My first batch of castings

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ericofpendom

ericofpendom

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Joined
Jun 6, 2012
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372
Location
Bolton, England
I finally got round to having a go at casting some PR blanks. I am quite happy with the results so far but have yet to turn any so I will not get too excited.

First pic is 28 blanks at 1/2" dia "Slimline" blanks, no waste apart from drilling, 4 3/8" in length.

Second and Third is my mold rack. Just drilled holes into a piece of MDF with a 15mm forstner bit and the tubes stand happily in there. I did 32 at 15mm and 16 at 22mm for the larger blanks.

Fourth is the rack in the pressure pot.

Fifth is after the second pour with a total of 44 blanks.

The plastic pipe is plumbers "push fit" and the PR just slides right out when cured. No residue is left so the tubes are ready to go. I use a small sqaure of polythene in the hole to stop the PR sticking to the MDF.

I hope you like them.

Eric...
 

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Pretty nifty setup. I assume the middle one is the handle so you can lower it into the pot? Do you use a funnel to pour into the tube?
 
Skiprat you are correct in that the middle tube is the handle. I don't use a funnel, just a steady-ish hand. Never pour after drinking :)

Eric...
 
That's really cool. You'll find that after a few more pours, the blanks don't release near as easy. I've broken a few in the past by persuading them with a dowel & hammer. So now when a tube give me trouble I just toss it. PVC is really cheap.

My question is, how many go into the pressure pot at once? There is no way I could pour more than 6 or so before having to put them in the pot. Having said that, I don't use pressure on PR, only alumilite.
 
BSea said:
That's really cool. You'll find that after a few more pours, the blanks don't release near as easy. I've broken a few in the past by persuading them with a dowel & hammer. So now when a tube give me trouble I just toss it. PVC is really cheap..
Click to expand...

Looks good. I don't use pressure with my PVC either. BSea-you can turn the plastic off instead of wasting the pour.
 
navycop said:
BSea said:
That's really cool. You'll find that after a few more pours, the blanks don't release near as easy. I've broken a few in the past by persuading them with a dowel & hammer. So now when a tube give me trouble I just toss it. PVC is really cheap..
Click to expand...

Looks good. I don't use pressure with my PVC either. BSea-you can turn the plastic off instead of wasting the pour.
Click to expand...
Well, normally the blank will come out fine, even with a lot of persuading.:rolleyes: And I've only broken a few, and they were about half way out when they broke. Yes, I could have turned them to get to the blank, but have one break is really rare, so I haven't worried about it.

I'm about to do another pour, and I have one tube I'm experimenting with. I cut a groove in it length wise with my bandsaw, and taped up the groove. This way, I should be able to get the blank out even if it is really stuck. It's probably over kill, but I just want to see if it will work.
 
Hi BSea, I cast 26 of the smaller blanks at once and 16 of the larger. I do a little test by dribbling a little of each color into a small plastic cup and if they don't blend then I just do the pour. The only thing I don't like about the pvc tube is that you can't see what you are getting. I completed another batch last night and the larger ones came out very well, not too sure about the thinner blanks.

Thanks for the heads up about the tubes starting to stick, I will watch out for that.

Eric...
 

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Notice you have several colors and they appear to be blended quite well. Do you stir the contents of the tube once you got the tube full? Nice blanks, I've only done 2 colored.
 
For you guys using pvc pipe FYI I use clear plastic tubing they use for undergravel filters for aquariums. I think they are 5-6 dollars for a 3 foot stick. I also cut a line down one side and tape it back up with scotch tape to reseal it and use it over and over. That way you can see inside. I haven't used dyes yet but it makes it nice to look for air bubbles.
 
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