Easy Metal Casting with a Silicone Mold and Pewter - Prop: Live from the Shop
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Bill dives into some legit metal casting using a high temp silicone and low melt metal. He's also joined by Evil Ted! Follow along as they learn how to cast pewter along with the help of the amazing makers in the Twitch chat, the PropTarts!
5:25 Cut straight to molten metal!
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Materials Used:
Melting Pot
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Pewter Ingot
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Pouring Ladle
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Mold Max 60
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#PunishedProps
The black stuff on top (dross) is caused by oxidation. The melt is too hot. Being too hot also causes the different metals to separate out. Try a simple flux material like beeswax or stir with a wooden paint stick, plus lower your temp. A simple casting thermometer ($35 on amazon) will make your castings better, no guessing at temps. The mold needs to be pre warmed, with bullets our molds dont start cast right until the are above 400F. If using a cold mold, the melt flash hardens when it hits the mold and prevents proper fillout of the minute details. The warmer mold slows down the hardening process. Since you are using silicone molds you may need to experiment with different casting temps of the melt. If you find that your ladle isnt big enough to fill the mold with one spoon full, increase the melt temp as much as possible. This should allow the melt that was in the mold to remain liquid long enough for the second spoonfull. Hope this helps and welcome to casting!
CarterCreekFarm thanks, you just showed us all that experience counts
What's is d composition of matel,what is the commercial name of this metal??
I know this is an older video and comment, but was watching the whole series over again and saw this comment.
Having cast a ton of lead (well, maybe only half a ton), CarterCreekFarm's comment is totally spot on. You definitely have it too hot. The beeswax idea or a more expensive bottom-fed pot would solve your problem.
I pre-heat my steel (and homemade soapstone) bullet molds if I want the first few to come out; if not, I just toss them back in the pot and let the process of casting heat it up. That won't really work with the silicone.
Was that lead/tin pewter or Armetale (or one of the other food safe aluminum alloys)? I wouldn't use 'real' pewter for jewelry; the lead is problematic.
@@harshambaliya8649 the pewter.
do you do with the flux material of beeswax?
I've learnt a lot from the comments.
Don't understand how your analogy wasn't the ending of lord of the rings! You were literally melting a ring! 😂
Keeping the ladle in the pot for a minute or two before pouring will also help reduce how much cooling happens by the time you start pouring. I think you can also add flux to it to help it flow a little better and remove some of the slag.
I agree with this. When using batik tjanting tools, it’s important to keep them in the wax bath to get some heat into the metal receptacles for an easier pour. If the metal tools are not up to temperature, they wick out the heat and the wax cools quickly.
Every Bill and Ted adventure is excellent!
It's Bill and Ted's amazing adventure.
I didn't know there was a silicon that works with metal until this day. Seriously I've always dreamed on doing my own metal rings and you don't know how happy these tutorials made me. I don't know if you mention it on the video (sorry, english isn't my first language) but how many times you could cast on that mold? Thank you so much!
This answer is probably redundant or useless at this point but if anyone else is reading; silicone molds can be reused numerous times till they break if temperature is controlled. They're good up to 290C (554F), which is above the melting point of Britannia pewter (255C or 491F.) Heck, I've cast zinc in pewter molds (Melting point: 419.5°C 787.2°F) But that's harder and tends to burn the molds a little.
Hay fellas I do a lot of metal casting and I have my moulds on a hot plate before casting around 80-100c and if you get hold of k or l grade metal for pour casting is the best I have found it retains its heat for longer
There is a good chance that you are burning the pewter. It's melting point is nearly half that of leads. And if thats a bullet melting pot it's means for lead. So the three hundred degree difference int he melting point is probably why the pewter is darkening, it's just getting way too hot. If im not mistaken you should be able to melt pewter on a hotplate, since pewter melts at around 440 F.
Great video Bill, look forward to see more metal casting from your shop.
