adding pewter castings to woodturnings
seidman
I am interested in experimenting with adding pewter castings to
woodturnings, and embed (pour in liquid form) pewter in cut groves and
natural voids. Can anyone offer any suggestions, recommendations, do's
& don'ts, etc.?
Also:
- Any recommendations on where to get the pewter?
- What other metals are good to use?
- Suggestions on technique?
Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions.
Regards,
Irwin
John Lucas
seidman
Highland Hardware our of Atlanta sells a low temp metal I think they
call rose metal that was designed just for melting and pouring in wood.
It's a little expensive but melts at a low enough temperature to not
scorch the wood. It looks a lot like pewter. John Lucas
Duncan R. Bell
re-enactment. I can cast 40 spoons an hour.
Here's what I've learnt recently about casting pewter, which may help you:
Safety
Wear new welder's gloves, or other thick, padded gloves. Make sure they're
bone dry before using them: the hot metal from your ladles, pots etc. will
turn any water to steam and cook your fingers/hands.
Make sure every mould or other object that you cast the molten pewter (or
any other metal!) into is absolutely bone dry: any water will turn to steam,
exploding out of the mould if it's in a confined space - perhaps splashing
you with hot metal.
Solid pewter, freshly cast, is still hot enough to give you a third-degree
burn: don't touch it with bare hands.
Supplies
I get second-hand tankards from a car boot sale: this is cost-effective for
me, as they are very popular in the UK as 21st birthday and other presents,
so I typically pay 1 pound sterling (about USD1.60) per tankard (and get 2.5
spoons per tankard).
If you try to mix your own pewter, get some professional advice: the
majority material is tin (97% for food-grade pewter), but the other metals
etc. (antimony, for a start) can be very poisonous in pure form (another
good reason for recycling old pewter!).
Casting - general
I melt the pewter on a gas stove (in my kitchen - it doesn't smell). I melt
it in a cast-iron pan with a spout on it (perhaps an old milk pan). It's
thick, so it keeps the heat well.
Melt the metal until it has a bluish tint on the surface (this may sound
strange, but try it and you'll see). A yellowish tint means the metal is too
hot, and might tend to crumble. If it doesn't get bluish, it may cool too
rapidly when you pour it, and you get a sintered metal effect, which
produces weak, crumbling castings. I get a fail rate of 3 spoons per 100 if
I wait until the bluish tint on the surface, and much higger failure rate if
I'm impatient.
Skim off oxides and any other rubbish floating on top, before you pour: it
might get into your casting and spoil it.
I cast into a bronze mould for my spoons (I made a 2-part mould copy of an
original spoon of 1610, in plaster of paris, and my local bronze foundry
made me a copy of that in bronze).
You can cast into plaster of paris, but only a few times, before it crumbles
(the heat from the metal dries it out too much). I haven't tried sand
casting yet (but I intend to, for plates, in the Winter).
By the way, I have seen 17th century powder horns (for black powder weapons)
in the National Museum of Scotland with nice pewter inlay, in broad bands,
used for attaching the (pewter) spout to the horn.
Casting - procedure
I would try carving out the grooves where I wanted the pewter, making sure
there are some undercut areas (to provide a key for the metal to flow into).
In deep sections you could knock in some panel pins or similar, and then
leave the head protruding as a key for the metal.
Then I'd make a section of plaster of paris the same shape and curve as the
bowl where the grooves are, with a hole drilled in it for the molten metal,
and attach it to the bowl (sticky tape would be good - metal clamps crack
the plaster of paris, I found when trying to cast plates).
Fill the ends of the groove (which are not covered with plaster of paris)
with fresh modelling clay or similar: the molten pewter flows much better
than molten lead!
Pour in the molten pewter, take off the plaster of paris, and see how it
looks.
It's easy to file away and polishes really well: I use a 120 grit flapwheel
(on a Jacob's chuck on my lathe).
I hope that helps!
