Pastor Jedi
Well-Known Member
I would like to be able to make molds with castings made out of metal. Does anyone know how? I am not talking about going to a foundry and using wax or sand casts.
I need help on making metal casts of molds
- Thread starter Pastor Jedi
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Steelblitz
New Member
I take it you are wanting to know about cold casting?
Pastor Jedi
Well-Known Member
Not sure.
Cold casting is combining metal powders with resin in such a way that a fairly simple resin cast has the cool feel and metallic look of the metal that was added.
I cast zinc items using hydrocal molds. Clearly, you can't have undercuts or the like, but for me it's been a non-issue. I haven't tried standard plaster of paris, but hydrocal can handle the high temps. The molds are reuseable, and due to metal shrinkage, you never have a problem with the cooled metal sticking to the plaster.
i've never done it myself, but i have some friends that said that companies like McMaster Carr have some cheap casting metal with low melt temps but i'm assuming they are all white metals, and probably kinda soft since the melt so easily. But i was told that they can be cast into regular tin-cure/condensation cure silicone molds (the cheaper molding silicones) but would probalby kill the mold life pretty quickly....
like someone said above, platinum silicones usually stand up to heat much better (they can be a little trickier to use, especially if it is a mold of something made with any material that has sulfur in it, especially oil-based clays)......so long story short, i'd go with plat. silicone mold and call around for low tem melt metals
like someone said above, platinum silicones usually stand up to heat much better (they can be a little trickier to use, especially if it is a mold of something made with any material that has sulfur in it, especially oil-based clays)......so long story short, i'd go with plat. silicone mold and call around for low tem melt metals
Ham Salad
Well-Known Member
Can you recommend vendors that sell such supplies?
Mutant-Enemy
Sr Member
I use Dragon-Skin from Smoothon.com
You can check out the little recast I did using it here: http://nopeek.tripod.com/bitten/id86.html
I had Rick Ross' permission to do this by the way and no, it's not for sale.
You can check out the little recast I did using it here: http://nopeek.tripod.com/bitten/id86.html
I had Rick Ross' permission to do this by the way and no, it's not for sale.
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Ham Salad
Well-Known Member
this is Wacker 4470 silicone rubber (which is quite hard) and a low-melting point metal:
couple of tips - preheat the mould in an oven and dust it with graphite powder.
The metal will need sanding/polishing though - you can't get mirror smoothness straight out of the mould without a centrifuge to force the metal into the mould.
couple of tips - preheat the mould in an oven and dust it with graphite powder.
The metal will need sanding/polishing though - you can't get mirror smoothness straight out of the mould without a centrifuge to force the metal into the mould.
Hadn't followed up with this thread. Hydrocal getsa lot of its strength by its tight packing of material as it squeezes out water. I also bake the molds @ 350 for a few hours. Occasionally a mold will crack, which means it wasn't cooked long enough.
I cast zinc in hydrocal (any concrete/plaster supplier should be able to sell you a 25 pound bag for around $20) with again, zero problems. I don't do two part molds...I tried a couple and they worked, but I usually don't have a reason to do it.
I cast zinc in hydrocal (any concrete/plaster supplier should be able to sell you a 25 pound bag for around $20) with again, zero problems. I don't do two part molds...I tried a couple and they worked, but I usually don't have a reason to do it.
BadGuys
New Member
My son and I have cast pewter in Smooth On Rebound 25 with great results. Be sure to give the mold a thickness of at least 1/2" all the way around. I made a glove mold and cut the clay original out using an exacto. Then, I wrapped tin foil around it (extra heat sink) and taped it with electrical tape.
I melted various pewter objects bought at Goodwill or thrift shops on our camp stove outside (make sure no drops of water can drip into the melted metal!), and poured it into the mold.
Wait about 10 minutes to demold, using welding gloves and pliers for safety.
Make sure to wear safety glasses and other safety-type apparel around melted and/or hot metal.
I'm not religious, but I made this cross for my Mother and my GF's mother.
I melted various pewter objects bought at Goodwill or thrift shops on our camp stove outside (make sure no drops of water can drip into the melted metal!), and poured it into the mold.
Wait about 10 minutes to demold, using welding gloves and pliers for safety.
Make sure to wear safety glasses and other safety-type apparel around melted and/or hot metal.
I'm not religious, but I made this cross for my Mother and my GF's mother.
BadGuys
New Member
Here is a skull I made with a glove mold. Solid pewter.
Here is the clay original of a Gandalf type figure (please be kind, it was one of my first pewter casts)
Here is the wizard cast in pewter
Here, I'm pouring molds for the cross, and knife handles.
Here is the pewter, pre-melted.
And, finally, here are some pewter knife handles for the tang of a hand-forged knife blade
Here is the clay original of a Gandalf type figure (please be kind, it was one of my first pewter casts)
Here is the wizard cast in pewter
Here, I'm pouring molds for the cross, and knife handles.
Here is the pewter, pre-melted.
And, finally, here are some pewter knife handles for the tang of a hand-forged knife blade
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