Just a few tips to help you along. I wouldn't add any flux or anything else to the metal. It's not necessary for low melt alloys and could be detrimental. The dross on the suface is normal, just skim it off with the ladle and discard. The lead-free pewter you have looks good quality. The one I use has a melting point around 250C and an operating temp around 280-290C. Keep the ladle in the pot so it's the same temp as the metal and keep the pot at least half full as it usually helps the thermostat to work effectively. As others have said, pre-heat the mould with the first pour, then the second and subsequent pours will have a better result. As soon as you've poured the metal give the mould a few gentle taps (with a screwdriver or something) to settle the metal into the mould. It solidifies pretty quick. I can usually demould a belt buckle a couple of minutes after pouring, although it's obviously very hot so use long nosed pliers or similar to get it out. This helps keep the heat in the mould for the next pour. Let the casting cool naturally. Rapidly cooling it (by quenching) can cause stress fractures in low melt alloys and they cool fairly quick anyway once out of the mould.
I've been casting with low melt alloys and pewter for 20+ years and still get a huge buzz from seeing a shiny metal thing appear from a mould. Hope that helps and good luck.
If you can swing it you might be interested in the 10 lb version of the melting pot, it has a spout on the bottom that you put your mold under. Also, a cheap infrared thermometer will be worth your money.
So cool hearing you talk about this project on TMS, and then getting to see you work on it.
The ending scene from T2? What about the ending scene in LOTR?? Its even a ringgg
Shania M Yeah, but T2 had a molten pool of metal, LOTR was fire. -- Also the music from T2 just burns the scene into your mind.
It was molten stone not fire. :D
Yeah, my first thought was also LOTR. :-D
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If you want to start in metals, try "woods metal" it melts in boiling water so fine for experimenting. It looks and feels like brittle lead, and used to be used for pipe bending.
I haven't tried this yet, but I have read that adding rosin (acid free flux) to the melt helps the metal flow better and eliminates oxidation.
If you heat the ladle with a torch you can hold the pour a bit longer. If the mold has a small opening, its likely to get clogged as it cools after a single pour so be sure the volume's not larger than your ladle. You can try to make a larger spout/spru if you think its going to need more than one ladle. Your able to double dip with flat piece because the new metal can still get to to open parts of the mold. Fun stuff.
You know I'm digging the casting! Great job on your casts, you got some really good detail in that ring
So, we learn together! lol! Good video! And yes, it was fun to watch!
In a rectangular container you can scrape the dross away from the top with a card made of heat resistant material. I remember using FR4 squares, cut to size, for scraping the tops of solder dip containers.
You can control the amount of dross that you are skimming off the top by fluxing . Your pewter is an alloy of several elements and heating causes them to mix with oxygen which changes the mixture. You will need to do this in a well ventilated area. Put a little paraffin wax on the surface of the melted metal . This will cause a lot of smoke which you can control by putting a flame to it. as the paraffin burns off stir the metal and much of the dross will go back into the alloy keeping it cleaner and much truer to its original state.
In the early '80's we used to make pewter miniatures for war gaming. We used two part molds like the ones you had. The miniatures were ugly (like fishing sinkers with legs) but 500 painted up on a gaming table looked awesome. We had a problem with the dross but I don't remember how we solved it. I will get with my gaming buddies and see if they remember. Great video as always.
Pewter is a great casting material, had to make my own pendant with pewter at school
that was neat, i have the larger lee melter with the bottom pour spout. i cast a lot of lead for bullets. id reccomend stepping up to a bottom pour pot and you can modify the stand to be taller so that you can fit larger moulds under it, the lever would mean you dont have to worry about a ladle just lift the lever and it pours out the spout. also yes heating the moulds is pretty important
Would you do a video on how to clean it up a bit? Like what tools and such would be needed?
Maura Cullen I second this! I was hoping to see how you removed the excess.
Cheapest option would be a jeweler's saw, or you could swing for a Dremel tool they have all sorts of bits for cutting, sanding, polishing, etc. Cheapest Dremel can be had for around $60
@@Shrimp_Insurance Thanks. I was wondering how the excess was removed!
That was pretty sick! I've always steered clear of pewter because of the bismuth, but after a bit of research its evidently not a huge concern. Thanks for the vid =)
TabLeft Workshop - I'm curious why bismuth would be a concern. I've seen plenty of straight bismuth casting with no more worries than any other metal.
