approx­i­mate­ly 15 min­utes, the plas­ter will set, enabling man­u­fac­tur­ers to remove the final prod­uct or mold. The mold is then baked, between 120 °C (248 °F) and 260 °C (500 °F), to remove any excess water, and lat­er pre­pared for assem­bly and pre­heat­ing treat­ments. At this point a met­al, unique to each for­mu­la, is poured and spread onto the prod­uct. Final­ly, after the met­al has solid­i­fied, the plas­ter is bro­ken from the cast part. The process for the pro­duc­tion of plas­ter molds ensures increased dimen­sion­al accu­ra­cy and an excel­lent sur­face finish.

Spe­cial­ized Experts are Essen­tial in the Pro­duc­tion of Plas­ter Mold­ing:

The pro­duc­tion of plas­ter molds remains chal­leng­ing. As such, to ensure suc­cess, skilled crafts­men are key. Indeed, to cre­ate qual­i­ty hand­craft­ed prod­ucts, crafts­men must con­trol for dis­ad­van­ta­geous variables:

• Unlike oth­er solu­tions and mate­ri­als, the plas­ter used in a sin­gle cycle of pro­duc­tion can­not be reused, as it has under­gone a series of irre­versible reactions. 
• Just as well, the process is lim­it­ed by mate­r­i­al and tem­per­a­ture, the reg­u­la­tion of which is inte­gral. To pre­vent the risk of melt­ing a mold, only low­er melt­ing tem­per­a­ture non-fer­rous mate­ri­als, such as mag­ne­sium and zinc or more com­mon­ly alu­mini­um and cop­per, can be applied. 
• Just as well, plas­ter is not as sta­ble as sand, so it is depen­dent on sev­er­al fac­tors, includ­ing the con­sis­ten­cy of the plas­ter com­po­si­tion, pour­ing pro­ce­dures, and cur­ing tech­niques. If these fac­tors are not close­ly mon­i­tored the final mold can be dis­tort­ed, shrink upon dry­ing, have a poor sur­face fin­ish, or fail completely. 
• The long cool­ing times asso­ci­at­ed with the pro­duc­tion of plas­ter molds are sim­i­lar­ly dis­ad­van­ta­geous as they restrict pro­duc­tion volume.

Products by Petra Design:

With years of expe­ri­ence, Petra Design is a com­pa­ny found­ed on the work of skilled crafts­men and devot­ed busi­ness­men ded­i­cat­ed to ensur­ing your com­plete sat­is­fac­tion with a new project. Petra Design offers a wide vari­ety of inte­ri­or crown mold­ings to meet var­ied artis­tic styles and dec­o­ra­tive pur­pos­es. Our inte­ri­or list­ing includes plain mold­ing, design mold­ing, light cove mold­ing, pan­el mold­ing and mold­ed cor­ners. While we offer a vast vari­ety of prod­ucts to choose from, with expert advice, we can help to cre­ate a cus­tom design that is per­fect­ly suit­ed to your needs. Be sure to speak with one of our advis­ers about your spec­i­fi­ca­tions: quan­ti­ty, size and styl­is­tic fine points. Vis­it our web­site at www.petradesign.ca for more information.