Metal Casting Zone

Hey all.

So I'm learning a lot from the site and the eBooks. A project I'd like to try is a pewter drinking flask for my brother. I baffled though. I'm not sure what method of casting to use. Any advice?

Thanks!

James

pewter drinking flask you say, better make sure you use lead free pewter.
you could sand cast it but you will probably want to gain some experence casting other stuff first as the flask will reguire a bit of skill and an internal core to be made and would be a little tricky for a first time project. But if you like the challenge go for it!!!

aonemarine wrote:
pewter drinking flask you say, better make sure you use lead free pewter.
you could sand cast it but you will probably want to gain some experence casting other stuff first as the flask will reguire a bit of skill and an internal core to be made and would be a little tricky for a first time project. But if you like the challenge go for it!!!

I'll definitely take you advice and start on easier projects first. I want to make one by December for my brothers wedding, so I have a bit of time left.

Yea, I need a core, but that's the part that doesn't make sense to me. How would I get the core out? What type of material should I use? I can't find anything online. I thought about making it in two parts, but I'm trying to avoid as much visible seams as I can. Man, I don't do anything easy!

well first off you need to make the flask pattern. this will be the outside (male) finished shape of the flask and neck, then you need to make a mold for the core. this will be the inside flask shape and the mold will be (female) so you can ram up sand as the inside of the bottle. Basically the sand from the female mold will be the shape of the inside of the bottle. make sense so far?

Ah I know how to explain it better, take a wooden dowel and stick it into your flack thru the neck and then hold it up like a lollie pop. when your looking at it the flask would be your pattern and the stick (plus the hollow area in the bottle) your core.
the patteren would be rammed up in sand to make a female impression in the sand. this impression can be filled with metal but would be solid without a core.
the core would be made by packing sand into a female mold to form a lollie pop of the inside of the bottle.
now a bit techinical..... sodium silicate core binder to make the core, this stuff will harden the sand when co2 is blown thru it. but to get it to blow thru you will have to have a hollow pipe (lollie pop stick)running into the core so that you can blow the co2 down the pipe and have it flow from the bottom of the core up to the neck.
the pipe should have sand rammed around it so it would stick about 2" or more past the neck of the pattern so that it can be supported in the sand mold for the flask....I know i know confusing...but best i can do without drawing a picture

aonemarine wrote:
Ah I know how to explain it better, take a wooden dowel and stick it into your flack thru the neck and then hold it up like a lollie pop. when your looking at it the flask would be your pattern and the stick (plus the hollow area in the bottle) your core.
the patteren would be rammed up in sand to make a female impression in the sand. this impression can be filled with metal but would be solid without a core.
the core would be made by packing sand into a female mold to form a lollie pop of the inside of the bottle.
now a bit techinical..... sodium silicate core binder to make the core, this stuff will harden the sand when co2 is blown thru it. but to get it to blow thru you will have to have a hollow pipe (lollie pop stick)running into the core so that you can blow the co2 down the pipe and have it flow from the bottom of the core up to the neck.
the pipe should have sand rammed around it so it would stick about 2" or more past the neck of the pattern so that it can be supported in the sand mold for the flask....I know i know confusing...but best i can do without drawing a picture

Ok, so I do the following...

1.) Make an original.
2.) Make a mold of the original.
3.) Make a core inside the mold with the pipe and sodium silicate

After that, should I make another mold to account for the thickness of the wall of the new flask? Or should I use the original mold?

After the pour, I should be able to break the sand out of the new flask?

Thanks for the help!

a very interesting thread. its a very advanced project! six months might not be long enough to master the skills needed. aonemarine has described the process very well an advanced caster can follow his advise very easily!! i suggest some solid pewter figurines to start with.

xlchainsaw wrote:
a very interesting thread. its a very advanced project! six months might not be long enough to master the skills needed. aonemarine has described the process very well an advanced caster can follow his advise very easily!! i suggest some solid pewter figurines to start with.

Yes, you're probably right I'll stick with the easier stuff for a while and see how it goes. No sense rushing into it and producing junk. Must get the fundamentals down first.

I appreciate everyones advice. Thanks!

this is great! i havent melted any pewter as yet but ive go my eye on my wifes pewter collection.

Ok first things first, make your flask pattern. When you do this make it in two halves so you will have a front of the bottle half and a back of the bottle half. these two halves will be joined with dowels so they can be separated (the dowels act as locating pins) when these two halves are together you will have one solid bottle pattern. the pattern should be exactly the way you want the outside of the bottle to look.

Ok remember me talking about the loli pop part? you are going to need to have this on your pattern as well, if you flask is going to have a 1" opening in the neck then you would want this stick to be 1" also. I would suggest you make it 1/2 as long as the bottle is tall. the stick will also be in two halves one for the front of the bottle and one for the back.

ok now you have a solid pattern of a flask with a stick LOL you can do a practice cast making a solid flask and get some experence, then all you would have to do is make a core for it later on once your skills and understanding develope some more.

doing it this way will hopefully let you meet your deadline