For those who asked: The aluminum foil mold!

[Drstrangefart]

Here it is being made. I folded the foil in half a couple of times, making it 4 layers thick and shaped it up around an early Brooks803 blank.

Here it is with the pre-existing blank removed.

Here we have the filled mold in the home-made curing box. That box will cure a blank in about 30 minutes or so, even with it being like 40 degrees outside. Then it takes an hour or two to cool off.

Annnnnnd then the mold is peeled off, leaving the blank to cool off.

 

[Drstrangefart]

And the blank turned down into a great pen!

 

[navycop]

Neat idea. It appears you have to block the foil up while it cooks?

 

[glycerine]

very creative!

 

[renowb]

Now that's thinking outside the box!

 

[Drstrangefart]

Neat idea. It appears you have to block the foil up while it cooks?

It helps keep the sides straight. Not absolutely critical, but it helps.

 

[Drstrangefart]

To be fair, Phil Morris reccomended I try the foil mold after my first mold failed. I just figured out how I was gonna implement the idea.

 

[Padre]

And the blank turned down into a great pen!

 

[Drstrangefart]

And the blank turned down into a great pen!

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=87059

There ya go! Waaaay ehead of you!

 

[DozerMite]

That is how I made my first molds. They work ok, hard to keep them straight and uniform, but they work.:wink:

 

[firewhatfire]

Look out.....I just got credit for something. I just took the piece I was using for my tinfoil hat and made a mold. The told the good Dr. Drstrangefart that is.

 

[Drstrangefart]

Look out.....I just got credit for something. I just took the piece I was using for my tinfoil hat and made a mold. The told the good Dr. Drstrangefart that is.

And it was a very effective idea at that!:biggrin:

 

[sumterdad]

Couldn't you wrap a small piece of wood in the foil on the sides so that you don't have brace up the side.

 

[Drstrangefart]

Couldn't you wrap a small piece of wood in the foil on the sides so that you don't have brace up the side.

Anything's open for experimentation. I try to keep side bracing to a minimum, as more stuff on the sides=less heat on the foil. Less heat means slower convection and the color mixing just isn't as good.

 

[MesquiteMan]

I made my first 50 or so cactus blanks in foil molds. I used to tape a Popsicle stick to the outside of the mold to keep it straight and make it rigid.

 

[Rounder]

If you wrap the foil around a round blank and pour with it standing up, you don't have to support the sides. It worked for me on my first few castings.

 

[Drstrangefart]

If you wrap the foil around a round blank and pour with it standing up, you don't have to support the sides. It worked for me on my first few castings.

I am intrigued....

 

[Drstrangefart]

I made my first 50 or so cactus blanks in foil molds. I used to tape a Popsicle stick to the outside of the mold to keep it straight and make it rigid.

If you really need the sides to be straight, that's how to do it.

 

[navycop]

How many blanks can you get out of one foil mold?

 

[ElMostro]

How many blanks can you get out of one foil mold?

One.

 

[Drstrangefart]

How many blanks can you get out of one foil mold?

Yup. Just one. You have to peel or turn the foil off. I guess if ypu were patient, and had an iron you could use it again.....