I haven't had any responses on ML. So, I thought I would ask here. Has anybody used this? What are its characteristics?

Hi Matt,

The 2 part dental putty I use to make molds of the parts I make
works quite well..

The parts being copied must not be too complex and must not have
major uncuts otherwise I need to make the mold in 2 parts.

Only major drawback is sets very rapidly as this stuff is
really intended for dental impressions.

This stuff is not as long lived as silicone therefore you will not get
as many castings out of the molds.

Otherwise I turn to silicone rubber products which take a
much longer time to set and you'll get many more casts
out of them.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Joe

Thanks. I will be using it for simple molds.

There are different dental "putties". I assume you mean impression material used in the mouth. They are made in different viscosities, ie heavy body, medium body, light and extra light. Set times can range from 7 minutes to 1 minute depending on your selection, ie fast set or slow set. The major products are: alginates, polyeithers or some type of silicone. Alginates are water based and must be used right away as they dry out. I think vinyl polysiloxane is the most popular these days. It has long shelf life after setting and handles being in the mail with different temperatures. Dentist usually require much more accuracy than modelling. I am assuming if you where buying material to make copies that dental materials would be more expensive by just putting the name dental on the product. Mold making materials are usually designed to make multiple copies of an item and over time. In my mind they are more flexible. In dentistry we generally only make one or two pours or copies. The lighter viscosity materials are designed to flow into small spaces and pick up fine detail. While being a thinner viscosity they more flexible, they can tear more easily.
If you have access to dental "putty" by all means try it. I have used out of date material to copy small parts. If you have access to small boxes (ask your dentist for the small plastic boxes crowns are shipped in) they make perfect hinged split molds for very small parts with the hinge and closure giving repeatable alignment.
Hope this is helpful.
Joe Salkowitz, DMD

My dentist sent me home, with a little baggy of the stuff. I have no idea which type it is.