Need Advice on Casting Wildflowers

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drferry

drferry

Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2007
Messages
85
Location
Yucaipa, CA, USA.
Can anyone point me to a good tutorial on casting wildflowers? I know they need to be dry. How do you keep them next to the barrel or away from the edge of the blanks?

Forgive my novice questions. I just got my pressure pot from Alumilite, and am eager to get started.

David R Ferry
 
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David,

I do not know of any tutorial but I have done a number of flower castings. What I do is dry the flowers in a food dehydrator until they are COMPLETELY dry. I fill my mold with the flowers and then mix up my Alumilite resin and pour it in. Put it in the pressure pot and let it cure. Take it out, drill, paint the inside, and turn like normal.

Here is a Texas Bluebonnet pen I did a while back

Image Insert:
200747204620_Bluebonnet1.jpg



Image Insert:
20074720474_Bluebonnet3.jpg
 
Curtis,

Gorgeous pen! I have a possibly stupid question: does it matter that the flowers extend to what will be the surface of the pen? Shouldn't they be completely covered by the Alumilite?

Thanks!

David
 
David,

There are not stupid questions! It does not matter at all that the flowers extend to the surface. They are quite penetrated by the Alumilite. As a precaution, when I get it to the shape I want I drench the surface in thin CA. This will penetrate into any cracks or flowers that are on the surface. I then use a skew as a scraper and smooth it all out, sand, and then apply a CA finish to make sure everything is nice and sealed. Works like a charm!
 
David,
I have been experimenting with a method of double casting the blank. I cast it like normal. Then turn it down smaller than required for the pen kit, or a few thousandths past the bushings. Then I re-cast the blank and turn to the proper size. This leaves a thin coating of clear PR over the original casting. This provides a perfect finish and gives the piece nice depth. This is a fair amount of work, but the results are stunning. It can provide a finished surface of several hundredths, depending on the kit.
 
What kind of paint do you use for the hole and the tubes?

I tried painting tubes with spray paint once, but when I tried to glue them in, the CA disolved the paint.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Steve
 
Powder-coat is awesome for tubes and I think the best way to work it is powder-coated tubes and epoxy tinted with the powder to glue the tubes in.

Steve, have you had a chance to try those "special bushings" yet?? I am curious how well the worked for the twice cast pens.
 
As a matter of fact Lee, I did try them last weekend. I put some redwood on the tube and tried turning it and it blew up on me. The wood was too soft to go so thin. I'm going to try a harder wood next time and should have better success. I'm going to go the last few thou with a "light" touch. It gets really thin down near the "casting" bushings. I'll let you know when I get success.

Sorry David, didn't mean to high-jack your thread.
 
Yo have to be careful if you are using clear resin for your casting. Just coloring the glue and painting the tubes will still leave marks where you have voids or air pockets in the glue. That is why it is really best, at least on clear resin blanks, to paint the inside of the hole AND the tubes.

Personally I drill a hole 1/32 larger than I need and then re-cast the insde with the color of resin that I want to show. After this has cured (about 10 minute wiht the resin I use) I then re-drill with the correct drill bit and end up with a 1/64 layer all the way around the inside of the blank. This ensures ABSOLUTE perfection and no voids. Then again, I am VERY picky (some call it anal!) and do not want to see ANY bubbles or air pockets. No everyone is going to have the stuff to do this and I do not beleive it will work right with PR since PR shrinks. Alumilite does not shrink enough to loose the bond and I am using Alumilite in an Alumilite blank. Also you have to have a good vise (Paul Huffman Vise) in make registration marks on your blank so you can get it back in the same place. It works perfect every time for me.

Aside from that, I used to use Testors model paint or fingernail polish for the inside of the blank and then use Brass Darkener from one of the members here for the tubes.

As for the CA messing up the paint, use 5 minute epoxy and you will not have that problem.

Hope that helps.
 
Originally posted by MesquiteMan

Yo have to be careful if you are using clear resin for your casting. Just coloring the glue and painting the tubes will still leave marks where you have voids or air pockets in the glue. That is why it is really best, at least on clear resin blanks, to paint the inside of the hole AND the tubes.

