Pewter Sand Casting

There are many ways of pewter casting with a lot of different molds. In this tuttorial I show you a casting method with molding sand. It's a fast way to make a sand mold for pewter casting, but you can only cast one time. After casting you can use the molding sand again to build a new mold. In 10 steps I show you how to make a copy of a small plastic doll with pewter.

Step 1: What Do You Need?

What you need:

• Old saucepan
• Gas burner or hotplate
• Molding sand
• Pewter
• Short PVC tubes fitting into each other
• Talcum
• Brush
• Wooden spatula
• Rubber hammer
• Spoon
• Hobby knife
• BBQ skewer
• Plastic doll

Step 2: Filling With Sand

Fill the bigger PVC pipe with molding sand and pressure with your hand. you can beat lightly with the rubber hammer for better filling.

Step 3: Place the Plastic Doll

Push the plastic doll in the mold and ensures that it adheres well everywhere. you can use the back of the brush to push the edges.

Step 4: Talcum Powder

Cover the surface with talcum powder and spread it with a brush. This prevents the two mold parts do not adhere to each other.

Step 5: Second Half of the Mold

Put the second half of the mold in the first half and press lightly. Put a stripe on both halves so that you can put them back in the same place.

Step 6: Filling the Seccond Half

You know how it is to fill but be very careful with the rubber hammer.

Step 7: Remove the Plastic Doll

Remove the plastic doll carefully with a hobby knife and prevent your mold damage.

Step 8: Create a Pouring Channel

create a pouring channel with the back of your brush and a BBQ skewer. Make sure the top is wide enough to pour in.

Step 9: Melt the Pewter

The melting temperature of pewter is 230 degrees celsius. Within 10 minutes on my stove the pewter was melted. You can remove the dirty film on the tin with a wooden spatula. And use a spoon to stir in the pan, if necessary. When the molten pewter is good you can start casting directly from the heat.

Step 10: Final Result

Remove the pewter doll from the mold after 10-15 minutes, because cast pewter is very hot. You can use the molding sand wich is not burned for a new project. Now you can sand and polish the pewter doll for a beautiful finish!

Step 11: Second Time

Comments

[steelheadwill]

Outstanding idea on using the pvc !

I'm gonna use this technique for my first cast.

Looking forward to sharing the results too!

Many thanks, Herbie.

[ashleyjlong]

Very cool! 2 questions, as I've never worked with metals before:

How do you remove the pewter tail left on the figure from your pouring channel?

Is this method of casting a good fit for delicate objects, like dried insects? I've never used casting sand and don't know how something like wings would hold up to the sand/ rubber mallet.

[PaoloR12]

Hi ashleyjlong,

Sand casting is not the most accurate method. The sand and the object must be pressed well. Delicate objects can be difficult to press down to copy the shape in the sand.

My pouring channel was too big but a pouring channel the size of a straw works very well. You can use an iron saw to remove it and then sanding.

[ashleyjlong]

thanks for the info! I had a feeling insects might be too delicate, but thought I'd ask. I'll have to go through my toy collection to find something small and sturdy to try it with insteaf

[Lsutiger51]

Where would you find pewter?

[PaoloR12]

I have ordered it from a online shop. But you can buy some old pewter jugs on a fleemarket and spare some money.