I promised my friend a big pimped-out fake fur coat, and he loves heavy metal hardware. I had the idea to try making some gorgeous unique buckles for the coat. After some testing I decided that a buckle, with its separate tongue piece, would be too complicated for my first pewter casting, and simplified it to a hook and eye clasp. Took me a long time to complete, but I think they came out wonderfully. I'll try a buckle ... later on.
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Signing UpStep 1: Pewter experiments
First I had to learn how to cast pewter. After researching on Instructables and other places, I decided to try a high temperature silicone mold. Experimenting showed that a one-piece flat mold did not work well as the molten pewter has a very high surface tension and would not easily spread throughout the mold. Pushing the molten metal further around in the mold with a spoon is a technique that initially showed promise but could not be done consistently.
Video of melting pewter using a steel ladle as a crucible (it worked well for me due to the long handle):
Video of scraping slag off the top of the molten pewter:
Video of pouring pewter into a flat mold:
An additional problem was the pitted, moon-like surface result I got using untreated silicone. I had theorized that the mold was too cool and tried boiling it prior to pouring, but that did not help.
Taking advice from windswept and interesting's Simple Pewter Casting instructable, I tried using my 1-piece mold propped upright and backed with hardboard, to allow gravity to push the molten pewter fully into the mold. From gg1220's excellent signet ring instructable, I learned that a smooth pewter surface was possible by using a graphite powder mold release. I don't know why this works, nor why the surface is so pitted and lumpy without it; if you know more about this, please comment! Graphite powder can be purchased, but I just ran a pencil over some sandpaper for a couple of minutes, catching the result on a small plate. Prior to each pour, I brushed some graphite powder on the inside surface of the mold using a small paintbrush.
These changes allowed me to make some molds and castings I was satisfied with. The next steps will show the details of the successful process I worked out.
Video of melting pewter using a steel ladle as a crucible (it worked well for me due to the long handle):
Video of scraping slag off the top of the molten pewter:
Video of pouring pewter into a flat mold:
An additional problem was the pitted, moon-like surface result I got using untreated silicone. I had theorized that the mold was too cool and tried boiling it prior to pouring, but that did not help.
Taking advice from windswept and interesting's Simple Pewter Casting instructable, I tried using my 1-piece mold propped upright and backed with hardboard, to allow gravity to push the molten pewter fully into the mold. From gg1220's excellent signet ring instructable, I learned that a smooth pewter surface was possible by using a graphite powder mold release. I don't know why this works, nor why the surface is so pitted and lumpy without it; if you know more about this, please comment! Graphite powder can be purchased, but I just ran a pencil over some sandpaper for a couple of minutes, catching the result on a small plate. Prior to each pour, I brushed some graphite powder on the inside surface of the mold using a small paintbrush.
These changes allowed me to make some molds and castings I was satisfied with. The next steps will show the details of the successful process I worked out.
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The Graphite is made up of 2 dimensional sheets of carbon atoms, the bonds between atoms in the same layer are very strong while the bonds between are relatively weak, this means that when force is applied the layers slide over one another rather then breaking. This makes graphite an excellent lubricant as the sliding layers reduce friction between two surfaces.
Good to use that in real life, maybe that time spent in high school chem WAS worth it after all =)
Great instructible, before seeing this I was contemplating using a single part horizontal mold without thinking about the surface tension... Thanks for pointing it out
Just a suggestion -- molten metal and exposed toes are a potential disaster. Please consider closed leather (as you pointed out - not synthetic) shoewear.
Again, nicely done
Or, since it looks like you may not be looking to use that spoon for anything but this, maybe use pliers to crimp a side of some sort as well.
Great job and keep it up! :D
But really... those came out nice. Did you find checkerboard fabric like that, or did you painstakingly make that?