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Post by JeffLaw on Apr 3, 2004 9:50:43 GMT -8
Hi, I went to www.Chavant.com and found a link to this site. My wife is scuplting a horse model and is stumped on what to do next. I'd like to ask some questions about mold making. Is it ok to talk about mold making here at this site? Her miniature horse (2 inches high) can be seen at www.cricketscreations.com/reiner2There are about 7 pictures at about 20-25KB each. It might take a couple of minutes if you are on a dial-up account. These pictures are older than what she's done on it since. You know how many artists are though ... have to keep pushing until perfection. Looking forward to the conversation! Jeff Cricket's Creations www.cricketscreations.com
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Post by Steve Austin on Apr 5, 2004 7:29:54 GMT -8
Hi Jeff, I checked the photo's out, very nice little sculpture. I should imagine that the best way to mold the horse would be by way of a silicone mold. The mold looks like it needs to be in several pieces so as to try to recover the sculpture ( I'll have to take a closer look at the pictures to determine how many parts). If this is the case you will have to dam the first cast with clay to provide a joint for the next part. Make sure to provide locators so that the second piece of the mold will locate. Also at the joints of each part of the mold, smear with petroleum jelly to prevent the silicones from sticking together. Also if you intend to cast from the silicone mold you will have to include a down sprue to pour the material and you will also need risers on all of the highest points of your vertical surfaces to dispel the air as the mold is filling up. If you don't include the risers you will have a lot of air bubbles trapped in the mold. The materials for making the silicone mold are available through www.mcmaster.com under casting compounds. There is also a website that has a sculptures forum, www.wetcanvas.com. A lot of the members there are familiar with casting small sculptures. Also checkout www.synair.com, they have a section on mold making and casting. I hope this brief description will help you in attaining your end result. Let me know how it goes. SteveA
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Post by JeffLaw on Apr 6, 2004 20:21:18 GMT -8
Ok, GREAT! I'm researching the links provided above. A lot of the terms are new to me. I'll do my best to educate myself via the sites and other places, but I may still ask about what is what. Like with the terms on the description for the process you mentioned ... dam the first cast ... joint ... locators ... down sprue ... risers ... are all new to me. I'll get it though. I can usually only reply late at night after the family is in bed. Sometimes I am not able to make it online for whatever reason. I may not be able to reply as quickly as I would like. Please bear with me on the posts. Thank you so much for the help on this! Sincerely, Jeff Cricket's Creationswww.CricketsCreations.com
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Post by Steve Austin on Apr 8, 2004 14:58:18 GMT -8
Jeff, I've found a website that covers the basic process of fine arts casting. You may want to check it out. www.americanbronze.com Click on the process. Steve A
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Post by JeffLaw on Apr 11, 2004 6:31:15 GMT -8
Hi Steve, I went to the bronze site. It was very interesting. Now I know what the lost wax method is, and I didn't know that bronzes are cast in pieces and welded together at the end. Thanks! Cricket's sculpture was made differently though. It has a wire armature in the middle. It would be difficult to part the scuplture into peices without damaging it. The way you mentioned in the quote above seems more like what would work. I am thinking that I need to just start out on a simple piece like a sculpture of clay that resembles a geometric shape like a ball, a square, or a triangle until I get the feel of it. Also, there are two types of casting we are gearing towards. One is porcelin and the other is resin. I went to www.mcmaster.com to look for equipment. I've never done casting before. Would you mind giving me a list and some pointers on the equipment and materials to buy? I bookmarked the bronze website. We may do that in the future if these others take off. Cheers, Jeff
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Post by claychat on Apr 13, 2004 7:08:26 GMT -8
Hi Jeff,
I have been following this thread with interest and I think I have to help you out on a couple of pointers.
I will put together an information package for you shortly but in the meanwhile let me clear up one point. The sculpture is not disected into parts physically, the mould is made in parts by creating joint lines on the surface of the sculpture with plasticine walls one joint at a time. The plasticine is removed after the mould material has set and then treated with a release agent to continue with the next part of the mould, the number of parts depend on the intricacy of the sculpture and they are located together with a keying system. When the mould is removed, the original sculpture is finally cleaned and remains as good as when the mould making process began. This method is used to make moulds for casting in resins but if you intend to cast in molten metals you will have to use the lost wax process. This is a reiteration of Steves previous posting and this subject could turn out to be a long thread, so if you have any more questions fire away and Steve and I will try to answer as best we can.
Jeff McGahey
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Post by JeffLaw on Apr 13, 2004 9:57:23 GMT -8
Thanks Jeff for teaching me the difference on the methods. Does that mean for the resins that the original can still be used for another type of casting such as molten metals or porcelin? I feel bad that you have to do a info package. Thank you though. Sincerely, Jeff
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Post by claychat on Apr 14, 2004 10:52:13 GMT -8
Hi Jeff, Further to yesterday, the original sculpture remains in the same condition as when you start the process of mold making. The mold is made of silicone rubber because of the complexity of your sculpture, then a resin cast is taken from the mold giving you a duplicate of the original. If you want to make a bronze, you would first take a wax cast from the mold and this would be used by a foundry to create a mold in sand to execute the lost wax process of casting. If you want to create a porcelin sculpture the mold would have to be made again but in plaster. This is to absorb the the water from the clay slip when pouring the mold creating a hollow sculpture. It is then fired in a kiln. Check out this link www.borsheimarts.com/lessons/casting.htmIt is an excellent website, look at the other pages too.
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Post by Steve Austin on Apr 21, 2004 13:20:38 GMT -8
Hi Jeff, There is another website that may be suitable for the application that you are looking for. They deal in paint on liquid rubber for sculptures. Take a look at this link and I'll get back to you on supplies that you will need if this doesn't work for you. www.smooth-on.com/products.htmSteve A
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Post by JeffLaw on Apr 27, 2004 19:40:04 GMT -8
Hi Steve, Thank you for posting the link to Smooth-On. Very interesting (Hmmmm!). Life has been very hectic lately. I apologize for not posting sooner. You are being a great help! Thanks so much! So much to learn, WOW! Thanks again, Jeff
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