Getting good swirls

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reiddog1

reiddog1

Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2011
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564
Location
Jacksonville, FL
I recently purchased the vertical mold from (Fred) Ptownsubbie and was wondering what to use and the technique to get good swirls without blending the colors. I'm using alumilite clear and I swirl with a straight clothes hanger with a single ziptie fastened to the bottom. I go straight in, then spin on the way up. With block molds, I get great results with just a popsicle stick. I'm having quite the learning curve here. Thanks in advance.

Dave

Btw, Fred's molds are top quality and will purchase more in the near future. Well worth the investment.
 
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sounds like a solid approach to me. You might have to wait a bit longer to pour in the mold though. That's the risk/reward with alumilite! Swirls or bubbles....
 
I'll definitely give that a shot. Do you think that the process and tool itself will provide a proper swirl or should I maybe double the process. Thanks in advance Jonathon.

Dave
 
I use a slightly thinner wire because I have some and bend a T shape in the bottom of it. Take notes of what you do to each blank to keep track of what works. Also you can vary how you pour your colors in and that will affect how it mixes. It is really easy to over mix.
 
Another way I've gotten nice swirls in verticals molds is to actual pour 2 colors into a Dixie cup, slightly mix them and then pour that by itself or with another color into the mold at the same time. As the others said, experiment with it :)
 
Time of year, amount of mixer-up-er, humidity and the position of the ISS all play into this. What have you tried so far?
 
Jim Burr said:
Time of year, amount of mixer-up-er, humidity and the position of the ISS all play into this. What have you tried so far?
Click to expand...

Just the tool and process described in the original post. Havent had a lot of time to do much experimenting just yet. Like I said, I'm a horizontal caster that has gone vertical. Looking at waiting a little longer before pouring. Maybe that'll be the trick.
 
OK, I'll take a shot at describing one of my techniques.
I build fishing rods. for finishing guide wraps I have a 7 rpm motor mounted in a horizontal orientation with a cup on the shaft to hold the rod handle to slowly spin it. So, I took this motor, remounted it vertical. Then I took my pvc tube which is close in size to a rod grip, insert it and start that tube a spinnin'. Now I pour both colors side by side and they just spiral their way in. The slower the pour, the better.
 
dwarmbrodt said:
OK, I'll take a shot at describing one of my techniques.
I build fishing rods. for finishing guide wraps I have a 7 rpm motor mounted in a horizontal orientation with a cup on the shaft to hold the rod handle to slowly spin it. So, I took this motor, remounted it vertical. Then I took my pvc tube which is close in size to a rod grip, insert it and start that tube a spinnin'. Now I pour both colors side by side and they just spiral their way in. The slower the pour, the better.
Click to expand...

Would love to see the outcome
 
I use pvc as my molds. I bent a piece of 14/2 wire into a bunch of zig zags. Then I put a "J" hook on top to hold it. Sometimes I move it up and down or swirl it around.
 
Jim, let me know the optimal position of the ISS and I will download a flight schedule to let everyone know when to pour their molds.:tongue:
 
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