Really... Who does this dumbshit? I went shopping for some ready made shutter dogs and hated everything I found online. I asked one seller on the phone where their stuff was made and she told me it's all cheap chinese hardware and said if I had the ability to make my own to do it. That got me thinking. How hard can it be? Something heavy at the bottom to hold them vertical. I slapped these together in about an hr and while they work at the moment, we hate them. Ignore the stupid hex bolt, it's only temporary... So I farted around with that little girl plastic oven back clay... I started to block out an acanthus leaf scroll looking thing and a flower. My wife said run with the flower. I stuck it on a stick with the spoon on one end the the flat in the middle for the attachment. Yeah, the PID went into overdrive on me, programming error on my part. Whoops! Dammit, crispy critter. Only takes about 10mins to bang out a simple generic flower. Take 2. Will change the final length once in wax and add some more details. Going with a simple plaster of paris mold on this one. No silicone on hand and I don't think it warrants it anyways. Just ease the undercuts on the sides with some clay. Looks bent here. No worries. All slathered up in plenty of booty butter. Should work out fine for a few wax pulls. Time to put it away for the night and let it cure. Making a fast mold like this will make it easier to keep 4 of them looking very similar when I make wax versions for lost wax casting.
Dont laugh, when the shit hits the fan here in the American I no longer recognize, I might just build those.
Both good ideas guys, but I think I'm going to take the boring route on this one. Bead blast, install and let nature take it's course. Maybe spray with some salty water and send it towards green? I will not be a slave to maintaining a patina outside.
Yup.. those feeders are that way for a reason. If anyone recognizes this yellow sprue, I'd sure like to know where to get some more. This is the last of it. Its solid and melts into the brown wax excellent and makes for a good secure connection. The red shit here is really soft and weak at holding important joints.
Common Jason! Glass those suckers with something. Just melt it right into the petals. Won't take 5 seconds to sort out and will look stunning! I like the overall design. I want to cast myself some ground mounted night lights for outside paths. Could mount little LEDs in them.
Yeah, but there is this little thing called COE. Let's suppose I melt some glass into the recesses, as the glass cools, it will jam REALLY hard into the holes until it cracks and self destructs. I've tried this before on the porch light and lost the battle. Now I do know there are some glasses with some pretty low COE. They might be an option. Glass COE ~ 104 Sil-bronze COE ~ 18
Crush the glass up to sand consistency, add a thin layer of moisture to the petal and dust the glass powder over it. This makes a glass enamel that isn't thick enough to crack as it cools.
Some Youtubers have been making true synthetic ruby using carbon gouging rods in a stick welder to get some sizable spheres/cabochons of ruby: whip up some of them, tumble polish and carefully glue in place .
Hell I gotta get them in metal first. After dewax today, I noticed my slurry was delivered in june 2019! Remember the UPS goatrope? Yeah, this is the last shell out of that bucket. I got some hefty cracks this go around. Kinda not surprised, the bottom weight is really thick. I dont think it's a deal breaker, just add a few more layers of course silica and hope for the best. The little lines seen here are not cracks. It's the fat area on the flower. If the shell holds during pouring, It could look like a little flashing. Might as well burn up the slurry, I wouldnt trust it on anything serious at this point.
So after tapping on the shells, I am noticing all the wax didnt get out of the thicker sections. Placed one into a kiln, set the temp to around 200 and let it chooch for a few hrs. The smell of cooking microcrystalline tells me I gotta get a longer cord for the kiln! I have got to do this out in the driveway! My theory is after the boil dewax rids 80% of the wax, it's safe to try a slow heat. Seems like it works, but still see a better method for this entire dewax, capture and burn out. Time to put pen to paper when I have some time. No more cracks and shell only fired to around 200. Wasnt able to heat to 1700 and pour metal. Next heat should be safe for sure. Heated upside down, the wax drains to the cup and burns when it finds oxygen. And STINKS LIKE HELL! I hear its poisonous too. Anyone confirm that?
Got 5 keepers! Little bit of flash on the back edge due to shell cracks. No harm, no foul. More later.
