Wednesday, March 27, 2013

First attempt at pewter casting


A couple of weeks ago, I had a 'play' with lead-free pewter. I had read a lot of articles on the internet, but didn't really feel that I had an idea of how a cuttlefish mould would react to the molten metal. My only previous experience of casting had been in childhood -  casting lead fishing sinkers in commercially made moulds with my Dad. 

I roughly carved designs in the cuttlefish shell




Melting the pewter on a gas stove outside (for good ventilation)



The first pour - what a mess!



The result


All in all, it was a useful and valuable experiment. I have a much better idea of how the cuttlefish reacts to carving, how a second cast in the same mould turns out, and the general properties of molten pewter. I am considering other options for making moulds, as the natural variations in the cuttlefish translate into the cast piece.
I am already looking forward to doing more casting!
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4 comments:

  1. sharon youngMarch 27, 2013 at 5:47 PM

    Looks fascinating, I had no idea you could use a cuttlefish bone for a mould, your results look great.

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  2. AnonymousMarch 28, 2013 at 3:58 AM

    I've heard you can also use cuttlefish for silver, which is much hotter, but I;ve ever tried any sort of casting

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  3. Fionn O'MaraMarch 29, 2013 at 6:16 PM

    Thankyou, it was a useful experiment. I will keep experimenting and let you all know how it goes :-)

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  4. IsisJuly 6, 2013 at 3:32 AM

    How interesting!

    ReplyDelete