Casting foil?

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David Keller

David Keller

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Joined
Nov 30, 2009
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Enid,OK
I thought I would pick the collective brains of you casting gurus... Has anyone got any tips for casting thin metal foil(leaf)? I'm not talking about wrapping a tube in foil and casting. I'm suggesting suspending gold/silver/copper leaf in resin.

A turner on another site has been suspending bits of copper leaf in epoxy to fill detail rings on his hollow forms, and the results are striking. I'm curious about any tips to casting solid blanks that contain metal leaf for turning finials and potentially pens.

Beware, I'm not a caster, so speak slowly and please avoid using large words.:biggrin:
 
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David, I don't cast. But you are on to a great idea for finials!!!
 
For me, I just mixed it into the resin. If you get the sheets, just break it up into the size pieces you want or just get the bag of pieces.
Works with shavings too, but the shavings are a little heavier and might try to settle. I didn't have that problem because mine set fast enough to keep it from settling.
 
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Thanks, Mike. I actually remember seeing that post now. I suppose my concern was that the leaf would settle to the bottom of the mold, but it doesn't appear that he had that Don had that trouble. I may shoot him a PM to get some details, or maybe he'll run across this thread and supply some details/tips.

That is exactly the look I had in mind.
 
David,

What I do is spray the adhesive onto the tubes and shake them in a bag of leaf. Then I cast and still get the 3-D effect. Like this:

DSCN1630600x450.jpg



Chris
 
That's a cool effect, Chris. I'm really interested in solid blanks without tubes for finials and collars on hollow forms. Since I don't do any casting, I may have to hit somebody up to make a few blanks for me.
 
David:
My wife and I cast gold and silver lear all the time. I like to put it in PR mixed with Costal Scents "pearl" white. To me, the CS pearl looks better than Micro Pearl from PearlEx.

I take chef's knife and chop the gold leaf as fine as I can get it. You have to pay a little bit of attention when casting this way, as when you chop it, the leaf wants to settle to the bottom of the mold. So, I pour a little pr, wait a little bit, sprinkle in a bunch of leaf, the pour more PR.

Looks great. I just sold my last leaf pen, but I've got one of each in the que to be turned. I'll post "her way" and "my way:
 
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