Any decent reasonably priced UK metal/pewter casters?

[Hovito loincloth]

Hi Guys, has anyone any knowledge of a good non-exorbitant pewter caster in the UK? I'm looking for a short run of a Staff of Ra medallion. This is an original sculpt and not based on any previous product. I don't have the facilities or where-withall to do metal casting myself!
Cheers in advance!

 

[Leigh]

I did a bit of costume jewellery making when I was 19, That was all pewter.
The mould was either a vulcanised rubber or silicone & shaped to be used in a centrifugal casting machine.
IIRC the part your making is quite large & would need a slightly bigger mould so I can imagine it would be quite expencive.
For only making a few, personaly I'd have a go at it myself.
If your worried about messing up the only mould of your original sculpt I'd mould it in silicone & pull a resin cast from it as a master to then make moulds for pewter casting.
The pewter can be melted in a cooking pot on a camping stove, if you've got a shed or garage, a pair of leather gloves & some goggles your good to go IMO.
IIRC its the mould making for the casting machine thats expencive as those sort of moulds are designed to produce 1000's of peices. You should be able to produce a few without the special equipment, you will need a good high temp silicone for your mould though.

I'm a little rusty with this info so dont take it as gospel.
Hope its some help

 

[Leigh]

Found this:

Casting Pewter Into Mold Max® 60

hope it helps

Edit, Also: http://www.therpf.com/f9/metal-zorro-medallion-solid-pewter-updated-new-cast-105671/

 

[Hovito loincloth]

Cheers, maybe it's not as daunting as it looks. I'll have to give it a try.

 

[Forge]

Hi, you may have seen the Prince August website already,
they can make the mould for you so you can cast yourself.
Might be a bit expensive but maybe an option.


White Metal Casting Moulds (Molds) & Toy Soldiers figures, Warzone Mutant Chronicles + Chronopia roleplaying wargames + miniatures in Cork, Ireland

 

[Propsjonnyb]

I've been casting in hot metal for over 30 years , hot-metal casting is not as simple as Leigh makes out, you must get a high-temperature silicon RTV, trying to hot metal cast with the wrong compound is dangerous , hot metal into the wrong mold is like pouring boiling water on an ice cube, then you have the problem of hot metal everywhere , get it on yourself and you risk serious burns, so I would advise you go on a course first before you attempt this at home. If I were to do it , I'd charge for the mold and the pewter (metal) plus labour at £25 per hour , to give you some idea , £50 to £75 , to make master and cast say a dozen raw cast , electroplating would be extra £10 to £15, but could be done in 24 carrat gold plus the item polished.