Casted my first two blanks!

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Fay Prozora

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Joined
Jul 20, 2014
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469
Location
Port Angeles, Wa
I decided to try casting a couple of pen blanks. So I used some PVC pipe for a mold and casted a few blanks. One is still in a pipe and is large enough for a bottle stopper or a kaleidoscope egg or other small project like that. I mixed the resin and put a tad of color in it as it was the clear resin and it turned out great even tho I had a bit of trouble getting them out. THe spray release did not work worth beans. I read some where that a little bit of olive oil or mineral oil should do the trick. I have a nice silicone mold coming. Any way, I think these are going to be nice but they might have a few bubbles as I don't have a pressure pot as yet. I'm just trying this out so I bought just a small kit to try out and some pigments. I hope they will work out and turn into a nice pen. but the pen will not be pink and blue. I'm going to mix the same tomorrow and try it again. I may have to cut the pipe in half and then tape it up real good and then hopefully it will be easier to get the blanks out. Wish me luck.. and enjoy the picture. Fay
 

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Your first cast is such a big step. Congrats on making the leap.:)

My first mold was Play Doh and it actually worked. Things will get easier as you get more practice.
 
Great what are you casting alumilite or PR?? I am assuming since they did not release it is alumilite. Splitting the tube is the easiest and quickest fix. Have fun and experiment, experiment, experiment. It is a blast.
 
I'm going to try cutting the tubes in half and see if that will work better. I have 2 kinds of stuff but not real sure what it is. One turns white as it hardens and the other one I believe is a clear so I put a tad of color in that one. It doesn't harden as fast as the one that turns white. I don't think I'm going to try getting the other one out of the tube because it is too much trouble. I've got a nice mold coming from Fred Wissen's site and I bet that will be much better. I did buy some mold making stuff and that was a disaster. It is the kind you melt in the microwave and I was sure that would work but it just made a big mess. Wish I had gotten the putty. Oh well back to the drawing board as they say... Now I have been looking for all kinds of stuff to put in the resin stuff. Fay
 
Fred makes AWESOME molds. If you are just looking for basic molds, you can look in the library. I forget who it was made a cutting guide using a cutting board from Sams Club that makes molds. I bought the cutting board, but have not had the chance to make the molds yet.
 
I do want to get Fred's bottle stopper molds too but my funds are getting low as of yesterday. A fixed income sure doesn't go very far these days, but as long as I can get stuff to turn, then I'm happy. I just tried casting two more blanks and I did cut the tubes in half and the first one came out with no problems and the second one did not release as easy but I got it out. So those look like they will be two nice pens out of those. I think from here I will wait for that mold to come. Thanks Fay
 
My guess if you have two different "Kinds" you might have one of each type. If the one that turns white is mixed 50:50 it's Alumilite or something of that nature. When I first used Alumilite I mixed it half and half by volume and it turned white and was supposed to be clear. The problem was it needs to be mixed by weight and you will need a small digital scale. The other is a Polyester Resin that you add a certian amount of drops of hardener per ounce of resin which I measure in a measuring cup and count the drops. Have Fun
 
Some brands of mold release are better than others.Since switching brands i never have a problem with Alumilite coming out of pvc molds.
 
This mold release I bought really isn't very good. I used it yesterday when I casted the tootie Fruitie blank. It came out fine. I don't know yet what I'm going to make out of it. It's too short for a kaleidoscope egg so it will no doubt be a small bottle stopper. I've got some mold making stuff coming so will try making my own mold just for fun. I watched a video on mold making and it was interesting.
 
I did look in the library at those mold making instructions and enjoyed it. I now have some pretty good ideas. I did have a piece of PVC pipe that I used to pour a bottle stopper and I like them a little bit larger for kaleidoscope eggs and the like and the stuff would not release. So I tossed it and after looking at some vids on making molds, I fished it back out of the trash and will use that for a model to pour the silicon over to make my mold. Still want to get Fred's as his has 4 sections to pour the bottle stoppers in and that would be great to do if you plan on making and selling them. I hope the mold I ordered shows up today but I have my doubts that it will...usps is not putting any information in when I rack it. It was a 2 day shipping and now it today is the 4rth day. He shipped it on the 3rd. Fay
 
For pen blanks, I use 3/4 PVC, no mold release, a little socket,6" extension and a hammer to knock the mold loose. I've yet to have an issue with any blanks sticking.

Congrats on making your first blanks. For me, it all made sense on what to do after I did my first.
 
That one blank that was in the black tube that I fished out of the trash I put it on the lathe and turned it with the tube on it and it was fun seeing the colour of blank come through. I did not think that would work but it did and now if I have any more trouble I'll just turn the tube off. Got a nice mini kaleidoscope made out of that piece. Nothing else seemed to work. Alumilite does not release as it is in the pipe pretty darned tight. Fay
 
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