Casting for fill and finish

[GregHight]

I'm looking for some ideas or even opinions. I have a very large order for pens and I'm looking for a way to take the 2" pieces that are cut, drilled, squared and turned and I need to make a mold that I can put these pieces in and cast them with a minimum amount of Alumilite around them to create top coat and fill in some pits, and other imperfections.

What is the easiest way to cast something that already has brass tube glued in it so that you don't get resin in the tube and not waste a lot of resin.

I plan on using my HF pressure pot and I'd like to cast at least 50 pieces at a time if possible. Any ideas?

 

[PR_Princess]

What is the easiest way to cast something that already has brass tube glued in it so that you don't get resin in the tube and not waste a lot of resin.

Have you thought about Charlie's (Newlondon88) resin saver molds?

 

[BigguyZ]

That's an interesting thought. If you took a wood blank and turned it to say 0.010" smaller than the final fitting diameter, would that be a reliable way to add a finish to your pen? Then it's just like turning an acrylic/ cast blank. If you were really having issues with your CA finish, that might work...

 

[DCBluesman]

Jay Pickens (PMG member, Ft. Worth, Tx) has been doing that for 4-5 years. It works great.

 

[MesquiteMan]

It is not going to work real well with Alumilite though, I am afraid. For one, there will not be enough resin in there to get it to "go off" as it should and you will likely end up with a cloudy resin. Alumilite is GREAT but not in very small quantities.

 

[Laurenr]

Unless of course, you want a white chalky look. ;-) Curtis is right. Anything less than an ounce or so is very difficult, beyond that however, it is awesome.

 

[workinforwood]

If you put stoppers in it and put it in a larger mold, you could spin a pen undersized and pour alumilite over it, let it cure and spin it..but I doubt you would be able to spin it down without pealing any of the alumite off the blank..it's just too flexible a product to be spun that thin.

I think the whole idea of using alumilite for your project is a waste of time and money anyhow. If I am correct, and you are just filling some small voids and want to fill them with some color or just clear, and the pens are already spun down..I would use inlace. Just mix up some inlace, add some color, let it start to warm up a bit, mount the blank on the lathe, put towel over bed, use popsicle stick to spread inlace over the blank, rotating lathe by hand until inlace no longer moves, then set blank aside till next day and come back and spin it clean. You can also use inlace as clear and make a top coat..but it's a waste of time and money again..now you are better off just spreading 4-5 coats of medium CA over the pen, hand sand out any ridges along the length of the pen, then turn lathe on high and wet sand to a bright shine.