Author:  Created:  Rating: EJSAUNDERS Oct. 12, 2002, 07:24AM   1 Ratings     12345     Pewter You can can cast pewter in any of the molds advertised, but the construction items (the blocks) created with pewter would be horribly heavy. Plaster is heavy enough as it is, but it certainly wouldn't begin to compare with lead or any other white metal cast pieces. The molds would certainly hold up to several casts, but I couldn't tell you how many since I've never done it myself. I'm sure it would eventually deteriorate the mold somewhat, even though they can be used to cast pewter, because of the heat. Levelling off the bottom of the mold might be difficult, as well as being somewhat of a health hazard if you spill hot pewter. Plastic Resins Plastic leeches moisture out of the mold and eventually makes it brittle so use it very sparingly in original molds, if at all. However, you can produce a copy of the mold (see Bruce's licensing statement) for personal use. It would therefore be for the best to make a copy of the pieces you need cast in resin, and make a mold from them. Resins, although more expensive than plasters, are very light and hold sharp edges well. They offer a good shock-absorbtion factor, and will more likely stand up to constant use without chipping or breaking than plasters will. Resin casting is not indiscriminate, so my advice is to construct the largest pieces from the original masters as possible. For instance, if you want to produce a small house mold, then make the four sides (with window and door holes as necessary) and create the mold from each side, rather than brick by brick. This way you'll still get between 100 and 500 (250 is the usual for home casters) casts from the mold (which are the theoretical minimum and maximum castings from using just resin with release agents in the molds, and does not apply to plaster), but each cast covers a larger area. Leaving Molds Full Leaving material in molds is sometimes and unavoidable, necessary evil. And yes it is perfectly safe to leave the mold to with plaster in it (any type of plaster) and even in some cases, resinous plaster mixes (popular in producing chess sets). Its adviseable to remove the blocks when they are firm enough thought, and place them on a wire drying rack - which are available in good supermarkets and cake decorating stores - so they dry faster. Plastic resin will leech moisture out of a mold. If you plan on using plastic resin, you are well advised to buy more than one mold (one for plaster, one for plastic resin) or produce a copy of the mold per the licensing statement on Bruce's site. Leaving plastic resin in the mold is of course part of the problem, and you will be required to leave the resin in the mold for as long as necessary (while it sets) before you may demold the piece. Pewter again needs to be left in the mold to harden, but as soon as the piece is hard enough, you may remove the piece from the mold. Care must be taken to ensure the metal is sufficiently cooled to facilitate removing it from the mold without causing yourself injury. Casting Food The particular mold compounds that Bruce uses or those you can commonly buy in hobby shops cannot be used for food, mainly due to the seepage of toxic metals and chemicals from the latex hardening catalysts. Platinum cure silicones or other safe alternatives are available for those wishing to cast candies or foodstuffs, but a new master mold will need to be produced, and there is no guarantee that any bricks cast for the masters will not contain some particles of toxic chemicals. Jon Mines suggests you follow this link for complete information about silicone that is FDA approved: http://www.dowcorning.com/content/moldmaking/moldfood/default.asp BMT Gander, who runs a hobby retail business, carries Accusil on his website http://www.gameplangames.com/ which is a popular choice of mold rubber used in the production of chocolate candies and is available in 2x1 kilo size or the 2x8 oz size tins. Casting for Aquarium Use Asenath asked what would be the best product to use to cast pieces in for his aquarium decorations. Sineater responded that he has worked on the same project, and he's found that the only safe method would be to cast in ceramic slip then glaze with a lead free glaze. Not easy but the only safe way. Casting slip takes a long time to dry and shrinks so be aware that this causes problems during and after casting. You can't use any type of normal glue either, so the pieces must be stuck together with slip, so until you do your first firing your basically talking about a mud castle. Casting for Outdoor Use I'm writing it now!  Public Comments Please log in to post a comment    You must be a registered member to post comments. You may sign-in Here.

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