Metal Casting Zone

Hi, i have joined this site in hope of getting help starting my own hobby casting, which if all goes well and i enjoy enough - i would like to possibly develop into a business!

i have read through the 7 day email introduction sent by the site, and although intresting, it hasnt helpmed answer much of my questions.

I want to start with making small reasonably intricate metal items like belt buckles for example, likely celtic/noridic knotwork etc, and i think - although im unsure pewter is my best starting point?

I would like to keep options open, with the possibility in future to use other metals and create bigger and different kinds of objects too though.

I would like to be able to make repeat castings of the objects i make.

i have a small shed at my disposal, the only ventilation being the holes in the walls etc, but it does have electricity.

I have a limited budget, but while i dont want to spend too much till im sure this is the right hobby for me - i also dont want to spend money on really rubbish equipment which if i enjoy the trade i have to upgrade soon later.


So if somone would like to help me, i would like to know the following:
1. what type of casting should i be trying?
2. what type of metal is best for this type of thing?
3. does the small shed sound adequate?
4. what equipment do you suggest?
5. are there any good books i can get to help me start using the equipment?
6. how much money are we talking for the equipment and metal?


Thanks in advance!

P.S. small querey regarding this forum, just browsing other discussions and im confused as to why questions and the responses seem to be in an odd order, excuse me if i am being thick, but i am used to opening a thread to see the question followed by all the responses in order which doesnt seem to be the case when im browsing, any ideas as to why this is?

First of all, welcome! As to your question about why the forum looks odd, I'm not sure, it is probably just a quirk of the software they use for the board. You'll get used to it pretty quick. As to your questions, I'll try to answer them in a reasonably short amount of words, but there are many more ways to skin a cat. Yur best bet is to keep it simple, and be flexible in material and methods, and you will do fine. First off, it sounds like you want to do relatively low-temp casts , so silicone molds and an electric pot melter may be your best choice. If you want to do anything higher temp, like the occasional aluminum melt, you will want to probably use either a solid fuel or gas furnace. So, to totally confuse you and overgeneralize a lot, here's your answers in order:
1: Investment or silicone mold casting will probably be your best bet with pewter. Investment (think lost wax) will be more expensive to set up initially, but in the long run may give you better results.
2: Again, depends on what you are trying to do. Pewter would work fine, so would aluminum and brass. The nice thing about aluminum and brass is that they don't cost $10 a pound, and can be readily found locally in most places. Drawback is that sili9cone molds won't work, you will definately have to use investment or greensand of some type.
3:Yes, with a few disclaimers. If you are using any thing other than electricity to melt with, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ADEQUATE VENTILATION!! Also, make sure the area you will be pouring and melting are fire-safe in case of spills or accidents. Safety first. Common sense will go a long way here.
4: All of it. You can never have too much equipment. Packrat rule #1. Really, it depends ultimately on what type of casting you decide to do. When you figure that out, further reccomendations can be made.
5: Gobs. The list is long and growing. Anything by Ammens, although he is more towards the sandcasting end of the spectrum. The Gingery books are good, Steve Chastain, etc. Check your local library, they might have something.
6: Again, it depends. Yuo can go either way, sink your life savings in to it or have fun and see what you can do for zilch. They both work, depends on where your mind set is. If you buy your metal in ingot form from an actual supplier you will be paying drastically more than most of us who cast with whatever the heck we can lay our grubby little hands on.
Hopefully this helped, if I haven't thoroughly confused you further. best answer I can give you is research the heck out of the project that interests you, and see if you can narrow the scope of your questions a bit, and we can be a bit more specific with answers. Good luck!

Thanks for that, it certainly helps a little.

one thing which is confusing me is how with lost wax casting you re-use the mould? if your original item is wax which is lost when making the mould, then the mould is a solid lump which im guessing needs to be shattered to get to the item?

silicon moulds with pewter sounds a good start for me, and if i can use electricity thats perfect.

based on that fact can you advice on a good place to get a silicon mould kit, and what else i should initially buy to make my first few pewter items?

using silicon, can i use pretty much anything (clay, plasticine, wax) to make my original item?

I'll be honest, I'm not the expert on lost wax here, I haven't even attempted it yet. What you do is you make a master mold of your original, and you use that master mold to make multiple wax copies. There are many ways of doing this, do a little web research and you will get quite a bit of info. If you are just looking to try it out, get some hi-temp gasket silicone at the auto supply store and try that. Just use bathroom grade silicone to make your master mold for your waxes. There are kits you can get, I'm sure some of the other regulars on here will know where to get them. And yes, as far as I know you can use just about anything to make the original out of.
There is no reason you couldn't sandcast pewter either, and quite honestly, may be easier to start up with and get good, repeatable results. All you need for greensand is fine mesh sand and some type of clay for a binder, usually bentonite or something close. Literally dirt cheap. My first greensand was fine mason's sand from HD and ground up Special Kitty litter from Wally-world. You'd be amazed at the details you can pick up with even something that simple. It's not as involved or technique sensitive either. If you want the ease of sandcasting with the level of detail you can get with lost wax, look up "Delft clay", which I know is sold in kits and is used by jewlers. Just a few things to think about.

im having alot of toruble finding any kit's or simple tutorials for what i want to make...

I think ill avoid lost wax casting for now, and im not so keen on the sand either, im getting the impression sand's not the best for fine detail and a nice finish,

So if silicon is the way to go, i just need high temp gasket silicon which i can get at a auto supply store?

and would this method would work:

clay design.

wooden frame to fit item

layer of soft clay in frame, half embed item, make a resivour for the pewter, make vent resivour, make a few holes around item for mould joins.

(do i need releasing agent here?) fill with gasket silicon, let harden.

turn over and remove clay, add some kind of releasing agent?!?! (if yes what do i use?) then fill with silicon again to create second half, let harden

would this create an effective mould?

then i can buy pewter (does anyone have a guide on different types of pewter and suitablity?)

presumably i can melt this in a stainless pan on an electric hob yes?
then simply pour this into the mould?

how long till i can remove from the mould, and will the mould be re-usable?

www.carnmetl.demon.co.uk/index.htm

Here's a Pewter supply in the UK, if that helps.

If you want to used Silicone gasket cement I think it's been posted somewhere to apply thin coats and let them cure before you apply another coat. It won't cure right if the layer is too thick. Tap plastics and Freeman supply both have liquid silcones that can be poured over a pattern and the mold can be used for wax castings. I think some can be used for pewter, I'm not sure.

ok thanks, ill maybe investigate those other silicones then, i really just want a simple but good quality mould making mix which i can use for pewter and re-use if i want to make alot of duplicates.

is plaster an alternative?

I've been trying to use Plaster of Paris mixed with Silica flour (powdered Silica sand).
I haven't had real good results yet. I keep looking for a local place to get some Kerr Satincast commercial investment. I'm too cheap to pay shipping.

I started out with sand casting about a year ago. I built the artful bodger's oil fired furnace & get pretty good results in aluminium, brass, bronze & iron, but the detail wasn't good enough for some of the smaller components so I've just started lost wax casting ( did my first cast today, came out pretty good). I bought an electric melter at about £650. I made a burnout oven using elements from an old storage heater & a vacuum thingy ( to use a technical term) for de-gassing the investment and vacuum casting using a second hand vacuum pump bought on ebay. I bought a book, "lost wax casting" by Fred Sias which covers pretty much all you want to know about lost wax casting.

Ian

p.s. I do agree about the forum layout!