Hi all, One of my first solo casting projects (once I am fully equipped - hopefully soon) will be to re-cast my stove tool. I managed to break the original some years ago when I foolishly decided to hit a log with it (don't ask). Originally, I was simply going to use the two original parts to make a pattern from which to cast the replacement ... simple. But then my imagination got the better of me. I decided to create a whole new handle from scratch. Something a little more decorative ... Hole drilled in tool head ... ... to take a dowel. This will form the core of the handle. Starting to bind with string. Arty farty shot ... Adding extra layers of string to form a profile ... Finished profiling with the string. Rope layered onto string to form the final grip of the handle. Inserted into tool head. Ends finished with a copper collet at the top and more string at the bottom. I'm quite pleased with the result so far. This will be a simple sand casting using bronze or brass. I think I will need to fashion a simple core for the hole in the tool end. But I guess my only other question at the moment is whether I need to coat the rope handle to seal it. I have a lacquer spray and was thinking of using that but I'm not sure whether it's even necessary. Any thoughts from you guys would be appreciated. I'll post more pictures of the pour later once I've done that. TIA
That'd be far too easy ... well, except I don't know how to do that and don't have the equipment. I thought turning it into a little casting project would be more fun.
Looks nice. I doubt your sand will release very cooperatively if you dont coat it, but I've never worked with it. I think I remember HT1 using rope on one of his plaque patterns awhile back. Maybe he'll chime in. Pete
That is a good and important point. Sand is not going to pull coated or not the way the rope is currently wrapped. That is a shame as the rope work looks so good. It MIGHT be possible to use a urethane rubber to make a rubber negative of the handle and then make a wax positive and then use shell to cast it. I am strictly speculating here as I have zero experience with shell. But some guys here actually know something about it. I'll probably get educated about this soon. That is fine with me. Perhaps you could try "Lost Rope Casting." ;-) Denis
Extrude you some sculpy, twist into a rope... Bake in the oven... Saw in half. There is your patterns.
Shellac it, sand of the fuzz, shellac again and sand cast it, and you might like the results. You'd lose a lot of detail on the sides but unless it's art work you could operate your damper with it.
Just for another opinion, I would use some very thick paint or similar material on the rope to fill in the various narrow crevices made by the twisting and overlap of the cords in the rope. Those crevices will trap sand and I think are sure to cause poor drawing of your pattern in sand. If you can fill them in and leave more of a general rope pattern you have a chance. Perhaps a few coats of thick latex paint will give you a fighting chance. Another consideration might be wood-flour thickened epoxy or similar thickened polyester resin. Looking forward to seeing how this works out. Denis
Remember this dumbass? WTF was I thinking? Poop some rope out of sculpey, wrap around the tool, bake the tool in the wifes oven. Then ram up in some sand. That little girl clay has it's uses..
Thanks for all your replies chaps. I have since attempted to cast this (will post some pics in the sand casting section in due course) but for those who brought this up, you were bang on the money concerning the trickery of pulling the rope out the sand mould. The sand did indeed cling to all the crevices of the rope and destroyed the parting line when I withdrew it. I continued to cast it anyway purely for the experience. There were a lot of lessons I learnt from this single cast which I will not go into here (I'll save it for the sand casting forum post) but I have since purchased some plasti-dip spray paint (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plasti-Dip...ds=plasti+dip&qid=1559134696&s=gateway&sr=8-2) with which to coat the rope portion in the hope this will help prevent the sand from sticking so much.
You might do better with plain paint. It's hard to sand rubbery material. If you paint it, sand it, and then paint it you an get a smooth surface, but still without uniform draft.
I was hoping I wouldn't need to sand it if I sprayed it on. I am also wondering whether the rubber paint will still "grip" the sand in the mould so maybe not such a great idea. What type of paint would you recommend? Something with a gloss finish I presume?
The rubber paint may do fine with lots of parting compound. I think harder patterns are better patterns. Although I suggested shellac before, that's just because it dries fast over most any substrate. Any paint you have that will get hard will work, it's just to seal the fine crevices and let you sand the stray fibers off. I think gloss is better.
Achieving sufficient DRAFT every where will be a big challenge no matter what paint. I’d use either 5-min epoxy it polyester resin because they are thick, dry fast and are hard. I would mix in a thickener like flour, wood flour, micro balloons to partially fill crevices between strands in rope. Denis
Just posted the first casting ... http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/stove-tool-casting.762/ Cheers, Gavin