William Bostedt bismuth is a toxic heavy metal and heavy metals often build up in your body over time. Bismuth evidently is toxic but extremely low, and doesn't build up in your body enough to be a big concern since any that's absorbed is generally removed when you pee.
PUPPY!
In high school metal shop we did an aluminum cast project, this was a fun reminiscing vid for me
I use the larger Lee melting pot that has a bottom pour spout that is opened/closed using a valve/handle arrangement. Much easier than using a ladle. Can't stress enough the need to preheat your molds, or do a few test pours to preheat the mold.
im super sad i missed this episode. I popped in right when you ended lol. keep up the great work bud.
the pitted and grody ring would be perfect for your draugr costume!
Your bit on the morning stream got me wanting to buy some pewter and start casting. Hope I don't burn down my home.
Infrared thermometer is your friend.
Absolutely! I have since purchased one and it's super neat.
The crud that your referring to on top of your molten metal is the impurities that was in the metal. I used to run a aluminum smelter and that's what I was told by my predecessor.
You can create vents at the bottom of the mold to allow for the super hot air to escape without bubbling through the metal.
You should flux the melt, this will clean up the crud - aka dross or slag. When I cast bullets ( lead) I use a bit of wax from a melted tea-light. Also get a bigger ladle - you want to try to get a complete pour in one shot.
If you're having problems with your metal cooling too quickly while still in your ladle, try heating it with a blow torch before you dip.
It helps if you have a mold for ingots to pour the rest of the material into. I've seen hackers use stuff like cupcake trays and such if you don't have a good mold. Not sure on the properties of pewter, so make sure to use a mold release powder to prevent bonding, etc.
"Hackers"? You mean metal workers?
I had no idea pewter had such a low melt point! Interesting video, thanks guys. Also I feel like I should mention most modern pewter is hypoallergenic, so its great for people with nickel allergies (like me!) who get reactions to cheap costume jewellery.
The "Crud" is the Impurities separating. IT can increase commonality with higher Temperatures, but in general it depends on the Metal. You also have to watch for the porosity of the metal. (Air Pockets) In general metals like lead and pewter have higher impurities and porosity. ( the only reason i know any of this is because i work in a metal casting facility.
Does the porosity affect the integrity of your final piece? For example a jewelry charm or small, under 4 inch, statue.
The dishonored replica possibilities continue...
That was rad guys, thanks!
the top skin is dross, the crap, even though you start with "pure" metal still has impurities and burns off, also oxidation so better to crank it to 11, the hotter u go you just risk wearing out the mold but it'll flow better while pouring, use a old dinner spoon or aluminum foil make shift honey dipper to skim off the dross before u dip for a pour. discard the. dross. also as people mentioned preheating the ladel as well as the mold will benefit in the flow better. you can preheat the mold by jut pouring a waste pour and leaving it in until it solidify and then recycling that pour, the mold will retain most of the heat.
I have been looking for some high temp silicone to make metal pieces with. Will have to pick some of this out. My Dad used to make his own bullets so we have the whole set up, just needed the molds.
The two things I would recommend to make your life easier: I would get a smelting/pouring cup with a pour spout and handle that you just set in your hotpot for the tin to melt in(think double boiler but it needs to touch the bottom). Also don't bother skimming until the very end, what your wiping off is just tin oxide which immediately reforms when liquid tin touches air(you can even remelt, it isn't scrap) instead of wiping it off use a little chunk of scrap to keep the floating oxide in you cup instead of your mold when you pour.
If you're finding your ring gets squashed out of round you might want to try finding a harder metal with a coefficient of expansion that's close to that of pewter so you can cast over it.
Love watching your work, just don't usually have much to say.
Then I highly recommend you take a look at how to make an electric foundry by TAOW, and how to make a coffee can forge by clkindred. Kindred's shows you an excellent way to make refractory cement, and taow's will show you how to make an electric heat source for less then 80 bucks, plus you'll be able to use it as a kiln for other goodies.
Be careful about crushing force, especially since you work with a lot of tools. Normal rings in general have the same issues but pewter is really soft will deform easily.
