ITERATION 1: HERE'S WHERE IT GETS TRICKY

My first iteration of my part didn't turn out quite as planned. The largest problem was an enormous bubble by the finger grip, that had never filled with resin. The next noticeable issue was that the grip was entirely stuck to the block. In order to remove the grip, I had to fully cut apart the 2x4, and in the process I made 3 visible cracks in my part.

In order to get rid of the air bubble, I cut two very small air slits in the mold with a box-cutter knife, to keep air from getting trapped in the mold. I was nervous to cut a larger chunk out of the mold as an air hole.

To deal with the 2x4 problem, I covered the block with Partall wax paste as a mold release before putting it in the 2 part mold.