Casting

Tira · Apr 1, 2009

I was casting the bolsters on a knife yesterday and wondered what else do engravers usually make castings of? Gun parts? Jewelry? Practice plates? Let's here what you've cast.

Tom Curran · Apr 1, 2009

Lead castings......

I shoot the castings out of the muzzle of my flintlock.

Seriously, I did a bunch of bronze casting waaaay back. Sand casting, lost wax, and lost styrofoam. I want to get some sand for my backyard forge/blacksmith shop-to-be.

Tira · Apr 1, 2009

Thanks Tom, I was thinking more along the lines of plastic Alumalite type casting. I've never tried the other types you mentioned.

Andrew Biggs · Apr 1, 2009

Yip, I've cast a side plate to a hammer gun and quite enjoyed the process. It was a bit fiddley at first because I had no idea what I was doing but after a few casts it was simple enough.

It's something I should do a bit more of as it's a good way to keep a record of your work and share with other engravers.

When I go to Reno I always make a point of adding to my collection of castings.

Cheers
Andrew

Tim Herman · Apr 1, 2009

Help me understand this casting thing. In GRS catalog there is a kit with 2 small tubes of the blues stuff you make the mold from and just that kit is like $75? then then there is an alumilite mold making kit for like $29.95, the the tan or white alimilite casting resin.

Whats the difference between the 2 tubes mold making resin and the alimiliite mold making? I thought the $75 little tube kit for making molds was a bit high. hep me hep me I am so comfused.

I am working on a pair of very cool tigers on knife bolsters and would love to make castings .

Peter E · Apr 1, 2009

I haven't made any myself, but I did buy a few from FEGA.

It seems the most prevalent subject is floor plates from guns.

I also have one I bought from Ray Cover of a "pocket" style knife.

They are the best items i've seen to study others work.

Peter

Daniel Houwer · Apr 1, 2009

That makes two Tim

I did make some "pressings" in thermolock and Jetset from some old family crest engravings to study.
Also one of an engraved hammer. Works great on surfaces wher you can get it of easely.

Kevin P. · Apr 1, 2009

Tira, are you talking about casts as in those offered by FEGA?
If I may, I believe what you are doing is making a mold. What comes out of that could be considered a cast.
I may be way off here. When I make a mold I usually make a silicon mold.
A silicon mold will not damage what's being molded and is very easy to cut and reproduces detail beautifully. I'm not familiar with 'Alumalite.
Kevin P.

Andrew Biggs · Apr 1, 2009

Hi kevin

Yip, that's what we're talking about.

Alumalite is a brand name. It's available from most hobby stores and model makers use it a lot to make castings of parts they need to make up for their models.

There are several brands of the stuff out there and they can vary greatly in quality, strength, accuracey & price. It just depends on what you want to use it for and how many casts you want to make.

Cheers
Andrew

silverchip · Apr 1, 2009

have any of you tried pressing an engraving in thermolcok and pouring in the casting media to mak a replica of the engraving?

Cloudy · Apr 1, 2009

Dick Blick carries the 2 part putty:
http://www.dickblick.com/products/easy-mold-11-rtv-silicone-putty/

fegarex · Apr 1, 2009

The expensive stuff is dental mould material. It used to be about half the price but the manufacturer raised the heck out of the price. I have no idea why. It was great to use as it set really quick and was easy to use and mix. I would use it a lot for restoration work. I could make a mould before any metal finishing was done to preserve the engraving or take a mould from another gun. It is EXTREMLY accurate as well. I did a pearl knife and you could see the pearl look in the castings.
For regular moulds now I use the alumalite material or similar. They take longer to set, from 1 to 5 hours but is much cheaper.
I've only used the alumalite epoxy so I can't help much there. It has always worked well for me.

