Hi guys, happy covid...grrr. I ran out of good steel so I havn't done to much lately but I did do something I think is really cool. I saw this pendant online in stainless steel and I bought it with the intension of trying to duplicate it. I started experimenting in brass and copper and got pretty good at getting a good cast so, I took a couple rings that came to me after my father died ( they were to big for my hands anyway ) and my wife gave me a couple more pieces of jewelry that she wasn't wearing anymore, and made this. I had to do it a number of times before I got a cast I was happy with. Gold reacts differently from steel because it's so much heavier. I lost almost half my gold the first time I tried because it sunk into the crucible I melted it in and got contaminated. Borax solves this problem. Line your crucible first with borax and then your molten metal won't sink into it. I was able to retrieve my lost gold and then I got this to work after a number of attempts. It is a combination of 10K and 14K gold and it weighs 15 grams. Not sure what I will do with it yet, it's a little to big and flashy for me. I would like to get it appraised. Anyway, bye for now and play safe. https://photos.app.goo.gl/AhQ2c9xxkwX4rq7X9
Tom. That looks really good. The details are very crisp. What was the mold made of? Never stop learning! Dan
Very cool! As Dan pointed out the casting went exceptionally well because the detail is very good. I’ve always wanted to work with silicone bronze casting, being highly inspired by the likes of Jake Powning and Jody Samson’s work (even though I don’t / have yet to make a sword) lost wax carvings and subsequent casting. Thanks for sharing Tom.
thx for the nice comments. I am using petrobond as my casting agent. I started with a sand mix....but that was to ruff and required a ton of clean up afterwards. Petrobond is far superior. I also bought a small rubber type mold and wanted to do a wax piece and then do a pour into a plaster mold...but I was never able to get the little dragon out of the rubber mold in one piece. Frustrating. So I did it the old fashion way using petrobond.
Its a gold ride for a reason. And Ziggy, did i see you on the A75 today, or has someone stole your bike? Still got the triumph?
