Casting Coffee beans.

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Joe S.

Joe S.

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Jan 11, 2012
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I reacently turned one of those coffee blanks I got from woodturningz. And it has gone over crazy to everyone who has seen it, and I have already got 2 orders with the potential for more! I'm looking for information on casting some myself. Isn't there a white resin that wouldn't need to be dyed? And if its a total necessity, how much would a small pressure pot be? I'll be googling after I post this, but I want to know what you pros use! Thanks in advance!
 
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From the guy that makes mine...6oz of bean...and stop them from floating. Try a few castings and let us know what you think!
 
Using pressure/vacuum has more to do with trapped airbubbles in what you are casting/stablizing. $100 for a NIB pot, plus more for the gauges and fittings...watch craigslist, got mine foe $30.
 
I got my pot from harbor freight a few years back. I did a coffee bean blank and as mentioned above make sure you do find something for the beans not float and over spill.
good luck.
 
Jim--

How did that turn out (no pun intended)? I'm going to start casting soon and am interested in making some of these.
 
It worked for me. I only did one though. I did not have any blow outs. I used a lot of CA to fill the bean holes that showed up. I took extra care when turning very light cuts.
 
jbswearingen said:
Jim--

How did that turn out (no pun intended)? I'm going to start casting soon and am interested in making some of these.
Click to expand...

The first thing I cast was coffee bean blanks. That was a big mistake. If you have never cast anything before. Start out with 1-2 resin blanks, then move on to imbedded objects. Coffee beans aren't the best to start with. IMO.
Also, you will NEED pressuree for alumilite. Also, you will NEED pressure for casting anything other than pure resin blanks. Especially coffee beans, if you want to fill all the nooks and crannys.

just my $.02
 
Thank you!! I'm not sure this is a "cheaper alternative" to buying coffee blanks anymore! It sounds really fun!
 
Don't give up just yet. I have seen pressure rigs come up for sale on occasion.

If you don't mind me asking, how much have you been paying for coffee blanks? I was thinking of making a run of coffee bean and cherry pit blanks, but wasn't sure if the cost would be higher than they are worth myself.
 
Joe S. said:
Will this work?
Paint Pressure Tank - 2-1/2 Gallon
What would I need to do to it to get it to work for casting?
Click to expand...

Yup, that will work. I didnt follow the tutorial down the the letter, but I got the idea, since I had never done anything with pipe threads before. I had to drill out one of the glued on peices of metal in the cap and retap the hole. But hopefully if you decide to pull the trigger you will not have this problem. In the end it will prob cost you $200 to start casting with a pressure pot. For leveling out the bottom you can take a drain cover from home depot or lowes and cut the corners off and put it in the bottom of your pot. That is what I did and it works rather well. Just if resin gets in the bottom it is hard to get and out you have to put a piece of metal in the grooves and crank on it. (2 person job)

Also in the tutorial he caps the inlet valve with a fitting. I just drilled a hole in the remaining pipe and drilled a hole in a pvc pipe end and put a screw though it. This prevents the air from shooting straight down on your resin and making a mess.
 

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