Metal Casting (1 Viewer)

[kilted vampire]

Tips and tricks are appreciated. Done some in the past. Looking for all kinds of info. Best commercial molds, metal and supplies. Experiences with dealers.
Who is actually doing casting? How many people I mean. I look forward to filling this section out

 

[Fubar]

I'm doing moldmaking and casting with a centrifuge and I know just enough to be dangerous. If you ever get something you need LOTS of I can spincast those for you , no pirating obviously .
I'd get my hands on some of the guides for moldmaking, casting from the mentioned mold companies for startes. None of it's rocket science, but there are lots of little tricks and no sense making frustrating mistakes if we dont have to.

Harold Scottttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

 

[OzDigger]

I'm doing moldmaking and casting with a centrifuge and I know just enough to be dangerous. If you ever get something you need LOTS of I can spincast those for you , no pirating obviously .

Harold Scottttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

Arghhhh Fubar me lad, you got to have a little piracy

 

[kilted vampire]

How fast does a spin caster turn? I would love to hear more about the mold making end of it. Gravity molds work differently but putting them together is the same process but more involved isn't it? I need lots of grenadiers and French line troops. I'm looking at Prince A and Lil' Army molds. Do you know of any others?

 

[Fubar]

How fast does a spin caster turn? I would love to hear more about the mold making end of it. Gravity molds work differently but putting them together is the same process but more involved isn't it? I need lots of grenadiers and French line troops. I'm looking at Prince A and Lil' Army molds. Do you know of any others?

Mine goes from zero to 1000 RPMs. I usually spin at 700-800.
The molds fit together basically the same way. These are round, either 9 or 12 inch diameter. Brass teeth in both the top and bottom that grip each halve.The centrifuge also adjusts pressure. The bottom plate has 3 notched posts, { these are all aluminum pieces} that are about 8 inches tall.You center your mold on the bottom plate , lock in the top plate close the lid.Then adjust pressure to squeeze the mold.Usually 30lbs pressure { air}.Flip the switch and it spins at rpm set at. Laddle in molten alloy .This machine has a timer set for 130 seconds, 10 seconds pouring time and 120 spinning time.Times up she kicks off, open the lid, take out the top plate and remove your mold.Presto 6-8 figures.I rotate molds as I go. 1st spin usually dosent work, too cold. Too many spins in a row,Gets too hot, wont work.
I went overboard buying the equipment as it was expensive.It's almost not worth doing except for the enjoyment . The gear is made for a factory and should get used more than I can do.

Each mold has it's own fine tuning depending on parts, thickness, delicate parts ect and has to be monkeyed with to figure out best pressure and rpm to spin.Then I use a black felt pen and write it on the top.



I am not sure of any more figures available.You should be able to make molds of just about anything you want as long as they are for your own use and you dont sell them.

Have fun and be careful!

FubAr

 

[Fubar]

I thought I'd give you a fast how to on how I make molds for the centrifuge.
9 or 12 inch molds. Either size, you start with 4 pieces, 2 red , 2 pink. Pink is the soft silicone, the middle, for the molds. The red is the top and bottom.1 red and 1 pink have a 1 1/2 " hole in the center. Thats the top where you pour.

The mold farme is stainless steel, has a top and bottom both with rims, a round center pieceRing shaped and a spacer that fits inside.
I take the bottom plate, and
a red piece , peel off the backing, lay a pink on top.Has to be even.Scalpel off any overhang on the plates edge. Take toothed brass studs and go all around the edge about 2" apart.
I always do the TOP 2 parts first. So, when the teeth are in I put in a steel spacer for the pouring hole to keep it a hole! I space the figures evenly and at right angles and make sure I can get everything in I want. I leave a little indentation in the silicone where the guys and parts lay. Then yank them out and spary them with mold release. Go back toi the little indentations and dig out so the figs sort of lay in there.pace the fig in and push all the silicone tight around so there are no seams, no pockets or bubbles.Some figs might need to have more pink stuf built up around and arm or leg that sticks up or is at a wierd angle. Just no open spots, no air or pockets. Once they are all in place I spray the whole thing with release agent.

Do the same thing to the other 2 mold parts, put teeth in, spary it, lay on top of the other 2. Has to be even! Slide on the RING over all 4 pieces until it hits bottom plate, put in the spacer, put the top lid on , give it a good squeeze and make sure its all set together fiem and squeezes out the air and its ready for the easy bake oven.,I mean Vulcanizer.
2,000- 3,000 pounds of pressure { Hydraulic Jack} and 300 degrees for 2 hours and you have a mold.A very hot mold.
I let it cool for a couple hours then remove the steel, pry apart and cut the vents with a scalpel. Theres where the fine tuning really is.Getting the darn vents cut just right so your 600 degree alloy can travel down them and into the mold cavity.

Great when it all works right. A real drag if yoiu losed something up, forgot something, too much pressure, too much heat.The mold is a loss and your masters are junk.OOPS
FubAr

 

[kilted vampire]

Wow! That is interesting. I did not realize that the molds came in pieces. I thought they were poured and made like gravity molds. I would love to see some picture when you are not too busy. The process has always been interesting to me. Thank you

 

[kilted vampire]

I was looking at vulcamold process. Undercutting is best described as what?

 

[Chuck Harris]

Wow! That is interesting. I did not realize that the molds came in pieces. I thought they were poured and made like gravity molds. I would love to see some picture when you are not too busy. The process has always been interesting to me. Thank you

There is another method called spincasting and thats all I know about it.