BrianPowley · Apr 1, 2009

I use Alumalite and the MicroMark Brand.
I've made castings of just about everything....original stampings of antique car parts,sideplates and floorplates.
I even made a casting of the entire slide of a 1911 Auto pistol I engraved.

eastslope · Apr 1, 2009

I have cast a bunch of braclets and earings. I use the cheap alumite silicone and epoxy. I tried a mold making silicone that came in 2 small buckets on ebay, and you just mix it together with your hands. Thought I was being smart and getting a good deal, but instead it didn't work at all and I am out 100 dollars. One of you guys said in a post that you pay for an education one way or another. Boy, that is the truth. Seth

Doc Mark · Apr 2, 2009

The mold making material is, as was already stated, a Dental Impression material, (a Vinyl Polysiloxane, to be exact). Anything with "dental" in the title and the price goes crazy! Now you know why crowns and bridges cost so much! Talk to your friendly family dentist, (you do go regularly, don't you?) and ask to see some of his/her catalogs. There are cheaper "generic" impression materials, some around $35.00 per kit. It is getting more difficult to find the material in tubes. Most dentists use a self-mixing dual-cartridge system (that costs even more, but is more convenient for us to use). Make sure you don't buy one of these cartridges as you won't be able to use it in the manner you wish. There is no more accurate impression material available. So if you really want to make a fine mold (and therefore, a great casting) then use these materials. There are other casting resins (the material that actually forms the casting) that take longer to set but give you more working time than Alluminite, but they are harder to find and are also expensive. There are various consistencies of impression materials, they range from firm putty's to very flowable (called "light bodied") pastes. We often use both for an impression. We use the more flowable light bodied first and quickly push the firm putty over the top to force the material into every tiny detail. For our engravings, the Medium Bodied materials will suffice. Just make sure you work it into the details without creating air bubbles.

If you have any questions, please ask.

Mark

fegarex · Apr 2, 2009

Hi Doc,
Thanks for some input there. I figure part of the cost increas on this stuff is because of the packaging now. I doubt many use this anymore. There is another catch to the impression materials however... Not all of them like casting resins or at least Alumalite.
I know of a couple of people that thought they got a good deal on some impression material (same company even) and the epoxy would bond to the mould. I know a lot of people have done as you mentioned and used the expensive stuff to make a "skin" and backed it up with a heavier bodied material. I think the cheaper stuff works fine for engraving castings.

Tim Herman · Apr 5, 2009

my question was is the blue stuff in the tubes make more accurate castings than the alumilite rtv silicon mold kit which is about half the price? Rick Eaton stopped buy here on his way to teach a class for you and his castings showed every small bulino dot and the finest cuts. which mold kit will make that quality of castings?

Mike Bissell · Apr 5, 2009

Tim – I have used the stuff in the blue tubes from GRS and this product does have it’s place in the mold making world. It is like a paste that can be spread onto an engraved area and not flow off as would some other types, this is handy if you wanted a mold of the side of a shotgun and did not want to or couldn’t take it apart. If you are not careful I have seen evidence of air pockets left in some molds of this type. The other GRS product that you mentioned is I believe similar to the product that I use for the FEGA castings. I use a product called “1-to-1” from MicoMark, and with this type you have to build a dam around the item or area that you want to make a mold of. The dam can be made up of modeling clay or as I do by placing and sealing the item on a piece of wood using modeling clay. Then making the dam by wrapping the wood block with duct tape. Then pour on the liquid silicone RTV. I have had very little trouble with bubbles forming on the surface of the mold with this type, and it will give you every detail on the metal including your finger prints if they are not wiped off first. I hope this helps

Mike

Tom Curran · Apr 5, 2009

Tira, my apologies, I thought you were talking metal castings, only to realize you were thinking of making impressions of your engraving work.

I do use alumilite, in a silicone rubber mold. There are suppliers, such as Polytek and Smooth-on, who have similar products, plus the silicone mold material that will suit your purposes.

http://www.polytek.com/

http://www.smooth-on.com/

richard hall · Apr 6, 2009

for those engravers that havent seen the fega castings ive enclosed a picture

Casting

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