Monday, January 18, 2010

Pewter-licious

These are photos of my first ever attempt at pewter casting. The mold is made up of three soapstone parts: the base (with the carved mill-rind) and two top pieces (sitting side by side on the left hand side).

The design is a mill-rind, which happens to be the charge of the Burbage house device.

I was quite surprised by how easy it was to carve into the stone. A pocket knife, metal file and two drill bits were used to carve the shapes and a hand saw was used to cut the blocks. The pewter was sourced from some old cups which were melted in a saucepan on a regular gas stove-top.

It was quite fun to watch the cups melt :P When the pewter is nice and hot and melty it is poured into a hole that sits in between the two top mold pieces (left hand side in both pics, they are sitting right up next to each other). You have to tip it quite quickly so as not to allow the pewter to cool at all; if it cools it doesn't pour all the way through the mold and you only get half of your shape cast.

I made these mill-rinds as badges for my household (literal badges). I made 18 in all and have now glued pins to the back - hooray for household bling :D

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