Duncan R. Bell,
Email: <tsa...@dircon.co.uk>
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seidman <seidma...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:39202DBE...@sympatico.ca...
alan.s...@dtn.ntl.com
curios. There is, if my memory serves me right, a Woods metal, Babbits
metal, and one or two others with very low melting points. My metalurgy
classes were 30 years ago!
Also there is a metal sold in Britain as Masac or Mazac. This polishes
to a silver sheen and has a lower melting point than aluminium.
As for sources for these metals I cannot say as I am a bit out of touch
with the metal working side of things.
Hope this helps.
Alan
Grusserry
melting point, below the boiling point of water, something about 70*C, so it
can be cast into the wood without burning. Try an industrial piping supply,
industrial supply, or welding supply warehouse. McMaster-Carr has it, and I
think also Grainger.
Lead-free pewter has a melting point of 275*C, suitable for castings, but a bit
hot for direct casting into the wood. It would scortch or discolor the wood.
Get a copy of the book, "Decorative Techniques For Woodturners", by Hillary
Bowen. There is a chapter on using both metals.
Good luck, and let us know how it works.
Russ Fairfield
Silverdale, WA
fran
easy in itself, you need something to anchor it to the wood. It won't just
stick there in a cavity like glue. If the cavity is big use some wire to
create a mesh across the cavity and when you pour the pewter it sets around
the wire and is held in place. You must have absolutely dry timber that
isn't going to move - it will move quicker than the metal and end up looking
bad.
Finally there was an article on Cristophe Nancy (France & expert on this
work) in an issue of "woodturning mag" a long time ago. If you are
interested, or didn't get the problems fixed let me know and I'll root it
out for you. Mail me at woodtur...@oceanfree.net
Good luck,
Fran in Ireland
Nic
molten stuff - Steam flashes into it and it even splatters as far as the
ceiling as it gets spread all over the workshop!
Believe me, I know!
"fran" <woodtur...@oceanfree.net> wrote in message
news:4ssU4.25634$sB3....@news.indigo.ie...
marc...@my-deja.com
Bowen's instructions.It was a total failure.One of my friends who
participated has been doing castings all his life.We question whether Hillary
Bowen has actually done the pouring herself.Some of the advice given should
improve the chances of success.Take special heed of the low Temp pewter,heat
till bluish,have good under cut.Also a steady hand.Murray
> Russ Fairfield
> Silverdale, WA
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Chas
amalgam as an inlay in wood. Anyone hear of this anyplace?
Chas
--
MacGregor Games
Purveyors of historic pastimes to re-enactors around the world
http://www.historicgames.com
Mary Shafer
> I read something a while ago about a woodworker who was using dental
> amalgam as an inlay in wood. Anyone hear of this anyplace?
There was a short article about it in an early Fine Woodworking. I
think it was after they went to color, but before about '87.
Essentially, the idea was to get capsules of unmixed amalgam from a
friendly dentist (it's normally sold in fairly large quantities).
After shaking a capsule to mix the amalgam, you put it into a space
with an undercut to hold it. Pack it down firmly and then do another
capsule. Try to end up with the hardened amalgam slightly proud of
the surface and then polish the excess off with something like a
Dremel or Foredom bur. The same friendly dentist who sold it to you
(ask about capsules near their expiration) can tell you how to polish
it, but the standard polishing wheels for Dremels or Foredoms will
work quite well.
Lots of ventilation until it sets up, as it's got mercury in it that
has to be trapped into the amalgam to be safe. Hardened scrap isn't
harmful unless it's heated. Take the scrap, ground-off powder, etc,
back to the dentist for recycling.
(A friend has given me 53 of the first 72 issues of FW, starting with
no. 1, and I've been reading them at a slow pace. Interestingly, the
magazine, like newsgroups, recycles topics, although the time scale is
a little longer.)
--
Mary Shafer http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/People/Shafer/mary.html
sha...@orville.dfrc.nasa.gov Of course I don't speak for NASA
Senior Handling Qualities Research Engineer
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA
For non-aerospace mail, use sha...@spdcc.com please
Chas
Chas
Mary Shafer
> Mary Shafer wrote:
> >
> > Chas <webm...@historicgames.com> writes:
> >
> > > I read something a while ago about a woodworker who was using dental
> > > amalgam as an inlay in wood. Anyone hear of this anyplace?