You need an air hole to let the air out as you pour the metal in.. Won't plug up so much. A As you found out, heating the mold is best. Close to the molten metal temp as you can.
Lol. When Ted appeared on screen, I thought is was Scott Johnson for a second.
Some great information here. Thank you, sir!
bigger ladle, leave it in the pot. use a double boiler on a hot plate. I use a jewelers saw to cut off any major flashing. set of files dedicated to pewter. definitely heat the silicone molds.
warm the pouring spoon up to stop it cooling your pour metal.
Ha, I just cast some american pewter yesterday! Nice video, I just melt my pewter in a little smelting pot over the stove.
Punished Props the instructions on the pot specifically state don't recommend to do that with that pot www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Metal-Casting-Melting-Pot-150ml-MEL90024-/311754789221?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368 at the bottom
this was really informative. thanks for the inspiration
That melting pot is awesome.
If you upgrade your melting pot, go for the model with the pouring spout on the bottom ;)
Cerrosafe alloy is so much easier to cast with and melts at a much lower temperature. It's used for casting barrels of guns so a gunsmith and have a detailed look at the rifleing and to measure bore diameter.
I bought a pewter absinthe spoon; I'm guessing it's not a good idea to light it on fire. Looks like it'd melt faster than the sugar cube!
Hah! Yes I suggest avoiding heat with that
This is a great cast.
Get one, I want to try.
When melting any kind of metal, the impurities rise to the top. The technical blacksmithing term is called "Slag". Also as a Blacksmith, I'd advise to keep a bucket of water close by. Once you can touch the material without it being liquid take the mold and dunk it in the water, or what is called "Quenching"
Great video!
Good stuff man!
I never thought to cut the ingot with a band saw. I just melt off the end of the bar.
Amazing. Sorry I missed the livestream.
You could probably avoid the pewter solidifying in the scoop if you left it in the pot with the molten metal. That would preheat it.
That's really cool. Loved the ring best. That mold stuff being high heat perked up my interest and I already love Smooth-On products. :) Unfortunately it was not as high heat as I was hoping. :) Someday I dream of finding an easy to use silicone that will make flexible glass fusing molds and withstand the temperatures of glass fusing in a kiln. Until then I make do with a cone 4 clay to make molds for glass fusing.
I do currently use some silicone molds for glass fusing but in that case they don't go in the kiln. I do the freeze fusing method so the only place the molds go is in the freezer. :P
- Heidi
***** Oh be prepared to be sucked in then. There are so many different things to do. Slumping, mold casting, liquid glass (stringer), powdered glass, freeze fusing etc. I am so hopelessly lost and want to try everything. :P Freeze fusing is a bit difficult. I have had more failures than successes but one of these days I will get it... I hope. :D I started small with a microwave kiln. I would suggest that first as it is fairly inexpensive and you can find out if you like it. The limitation is you can only make pretty small things. Pendants etc. It's a good way to get started though without spending a ton on a kiln. If you have a kiln already then go for it. :D
Ya. It's nice to see you guys working together. :) Great video too. Also love the stuff you post.
Also, totally jealous :P
The ring melting is like terminator? Not like a certain other movie with a ring melting into a volcanic mountain? ;) cool vid, thanks for sharing!
Oh right... THAT movie. The one about a ring. Right. =)
Put a little wax chips in to flux it and then clean the slag off, it'll work better. Better to have it a little hotter and keep your dipper in to heat it up before pouring it.
It s Very good!! congratulations!!
To extend the life of your MOLD MAX 60 mold, remove the piece as soon as it sets. Other wise it will just cook your mold to death.
That was cool always curious about metals
Awesome looks like fun look forward to more videos on this
I always miss the live streams...
Hey thanks so much for this video, great content and enough to give me what I needed to know... again thanks a ton....
You're so very welcome!
awe! I missed the stream. gotta go watch it!
Very cool.
use the actual little spigets on the label, it'll work fine when you pour from the area of that ladle that's actually designed to pour
Couldn't you poor the pewter and then put it back in the toaster oven to ensure that it flows into every nook?
You also need to degas it to remove any air traoed inside.
