Possible newbie questions

[bigbob]

I am interested in casting I have never done it having turned wooden pens only but would like to ask a few questions. I am at the stage of retirement but if I am going to buy stuff for casting now would be the time to do it while I am still earning so I am at a stage of trying to get everything I need for the workshop as I certainly will not have the money after I retire so.

1/ I want to turn pine cone or banksia and acrylic or some form of coloured plastic blanks and realize I will need a pressure pot not so sure about the vacuum flask as I believe cactus juice is not available in the UK or at least not at an cost that is worth it I am prepared to pay up to £300 for the pressure pot and molds (I all ready have a compressor) to get a start but where do I buy where can I get casts and molds what would the unit costs be roughly per blank ignoring the original cost of the equipment.

2/ I do a lot of photography landscape and wildlife is it possible to put pictures in a pen blank or patterns from photos and put them in a blank using clear plastic to cover the photo with a coloured center at the back of the photo?

 

[silver]

That's allot of questions in one thread Bob..

Many of which have already been answered if you search "casting" in the search box.

I dabbled a little and gave up. Sure there will be a few come on shortly to give you their advice..

 

[Jim]

£300 will cover a good pressure pot Bob .. Look Here ..

You will find at first it is trial and error making these type of blanks, but it is all worth it once you crack it ..

You can cast an image of your choice, but again it is trial and error untill you grasp it .. Look at some of paulm, s work on these, he now makes some stunning blanks using this method ..

Good luck with it my friend, and enjoy ..

 

[bigbob]

Thank you Jim and Eamonn have checked the price of that pressure pot Jim seems reasonable enough I am on night shift for the next few nights so I will have a look over the next few days at the price of stuff. At first I expect it to be expensive as I am going to make mistakes and maybe as Eamonn says it might not be for me I will need to do a costing as I don't know how much resin and accelerator is or molds and was trying to work out unit cost per blank if successfully cast so guess I need to learn a lot more and get the calculator out and work out volumes mixtures etc.

 

[Bigblackdog]

i have done the sums a few times and have come to the same conclusion each time.

if you can buy what you want to produce, you factor in your time at a sensible rate and you are producing blanks only to turn yourself, it is probably not financially worth making them yourself.
if you can't buy what you want, and can make it yourself, you have no real other option than to make them. if nothing else, you could end up with a unique blank.
if you can make some to sell, you may come out on top, but you are not going to get rich on the proceeds.

 

[Penpal]

In the area you live mate is there a wood group? Info abounds and there is nothing to compare with visiting others workshops. Art groups into Decopage? etc great helps, Museums do lots of casting. Anyone on the forum living anywhere near may give you a call.

Peter.

 

[bigbob]

Hi Peter no wood clubs here we live in one of the most sparsely populated area in Europe most purchases are done mail order there is a turning club locally but I never get to it because I work anti social hours mostly night shift.
Mark I sell a few pens I think if you work out how much time it takes me to make at minimum wage don't think I would make anything but hopefully make more than I payed for the pen kit and blank it is mainly an enjoyment for me but if the unit cost of the cast blanks is prohibitive then this would not be an option
. I can buy wooden pen blanks from anything from £2 for 4 blanks to £10 for 4 or 5 I guess what you might be telling me is it would be more expensive for me to cast blanks

 

[wm460]

Hi Peter no wood clubs here we live in one of the most sparsely populated area in Europe most purchases are done mail order

Like me Bob I live in a very remote area in Aust, 90+% of what I buy is mail order.
I would love a job where I worked night shift permanently.

When you start casting write down every thing you do, amounts use etc, dont trust your memory, especially if its like mine.

 

[silver]

Just an up date Bob,

I never bothered with a pressure pot as I did clear water casting and polyester resin casting without one.

Good results and worked really well without one,my pu wil be supprised what you can do without a pressure or Vacuume pot.

If you need to cast your own pictures then as per Jim said, Paulm has done allot of work on this and sure if you get in touch will advise. He is a little busy at the moment so may take a little while to get back to you.

If you look on the IAP web site there is a good source of casting I for on there as well