> >
> > There was a short article about it in an early Fine Woodworking.
> Many thanks!!
Given a little time, I can probably find the article, which I think
was in the shop tips section, and key it in in its entirety. It
wasn't very long, as I recall. If it's longer than I remember, I can
mail you a copy.
Duncan R. Bell
know how shiny it is if you polish it, but it shouldn;t poison you!
Duncan R. Bell
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Mary Shafer <sha...@orville.dfrc.nasa.gov> wrote in message
news:u0zoov3...@orville.dfrc.nasa.gov...
William J Lamond
from Mary Shafer <sha...@orville.dfrc.nasa.gov> contains these words:
> Chas <webm...@historicgames.com> writes:
> > I read something a while ago about a woodworker who was using dental
> > amalgam as an inlay in wood. Anyone hear of this anyplace?
> There was a short article about it in an early Fine Woodworking. I
> think it was after they went to color, but before about '87.
<snip>
Inlaying with dental silver Fine Woodworking May/June 1983 pg 14
--
Bill Lamond,
Edinburgh, Scotland
jpuc...@wwdc.com
it is amalgam. If it is white then it is an methacrylate. Except for
some esoteric "amalgams" that use gallium ,all silver fillings use
mercury. However even if you use amalgam for a wood inlay ( seems like
a novel idea) it will not poison you. It is in millions of mouths.
>Modern dental amalgam doesn't have mercury, according to my dentist. I don't
>know how shiny it is if you polish it, but it shouldn;t poison you!
>
>Duncan R. Bell
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
>Mary Shafer <sha...@orville.dfrc.nasa.gov> wrote in message
>news:u0zoov3...@orville.dfrc.nasa.gov...
>> Chas <webm...@historicgames.com> writes:
>>
>> > Mary Shafer wrote:
>> > >
>> > > Chas <webm...@historicgames.com> writes:
>> > >
>> > > > I read something a while ago about a woodworker who was using dental
>> > > > amalgam as an inlay in wood. Anyone hear of this anyplace?
>> > >
>> > > There was a short article about it in an early Fine Woodworking.
>>
Keith Jeeves
> Any amalgam that a dentist uses has mercury and silver. If it is grey
> it is amalgam. If it is white then it is an methacrylate. Except for
> some esoteric "amalgams" that use gallium ,all silver fillings use
> mercury. However even if you use amalgam for a wood inlay ( seems like
> a novel idea) it will not poison you. It is in millions of mouths.
>
>
>
> >Modern dental amalgam doesn't have mercury, according to my dentist. I don't
> >know how shiny it is if you polish it, but it shouldn;t poison you!
> >
> >Duncan R. Bell
My dentist advises me that the mercury in the amalgam will only be
released as free mercury if heated to around 1200 degrees. I have eaten
some hot curries in my life, but haven't approached that sort of figure.
--
Keith Jeeves
Sydney Australia
www.ozemail.com.au/~kjeeves/woodturning/page1.html
Ray Albright
be said for relatives that never throw anything out). I won't repeat it
verbatim since I'm not sure of any copywrite issues but here are the main
points:
Make cuts about 3/32" deep with an undercut to provide something for the
amalgam to hold on to
Pour it a little bit proud of the surface
After 24 hours for drying; level and polish using wet/dry sandpaper
finishing with 600 grit.
It won't polish to a silvery finish but will look like pewter.
It will tarnish if not covered, the author says tung oil works.
He estimates that three 2" letters cost about $1.00 based on each capsule
costing 60 cents.
The editor added his 2 cents worth with an explanation of how the capsules
work and says he tapes his to a scroll saw and runs it at high speed for
about 30 seconds. That will mix things up. He does caution that free
mercury is poisonous but once it's been mixed it is not a hazard.
"Keith Jeeves" <kje...@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
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