 

[kilted vampire]

Hi Chuck, that is what we are talking about, initially anyways. The vulcamold is a process for making gravity molds. It uses uncured silicon as does the spin casting molds. I was thinking about rtv molds but the vulcamold sounds easier. I want to learn more about undercutting because blanks are about 15 bucks. Yeah, I am cheap

 

[CannonFodder1971]

Tips and tricks are appreciated. Done some in the past. Looking for all kinds of info. Best commercial molds, metal and supplies. Experiences with dealers.
Who is actually doing casting? How many people I mean. I look forward to filling this section out

I know here in Ireland that Prince August will make custom moulds for you from vulcanised rubber, which would be okay for most variations on the lead/antimony/tin/pewter alloys. However, when I was a kid I can remember that their commercially produced moulds would never get the 500 castings advertised, as there'd always be a slight deterioration in quality after about 30 to 40 figures, but then again that's usually the maximum number you'd want of any particular figure. (Pewter on its own would usually cause damage ot a mould on account of its high melting point).
See:

http://www.princeaugust.ie/

They'll make a black rubber mould for EUR 80 (about $105) and a silicone rubber mould for EUR 225 (c $295). Sounds expensive but if you've spent hours scultping with miliput then you won't want to destroy your own master with a half-baked attempt at a mould.

 

[kilted vampire]

I know here in Ireland that Prince August will make custom moulds for you from vulcanised rubber, which would be okay for most variations on the lead/antimony/tin/pewter alloys. However, when I was a kid I can remember that their commercially produced moulds would never get the 500 castings advertised, as there'd always be a slight deterioration in quality after about 30 to 40 figures, but then again that's usually the maximum number you'd want of any particular figure. (Pewter on its own would usually cause damage ot a mould on account of its high melting point).
See:

http://www.princeaugust.ie/

They'll make a black rubber mould for EUR 80 (about $105) and a silicone rubber mould for EUR 225 (c $295). Sounds expensive but if you've spent hours scultping with miliput then you won't want to destroy your own master with a half-baked attempt at a mould.

It is a possibility but as you said I don't want to ruin my masters. I need to check into the process more. I really am cheap

 

[kilted vampire]

Just picked up one of theose metal molds with the studs in them. I noticed very quickly that there were two holes ,one on each end. The base is open as well as a pouring hole for the metal. Why was the bottom left open? Cheaper molds?

 

[Big Miller Bro]

An old thread but I thought I'd add my bit:

I've done grav casting with metal and resin. I too started with PA moulds but was so young that my attempts were crap and I assumed it was normal for the process. So in 1991 I started to play with RTV silicones and resins.


Over the years I picked up a few tips and tricks that I pass on :

http://groups.msn.com/SculptingMiniatures/makingadropcastmold.msnw



We did make a fancaster- using a fan motor and a skilled friend who can weld we made our own spinner. I still have it but we never used it Safety was a concern as was cost- we couldnt find a cheap source of metal as the minmum was $500CAD, the molds were still costing us $100 for RTV and even a slight error would make an unusable cavity. At that point I was just our sculptor, now I do the sculpting and bookwriting which keeps me busy about 16 hours a day. I decided that being a 'Jack of all trades and master of none' was no good lol.

I still do my own resin 'smush molds'- ones with a 'pit' so that you simply pour the liquid plastic in and then squish the top on. It does produce 'flash' but it is easy to peel away. I like the liquid plastics fine but many people are not keen on having plastic figures.

I do a LOT of single sided molds to make terrain- I even offered ship building moulds for a time. The moulds would make generic starship parts and you could combine them into your own designs.


I use HistoriFigs for most of my spin casting now as they have great rates and since I sculpt for them I am always sending Mike sculpts anyway.

I am also going back to playing with gravity casting metal- mostly to make my own dollys and armatures but I'm also thinking of offering my line of 54s as Silicone RTV moulds for hobbyists to purchase. Some of the PA gravity moulds seem to turn out nice enough figures and I like the idea of other hobbyists enjoying my stuff.

 

[kilted vampire]

The whole idea of this thread was to see who was doing what in casting. I am looking for an inexpensive good quality low temp material for gravity casting. It needs to pick out detail. I think I found a company in SF that has the materials. I just hate to sound stupid when talking about something I know nothing about.

So which has a lower melting temp. pewter or lead ? I have read different things and now I don't know

 

[Big Miller Bro]

pewter- lead has a very high melting point when pure.

If you can try to find SN50 Solder- it is supposed to have a good mix of the right metals.. like 48% tin 2% antimony %50 lead- though I have to say I'm just starting to try it myself next week lol

 

[kilted vampire]

pewter- lead has a very high melting point when pure.

If you can try to find SN50 Solder- it is supposed to have a good mix of the right metals.. like 48% tin 2% antimony %50 lead- though I have to say I'm just starting to try it myself next week lol

I am trying to stay away from lead but that seems difficult at best. Is not solder very expensive?

 

[Big Miller Bro]

To be honest I am not certain of the cost- I just noticed that it had the correct mix (according to some). I actually have a ton of white metal figures I'll be melting though I plan on picking up some SN50 to play with in a week or so.

 

[kilted vampire]

let me know how it works out. I am going to order some metal soon from a local supplier

 

[kilted vampire]

Are there any good metal suppliers out there? Do you guys who cast have any preferences on metal suppliers? Better deals. I am cheap but not foolish. Looking for good prices on low temp non lead based metals