Personally I drill a hole 1/32 larger than I need and then re-cast the insde with the color of resin that I want to show. After this has cured (about 10 minute wiht the resin I use) I then re-drill with the correct drill bit and end up with a 1/64 layer all the way around the inside of the blank. This ensures ABSOLUTE perfection and no voids. Then again, I am VERY picky (some call it anal!) and do not want to see ANY bubbles or air pockets. No everyone is going to have the stuff to do this and I do not beleive it will work right with PR since PR shrinks. Alumilite does not shrink enough to loose the bond and I am using Alumilite in an Alumilite blank. Also you have to have a good vise (Paul Huffman Vise) in make registration marks on your blank so you can get it back in the same place. It works perfect every time for me.

Aside from that, I used to use Testors model paint or fingernail polish for the inside of the blank and then use Brass Darkener from one of the members here for the tubes.

As for the CA messing up the paint, use 5 minute epoxy and you will not have that problem.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

If you use PR, try casting straight to the tube. This eliminates drilling, paiting, gluing and all voids.
 
If you use PR, try casting straight to the tube. This eliminates drilling, paiting, gluing and all voids.
Click to expand...

That works for flowers but does not give as much of a 3 dimensional look as being suspended throughout the resin. Also, in other types of items, glue to the tubes absolutely will not work well, such as cactus.
 
more ideas

I bought silica at hobby lobby (12.00 for a large bag) and put the flowers in it and nuked it in the microwave for about 2 minutes, let it cool and wola dried flowers,

I will turn my first casting today (Saturday 28 march) and will post the outcome.

If i works, I will pick a whole bucket of flowers and dry them for future use, as all Texans know, bluebonnets only bloom in the spring, so nows the time to pick them.

and Mesquite man is right according to the TXDOT web site, it is not against the law to pick them.

so if you see some fool picking them along the highway in north Texas, it's probably me.

mbuckley52
 
mbuckley52's method for drying flowers is a very old standard. Silica is the same as sand - In drying flowers, you would use this white, FINE sand. Almost any hobby shop that offers dried flowers or materials for flower arranging also carry this type of silica/sand.
 
the sliica material that my daughter uses for drying flowers is not sand -- it is a water sucking material that is recycled by heating it to drive off the moisture. It tends to preserve the colors of the flowers.

When setting wraps in rod building I have to put a sealer on the materials to keep the epoxy from making the threads become translucent and losing coloir. May be useful to use a similar sealer to keep the flowers better formed and recognizable as such.

I have move away from CA for any gluing where there may be vibrations or force as it tends to become brittle with time and has caused me problems. Have not had problems with epoxy evern after several years vs having to do repairs on pens with overreliance on CA.

Good in the short term -- after a couple of years, can be a problem.
 
MesquiteMan said:
David,

I do not know of any tutorial but I have done a number of flower castings. What I do is dry the flowers in a food dehydrator until they are COMPLETELY dry. I fill my mold with the flowers and then mix up my Alumilite resin and pour it in. Put it in the pressure pot and let it cure. Take it out, drill, paint the inside, and turn like normal.

Here is a Texas Bluebonnet pen I did a while back

Image Insert:
200747204620_Bluebonnet1.jpg



Image Insert:
20074720474_Bluebonnet3.jpg
Click to expand...
What is Alumiliite resin? I have been trying to use a resin to make pens and they keep getting air between the tube and the resin.
Any help will be a appreciated.
 
silica pellets

I bought silica beads at hobby lobby
put about 1/2 inch os the beads in the bottom of a dish you will not use for anything anymore.
put the flowers in and gently cover with silica (cover completely) nuke in the miscowave for about 2 minutes and let cool.

it's that easy
 
MesquiteMan said:
Alumilite still creates a lot of heat while curing so I am not sure that is the difference.
Click to expand...

I was hoping the quick set would not bleach them like the slow cure of pr. Crossing my fingers, since I just bought some alumilite for a small batch of dried flowers from my sons birth for family pen gifts....
 
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