Cost

[cowchaser]

Just a question my wife asked me that I could not answer and we had a fairly in depth conversation about casting. Just brought up the cost of casting. Now understand I am not going to start this until later on the down the road. Just having to much fun turning right now. So is it cheaper to cast your own or not? Is it just saving a few cents per blank? I told her I would guess it was more about being able to cast what you want, cactus ect... She is just more interested in casting with colors rather than putting stuff into them. So please raise my pen educational level so I can enlighten my wife.

 

[winpooh498]

We use Similar 41 from Mr. Fiberglass. We buy it in 5 gallon buckets (very expensive shipping this way)But it ends up working out be about the same as ordering 5 1gallon cans. If you figure an average of 2oz a blank (some smaller and some bigger) it works out to $.625 a blank, then you have to add in for colorants which can be expensive but you only use a little bit and even if you figured $.10 per blank (very high side) each blank would be less then $.75.

We have found that our "homebrew" is a big selling bonus.

Hope this helps.

 

[ahoiberg]

dustin, even if you go the Michael's route, where it's roughly $20 for 32 oz.(i think that's the size i got anyhow), and maybe $10-15 for some colorants from there or hobby lobby or whatever, it's cheaper than buying them for 3.50 a pop (if you use dawn's estimate of 2oz/blank) or whatever they might be. granted, it's harder to get the coloring effects the mass producers can, but the fun factor makes up for that in a heartbeat.

 

[stevers]

I figured it up once, it was about 0.70 an ounce and three ounces to do a single blank. Could even be less material with a custom sized mold. As little as 2 ounces I spose. Colorant is minimal in cost. You just have to pay for the initially investment to start making money or saving money as the case may be.

 

[cowchaser]

Okay, thanks everyone. Like I said I am not interested in casting at this point, but will be later in the future. I just couldn't figure out what my wife wanted to know (me to in a way). I'll just have to keep buying for now till I get bored with what's out there.