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Oh how I learned
a year ago
In preparation for the next con I go to, Vancoufur 2025, where the theme is Pirates, I have been working on making pirate coins.
This has gone well as I really enjoy the metallurgy side of this process. I've settled on making the coins either in Aluminum Bronze(95% copper and 5% aluminum) or in Nordic Gold(89% copper, 5% aluminum, 5% zinc and 1% tin) since I want a golden colour and brass is too...temperamental in my molds. Which is honestly fine with me as I have a crapload of copper in the workshop from some old UPS units I....borrowed from my old job when they got tossed in the recycling bin.
Things started off REALLY well. Cast some special coral as with every metal I do. Just so I can add it to the collection covering my mom's mantle.
The mixture looked and poured wonderfully, but then things went sideways.
My plan was to use a set of quick release clamps to hold the mold together when making coins so that I could open it quickly, remove the solid coin and then close it and pour again. Sadly the clamps that I spent good money on, a massive $5, did not hold up to the heat and locked up. This lead to a bad pour that left a small overhang that kept the coin stuck inside the mold. After a large degree of cursing, I set it aside and decided to make some small bars of aluminum for use later. I've been collecting aluminum pistol casings, which melt quick and easily enough, but I was made very aware that I had a small hole in my glove.
There is now a small, not serious, but painful burn on my left thumb. But I managed to get the coin out of the mold with some creativity in the form of an angle grinder with a cutoff disc.
This has gone well as I really enjoy the metallurgy side of this process. I've settled on making the coins either in Aluminum Bronze(95% copper and 5% aluminum) or in Nordic Gold(89% copper, 5% aluminum, 5% zinc and 1% tin) since I want a golden colour and brass is too...temperamental in my molds. Which is honestly fine with me as I have a crapload of copper in the workshop from some old UPS units I....borrowed from my old job when they got tossed in the recycling bin.
Things started off REALLY well. Cast some special coral as with every metal I do. Just so I can add it to the collection covering my mom's mantle.
The mixture looked and poured wonderfully, but then things went sideways.
My plan was to use a set of quick release clamps to hold the mold together when making coins so that I could open it quickly, remove the solid coin and then close it and pour again. Sadly the clamps that I spent good money on, a massive $5, did not hold up to the heat and locked up. This lead to a bad pour that left a small overhang that kept the coin stuck inside the mold. After a large degree of cursing, I set it aside and decided to make some small bars of aluminum for use later. I've been collecting aluminum pistol casings, which melt quick and easily enough, but I was made very aware that I had a small hole in my glove.
There is now a small, not serious, but painful burn on my left thumb. But I managed to get the coin out of the mold with some creativity in the form of an angle grinder with a cutoff disc.
