Materials

Over the past couple of weeks I have been looking into the process of casting. I have been focusing on how to produce batches of charms from a rather craft based process. So at the moment the process I am using to produce pewter charms consist of:

• Laser cut shape from wood.
• Press into cuttle fish to make an impression.
• Melt pewter and pour into and cuttle fish mould.
• Remove cast when hard.
• File rough edges, sand and polish.
• Make silicone mould from cast.
• Reuse to produce numerous replicas.

Each mould could have a number of casting cavities so that batches can be made.

This process can change slightly depending on the surface detail that is required. If there is a lot of detail, it is best to start with the cuttle fish. If the shape of the model is the focus then the model could be cut from acrylic and skip directly to the silicone mould.

From looking into the form of the charms I have realised that for some casting may not be the best process, so from this I have started to look at other materials such as ceramics. Therefore matching the form to a material.