What are your steps going to be, cleaning up the ring? Do you run it through the bandsaw to cut off the excess, and then dremel it a bit, grinding it smooth, then maybe switch to a little buffing wheel?
Punished Props fantastic, I would love to see how you made the mold for that!
Get a laser infra red thermometer that is in the 500 degree range. Then scoop off the dross.
the cruddy stuff on top of the pewter is probably the copper mixed in the pewter
"Isoldor, Cast it into the Fire"
i swear once you'll be very famous
What is the “ideal” number setting on your Lee melting pot to get good results?
Back in the 90's when Grunge from Seattle was the trend and an ounce of weed cost more than an ounce of gold I had a pewter goblet which I paid about $120 for from a games shop and one time I had it on a heater or near a heater and it melted.
Pewter has very low melting point.
Ha ha I bet that was darn disappointing.
I know it is a late comment to he video. Would it be a good idea to preheat the molds? using steel plate to hold the mold together and maybe steel clamps to hold the metal then pre- heat the molds. This way the pewter will stay liquid and flow better into the mold? NVM i just hit the point where you pre-heat the mold lol
this makea we really want to make some pewter stuff!
Pewter is not likely to hold up well as a wedding band. Being a soft metal, it's going to deform, stretch, and scratch quite a bit, Good video content on casting. I work in the metalcasting industry and love it.
The American Foundry Society actually sells an educational tool called the foundry in a box that I think you would like. It's actually a microwave system designed for melting metals. It also comes with oil based reusable molding sand. You should check it out!
www.afsinc.org/career/content.cfm?ItemNumber=13109
Doo nice thanks for the information
Would be curious to know the best way to cut the excess off the pewter ring!
Me too!!! How does he do it!?
Me too I wish he would have shown that part
Also wondering 2 years later
Cheapest option would be a jeweler's saw and some files, or you could swing for a Dremel tool they have all sorts of bits for cutting, sanding, polishing, etc. Cheapest Dremel can be had for around $60
@@Shrimp_Insurance cheapest dremel? I've seen some at Walmart for $30 somthing... and thats one of the more decent brands too.
I have one I bought dirt cheap off e-bay ($15) but admitedly its not a well known brand and the tork isnt all that great for heavyt duty projects. I use it to grind down excess in my polymer clay casting projects.
But yes, the more powerful (expensive) the better
i used to diecast aluminium with my dad. he told me to pour salt into the container in order to make the aluminium react and extract all the impure things from it. it had to be at it's highest peak in temperature. NOW!!!! that's for aluminium. i don't know about other materials. and be really careful it could burst in bubbles.
What about brass or copper? I am doing a 1/200 scale titanic model and I want to make a mould out of the plastic propellers and then use that mould to make lots of copies of those propellers in brass or better yet copper since I have hundreds of pounds of copper Canadian pennies.
Where could I find any info on how to do this? I’m a total noob lol
If you add just a little but of borax to the molten metal it will help clean it up a bit.
can you show us how to do something like that with more solid/expensive materials? Maybe a ring with some insertions?
I haven't learned that yet. If I do, I'll be sure to make videos on it.
Is it different?
I thought it would just have different melting temperatures.
On what I read up on normally you either require heavy industry printers to get that to work, that's why I'm wondering if the casting part can actually be done with a cheap setup like this. I can imagine it would impurify gold, even oxidice stuff like copper or more rare metals
But for sure it will be difficult getting the sizes of indentations for gems right.
Thanks for the enthusiasm anyway.
Preheating your mold should help.. EDIT: And I just got to the part in the video where you started warming the molds
Very cool!!!
Just subbed
Welcome!
That stuff that floats to the top that isn't shiny is call dross or slag and it's just impurities in the metal, it can make the metal brittle and not look as good
How did you make the Silicone Mold?!?!? can you please give us a how to on that?! thank you :-)
This guy has made lots of videos about that!
Bill! Have you been baking weird stuff again? Why does my oven smell like the shop?!?
I'm guessing you trim the ring after somehow? Or does that excess just break off?
Yes I trimmed off the sprue
Skimming and stirring like you are brings more metal to the top and causes it to oxidize. Leave it the way it is without breaking the surface and you'll have a higher yield of metal.