Aris, a prosthetic technician came to visit me in Managua and we tested out the vac-casting idea. He experimented with me and gave me feedback in what he would like in a vacuum casting kit. He liked the idea of using a vacuum to make a mold but thought a bucket would work better than a plastic bag. (he didn't like the plastic bag shells). He also thought that the plastic bag was not flexible enough, so we got plastic garbage bags. We tested out the plastic garbage bag, and bucket system with some coffee and it was too hard to insert a leg without modifying the shape of the stump. To make the coffee soft (sauve) Aris wanted to blow air in. We did this and the coffee blew up into our faces because the air wasn't distributed enough. Aris and Alejandro went to buy sand to try with a heavier material, sand. The sand was heavier, but the air still didn't loosen the sand enough to make it soft enough. We decided to try out the mold anyways, so Aris stuck his hand in the bucket and took the negative mold and then used the plaster to make the positive. The hand turned out well and Aris didn't seem very concerned with the wrinkles.
Timing the plaster
Aris pouring the plaster
The molded hand
Anna with the hand
Pouring the plaster
the empty hole where his hand was
Close up of the hole
Aris hand in the hole
Another view of the hole
before the vacuum is turned on
Aris hand in the hole again
The empty bucket with the sand
Playing with the sand
trying to find the soft spot
more coffee makes it heavier, lets extend the bucket
Alejandro playing with the bucket
Making the bucket taller
-Annie
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