Equipment Needed

jackieIB - Sunday, March 2, 2008 - 1:23pm

My husband, Matt, is a sculpter and we are starting a small foundry in Florida. We need to get set up to cast his work immediately but would also like to take on other artists work as well. I have been all over the internet looking for the equipment we need. There are so many options and I don't think that I've come close to finding them all. We have to be set up to cast medium sized sculptures. I listed some of the items that we need below and hope that someone here can point me in the right direction.

- Burn out kiln: Gas is preferable. Must have a receptacle for wax reclamation. Has to be relatively portable (can't be really small)
- Bead blasting cabinet: fully outfitted (vacuum, recycler, etc...)
- Slurry supplies
- Slurry mixers

Also, if anyone has any information on vacuum casting (opinion/resource) that would be great.

Thanks in advance for any information or advice!

» jackieIB's blog | add new comment

foundry in Florida

B.J. Severtson - Sunday, March 2, 2008 - 3:00pm

Jackie.
Check out castinghobby.com it is a network of many hobby and small commercial foundry people. They are based in Florida and have an active membership in Florida. I'll bet they can answer your questions about availability of supplies and equipment on a statewide basis. Brad Saint Pete castinghobby is a yahoo group

» reply

B.J. Thanks for the

jackieIB - Monday, March 3, 2008 - 8:06am

B.J.

Thanks for the information. I will definitely check this out today.

Jackie

» reply

B.J. I tried to go to

jackieIB - Monday, March 3, 2008 - 8:27am

B.J.

I tried to go to castinghobby.com but it brought me to a server that requires a password. I tries Brad Saint Pete castinghobby in yahoo groups and couldn't find it. Do you have a link do can send me?

Thanks,
Jackie

» reply

We are excited

B.J. Severtson - Monday, March 3, 2008 - 10:01am

Welcome to art metal. We are really excited to have you here in Florida. Love your business concept. That link is
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/castinghobby/ Sign in find the forum ask away. There are several Florida boys that can be a resource for you. Art metal is an excellent resource for foundry people. You mentioned 200 lb crucibles..in our conversation. That should get the attention of B P Fink and Gene Olsen among others. Only the best to you. Brad

» reply

Bill, We are in Deltona

jackieIB - Monday, March 3, 2008 - 8:04am

Bill,

We are in Deltona (close to Deland). We are about an hour and fifteen minutes from Ocala.

Matt has talked about building the kiln but would prefer to find one at a reasonable price ($5000 or less) that would be efficient to cast other artist's work as well. It would also need to be somewhat portable so we can move it when we find warehouse space.

We have some artists that will come and work with us when we open the doors so the goal is to find warehouse space and getting rolling as soon as possible. In the meantime, we will set up at home. We are building a room under air for slurry and the kiln and furnace will be in an enclosure out back.

Utimately, we want to start an apprenticeship program through the foundry so we will have great new artist talent and will be able to offer them a space to work and grow their skills as well.

Definitely give us a call, 386-789-6000. I'm working the marketing end of the business but Matt is the real casting expert. He would be happy to talk to you.

Thanks! Jackie

» reply