Casting Coffee Beans

[toyotaman]

I've never done casting before so this will probally be my first. I would like a little advise on doing this. I bought some coffee beans and I have the stuff to do it all with(I think). Correct me if I'm wrong. 1st add coffee beans to the mold. Then mix up the PR and color and stir. Then add the hardner and stir more. Then add contents to the mold. Place mold in pressure pot to 40psi and wait. Is this close to right??

 

[Jesus]

I did coffee beans for the first time last weekend. I however used alumilite instead of PR. My first attempt was a failure, the beans floated up and only part of the blank had beans. the second blank was a success as i made sure the mold was STUFFED with beans then I poured the Alumilite with the color already mixed in.

Hope this helps.

 

[toyotaman]

I thought about after pouring the PR in the mold to tape a thin piece of wood over the mold to prevent the beans from floating. Any pics of yours?

 

[Texatdurango]

I do two things you didn't mention......

1. I add a cover to the top of the mold to keep beans from trying to float up and over the edge. I use 1/4" pegboard simply because I have tons of it available. Any excess air/resin comes out through the holes.

2. I was having trouble with the alumilite not sticking to the beans and the beans would pop off during turning then it dawned on me that my beans were oily. I started soaking the beans in acetone to remove the excess oil film then allowing them to dry before casting. No more problems!

 

[toyotaman]

Looks like soaking the beans in Acetone would make them soggy. How long do you soak them?

 

[Jim Burr]

I use a dry bean as opposed to an oily one. That way the Alumilite will stick to the bean. As the acetone dries, the oil will resurface. Look for a bulk bean dispenser at almost any bigger market...find the drier ones and your home free!

 

[leehljp]

Looks like soaking the beans in Acetone would make them soggy. How long do you soak them?

Soggy - No, Acetone will wash and evaporate the surface oil (and deeper) off.

Great idea George. Been a while since I did a bean cast but soon to start again.

 

[markspens]

Let's see if I can post a pic of the castings I did this evening. The 5th and 7th down are coffee beans. I don't have a pressure pot as of yet but I probably will get one in the future.

 

[Dai Sensei]

Bigest problem with coffee beans is that there is an inner bean. You need to stabilize them with something before you cast, otherwise when you turn them, the inner bean pops out. I soak them in wood hardener until they are soft, then leave them to harden for a week.

Cheers

 

[feeneypens]

Let's see if I can post a pic of the castings I did this evening. The 5th and 7th down are coffee beans. I don't have a pressure pot as of yet but I probably will get one in the future.

How did you cast without the pressure pot?

 

[markspens]

Let's see if I can post a pic of the castings I did this evening. The 5th and 7th down are coffee beans. I don't have a pressure pot as of yet but I probably will get one in the future.

How did you cast without the pressure pot?

I've been using Alumilite white without a pressure pot without any problems so far. I'll try to post some pics later this evening.

 

[Texatdurango]

Let's see if I can post a pic of the castings I did this evening. The 5th and 7th down are coffee beans. I don't have a pressure pot as of yet but I probably will get one in the future.

Casting and turning cast blanks are two different things. Have you turned the bean blanks you cast without pressure and if so, were they 100% bubble free?

 

[markspens]

Let's see if I can post a pic of the castings I did this evening. The 5th and 7th down are coffee beans. I don't have a pressure pot as of yet but I probably will get one in the future.

Casting and turning cast blanks are two different things. Have you turned the bean blanks you cast without pressure and if so, were they 100% bubble free?

Here is one I did today. Alumilite white with aluminum embedded in it. No pressure pot used and no bubbles (guess I just get lucky). The coffee bean pens turned out ok but a pressure pot would have made them better I'm sure (I'd post pictures but they were already sold).