casting

Bronze casting

Mantrid — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:29:30 -0500

Hello I'm new to the site. I have been sculpting and casting bronze for just over a year and am enjoying it considerably. I have put together a website in the hope of selling some of my work. I have joined this site to share my experiences and learn from others with more experience. I am UK based and am finding it very difficult to get supplies of silicon bronze. If anyone can recommend suppliers of this alloy in the UK I would be most grateful.

My Jewelry Projects - Photos

Daverham — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:03:24 -0600

I've decided to just start a thread with my projects and learning as they happen instead of infiltrating every other thread on the forum.

Last night I cast a new ring that I had carved a couple nights ago. I skipped the vacuum chamber, and boy did I pay for it! What a fool. Thankfully, I was able to grind off all the bubbles, but what a waste of time. This was my second attempt at hot-dipping in pickle to achieve a pale/white look to the silver and I love it.

Silver Finishing

Daverham — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:02:46 -0600

Hi everybody. I'm fairly new to this forum, and enjoying it greatly. I'm one of those off-and-on jewelry-making hobbyists... getting more "on" recently and stepping things up. I'm pretty much self-taught (no classes), and probably lacking in a lot of the basics. I see a lot of beautiful finishes on silver out there, and wondering about a few of them. I will certainly be experimenting, but would love to get your opinions/input:

Last Night I Tried Steam Casting...

Daverham — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:49:22 -0600

... ant it worked beautifully!

I must admit that I didn't really expect results from this, seems kinda hokey. To that end, I only spent about 10 minutes making a wax model (that's my disclaimer as to the design of the piece). But curiosity took over, so I screwed a jar lid to a dowel and gave it a whirl:

New problems casting silver, centrifugal.

Daverham — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:49:34 -0600

In years past, I have cast some silver and gold jewelry successfully, techniques and equipment that are FAR from "by-the-book". Until this week, I had never used a vacuum de-bubbler. My burnout oven was a metal coffee can on top of a hotplate that surely never reached so much as 700 deg F (flask never glowed orange). And my centrifugal caster appears to be home-made (I bought it used), and only spins for about 30 seconds. With all this... I have cast some pretty nice stuff. But I'm trying to do better. So...

Anyone use a hand-operated vacuum pump?

Daverham — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:29:17 -0600

Hi there, folks. I've been using home-made, ramshackle equipment for years and it's working OK. I'm trying to step it up. I have never used vacuum to remove bubbles from my investment (Small-scale jewelry casting), and I think it's time to start. I've had a few bubbles, luckily, not TOO bad over the years, but I don't want ANY. I'm too old for this bubble nonsense anymore.

Towers of meditation

Sylvain Goulet — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:42:20 -0600

Towers of meditation ,
is my next project to be cast in bronze,this picture is the original cast in liquid plastic. I'm open to your comments.

How to promote your metalsmithing workshops

Cilente at artsbowl — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:22:59 -0600

I've looked at a number of websites where jewellery making or other metal working classes are on offer. Some immediately stand out and make you wish you were there, by using exciting descriptions, interesting photos and providing useful information. Others lose out on potential custom because they leave out some essentials, such as:

Questions about making/melting/casting various alloys

Daverham — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:31:53 -0600

Howdy folks. Cool site. I'm new here, seeking some answers that have eluded me on the internet.... I make jewelry (gold/silver/copper) and machine parts (aluminum/tin) - basically anything that involves melted metal makes me happy. I just love projects of any sort. Currently I'm building an electric motor just for fun (http://davidcolecreative.com/shop.php)

Anyone used fiberglass mold to cast their wax model?

ck — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:46:28 -0500

Is it possible to use a fiberglass mold to pour a wax? If not I suppose I'll have to pour a fiberglass model to make another mold from. Any suggestions or experience out there?