Well folks, it's been a slow and steady progression toward creating pewter castings of the Busted Safari series and now we have (sort of) success! Below we have the exciting results of Avington the Alligator cast in lead-free pewter.
I first attempted this last week without such a favorable outcome. Initially I tried using an oxy-acetylene torch to heat a graphite crucible to melt the pewter. This process just wasn't that efficient (especially if the goal is to pour numerous castings at a time). It wasn't possible to maintain a consistent melt temperature because I was using a cutting torch tip, so I had to keep the torch in my hand and secure the mold and test the temperature. Plus I felt like was wasting a lot of fuel and I'm sure that someone was bound to need the torch because it was a shared resource. Sorry that I didn't throw up any images of that endeavor, but I had my hands full of fire. Also, the castings didn't come out. Mrph.
As you'll see below, I transitioned to using a good 'ol pot and hot plate. You'll have one of these if you live in one of those make-shift-hip apartments here in bklyn cause you just don't have a kitchen. At any rate, the set-up I have is the melting pot, 2-part mold clamped together sitting in a tub of sand. This proved to be a lot more effective, but the castings just didn't turn out the way I intended. The first one didn't fill out entirely (he has no eyes) and they both have heavy sinking where the sprue filled. Also, the surface finish is off due to the mold and the temperature of the metal I think. It's still a work-in-progress, but I'm really excited to have gotten this far with casting the pewter models. Now it's on to more troubleshooting.
I first attempted this last week without such a favorable outcome. Initially I tried using an oxy-acetylene torch to heat a graphite crucible to melt the pewter. This process just wasn't that efficient (especially if the goal is to pour numerous castings at a time). It wasn't possible to maintain a consistent melt temperature because I was using a cutting torch tip, so I had to keep the torch in my hand and secure the mold and test the temperature. Plus I felt like was wasting a lot of fuel and I'm sure that someone was bound to need the torch because it was a shared resource. Sorry that I didn't throw up any images of that endeavor, but I had my hands full of fire. Also, the castings didn't come out. Mrph.
As you'll see below, I transitioned to using a good 'ol pot and hot plate. You'll have one of these if you live in one of those make-shift-hip apartments here in bklyn cause you just don't have a kitchen. At any rate, the set-up I have is the melting pot, 2-part mold clamped together sitting in a tub of sand. This proved to be a lot more effective, but the castings just didn't turn out the way I intended. The first one didn't fill out entirely (he has no eyes) and they both have heavy sinking where the sprue filled. Also, the surface finish is off due to the mold and the temperature of the metal I think. It's still a work-in-progress, but I'm really excited to have gotten this far with casting the pewter models. Now it's on to more troubleshooting.
2 comments:
nice, you do anything to the finish the surface? looks fairly nice in the pics. also maybe move the sprue to the bottom so when you cut it off and polish it's in a less conspicuous spot. overall looks like a good process worth revisiting
Hey, thanks. No surface finishing was done save a bit of polishing to pull out some luster. The surface finish is something to work through here too. These castings produced a lot of little pitting throughout the surface of the pieces, which I think might not look too bad in the finished versions. I think the metal was too hot when I poured it though.
I agree with the sprue comment. It needs to change location anyway because it's not on the parting line, so it can become a hassle to remove it from the mold.
I've recently been looking into bronze casting too. It may be a good way to go.
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