Bellsy
Member
I took the liberty today to take advantage of some time in my shop. I've been researching the forums on casting for the last few months and acquiring the necessary items and knowledge to cast pen blanks.....specifically worthless wood pen blanks.
My first endeavor started out with plain alumilite and some different colours with a touch of pigment (PearlEx). Some may have seen these blanks on other forums. To my liking they turned out to be terrific considering they were my first attempt. Today's attempt being my second was a step further in the casting process. I read about some failures and didn't want this, but like any other experiment things can go wrong. Today I found out that my research paid off and I was rewarded for it.
The experiment for a lack of calling it anything else was planned out as best I could. To begin I made wooden molds and added toothpicks to the bottom of the molds so that the alumilite could find it's way underneath the blanks. While I was making the molds I had the blanks cooking in my toaster oven (garage sale special....free) at @ 200 degrees. The blanks roasted away for about 3 hours, but this time should have been around 8 hours according to my research. I started this experiment @ 2 weeks ago and they were originally heated for that long, however the experiment was halted because I wasn't happy with the preparation of my molds and time was running out.
After the blanks were heated I let them cool for a few minutes before centering them in the mold. I placed a small amount of CA on the end of the blanks to keep them from rising in the alumilite. Once the blanks were secured I placed the molds into the pressure pot. Then I weighed out the proper amount of alumilite for both Part A & B. Normally the alumilite is equal by weight, but my research has revealed that the dye is also considered or formulated the same as Part A. Some calculating had to be done to determine the total amount of Part A and dye would be required. The total of both of these would then give me the total weight required for the Part B of Alumilite.
Once this was achieved I poured my first cast mixing only the Part A and the Part B without the dye. Once the mixture was thoroughly mixed I added the dye and completely mixed it in. Then I added my PearlEx pigment (gold). This takes a bit of time to mix into the solution, but it will mix in. Once I was happy with the mixing I slowly poured the contents over the worthless blank in the mold. I only mixed one colour at a time and placed it under pressure for 60 minutes.
The pressure pot is set to 60 PSI and as stated, I hold the cast for 60 minutes. After each cast was completed I repeated the next cast, until all the worthless blanks were done.
Here are some pictures of my process as I progressed through the day.
I would like to Thank MesquiteMan for his valuable information which I believe is what made this process work so well.
All comments and suggestions are welcomed.
Dave
Mold #1
Mold #2
The Priceless Toaster oven hard at work.
The finished casts. (Black, Blue, Green, Red and Yellow.
The first 4 blanks from mold #1 cut and cleaned up.
The last cast from Mold #2 cut into 2 blanks. I actually experimented on this cast by pouring the excess alumilite from the previous casts to see if the bonding between layers would work or not. Looks like it worked.....
My first endeavor started out with plain alumilite and some different colours with a touch of pigment (PearlEx). Some may have seen these blanks on other forums. To my liking they turned out to be terrific considering they were my first attempt. Today's attempt being my second was a step further in the casting process. I read about some failures and didn't want this, but like any other experiment things can go wrong. Today I found out that my research paid off and I was rewarded for it.
The experiment for a lack of calling it anything else was planned out as best I could. To begin I made wooden molds and added toothpicks to the bottom of the molds so that the alumilite could find it's way underneath the blanks. While I was making the molds I had the blanks cooking in my toaster oven (garage sale special....free) at @ 200 degrees. The blanks roasted away for about 3 hours, but this time should have been around 8 hours according to my research. I started this experiment @ 2 weeks ago and they were originally heated for that long, however the experiment was halted because I wasn't happy with the preparation of my molds and time was running out.
After the blanks were heated I let them cool for a few minutes before centering them in the mold. I placed a small amount of CA on the end of the blanks to keep them from rising in the alumilite. Once the blanks were secured I placed the molds into the pressure pot. Then I weighed out the proper amount of alumilite for both Part A & B. Normally the alumilite is equal by weight, but my research has revealed that the dye is also considered or formulated the same as Part A. Some calculating had to be done to determine the total amount of Part A and dye would be required. The total of both of these would then give me the total weight required for the Part B of Alumilite.
Once this was achieved I poured my first cast mixing only the Part A and the Part B without the dye. Once the mixture was thoroughly mixed I added the dye and completely mixed it in. Then I added my PearlEx pigment (gold). This takes a bit of time to mix into the solution, but it will mix in. Once I was happy with the mixing I slowly poured the contents over the worthless blank in the mold. I only mixed one colour at a time and placed it under pressure for 60 minutes.
The pressure pot is set to 60 PSI and as stated, I hold the cast for 60 minutes. After each cast was completed I repeated the next cast, until all the worthless blanks were done.
Here are some pictures of my process as I progressed through the day.
I would like to Thank MesquiteMan for his valuable information which I believe is what made this process work so well.
All comments and suggestions are welcomed.
Dave
Mold #1
Mold #2
The Priceless Toaster oven hard at work.
The finished casts. (Black, Blue, Green, Red and Yellow.
The first 4 blanks from mold #1 cut and cleaned up.
The last cast from Mold #2 cut into 2 blanks. I actually experimented on this cast by pouring the excess alumilite from the previous casts to see if the bonding between layers would work or not. Looks like it worked.....
