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metal jewelry casting class 1
13 years ago
General
I started my class yesterday and it was amazing
10 people, the instructor is experienced and knows what he's talking about, and it's very laid back so I don't feel timid around all the new equipment and people.
the process is pretty simple, I just need to get comfortable working with the kiln, torch, and centrifuge.
mold making is a completely different thing it blows my mind. instead of liquid silicone, they place the object between packed down rubber sheets, and "cook" it so it melts and cures. I'm bringing in some of my molds next week to see if they'll work with the wax injector.
Once I get wax versions of my skulls, I will work on them to make them more intricate, thin, and detailed. so some of the features I had to thicken or fill in to get a simple resin cast will be coming back to these
the wax jewelers use... wow. I never had an urge to sculpt tiny mammal/etc skulls for resin, mostly because I wasn't familiar with a medium to use. but now I think I'm really going to enjoy sculpting in wax!
all day today I've been checking out prices for the equipment I will need to set up my own shop. $5,000-6,000 is a generous estimate for all new equipment and supplies. It's a lot, but I feel like this makes sense for my business and future. When I'm ready and have examples of things I'll start a Kickstarter so I can afford everything. I'm interested in doing things in both yellow and white bronze, and silver. The metals are actually a lot less expensive ($15 for 1lb of white bronze???) than I thought, so I can have varied backer levels of reasonable prices. The prices will also probably be lower than their eventual retail prices
of course I just started, and will evaluate at the end of the class if I need to take more classes (which I will do anyways) or I'm confident to start a Kickstarter right away, as well as talking to my teacher about equipment.
if all goes well I will have my first cast skulls in 2 weeks. I'll be posting a lot of progress pics to tumblr (parliamentrook.tumblr.com) as well as here
thanks everyone for supporting me thus fur, and I hope you continue to as I take this exciting next step :)
10 people, the instructor is experienced and knows what he's talking about, and it's very laid back so I don't feel timid around all the new equipment and people.
the process is pretty simple, I just need to get comfortable working with the kiln, torch, and centrifuge.
mold making is a completely different thing it blows my mind. instead of liquid silicone, they place the object between packed down rubber sheets, and "cook" it so it melts and cures. I'm bringing in some of my molds next week to see if they'll work with the wax injector.
Once I get wax versions of my skulls, I will work on them to make them more intricate, thin, and detailed. so some of the features I had to thicken or fill in to get a simple resin cast will be coming back to these
the wax jewelers use... wow. I never had an urge to sculpt tiny mammal/etc skulls for resin, mostly because I wasn't familiar with a medium to use. but now I think I'm really going to enjoy sculpting in wax!
all day today I've been checking out prices for the equipment I will need to set up my own shop. $5,000-6,000 is a generous estimate for all new equipment and supplies. It's a lot, but I feel like this makes sense for my business and future. When I'm ready and have examples of things I'll start a Kickstarter so I can afford everything. I'm interested in doing things in both yellow and white bronze, and silver. The metals are actually a lot less expensive ($15 for 1lb of white bronze???) than I thought, so I can have varied backer levels of reasonable prices. The prices will also probably be lower than their eventual retail prices
of course I just started, and will evaluate at the end of the class if I need to take more classes (which I will do anyways) or I'm confident to start a Kickstarter right away, as well as talking to my teacher about equipment.
if all goes well I will have my first cast skulls in 2 weeks. I'll be posting a lot of progress pics to tumblr (parliamentrook.tumblr.com) as well as here
thanks everyone for supporting me thus fur, and I hope you continue to as I take this exciting next step :)
Of course it's a different medium, but a lot of stuff can be translated. Cool!
Good luck with all of this! Hopefully this ends up being your true calling or something. :D
Just checked out your tumblr and OH MY WORD dat gummy skull. I would /kill/ for gummy crow skulls...something to think about in the future maybe? (Talk about niche market though haha.)
only problem is to sell food products I would need to make them in a licensed kitchen (so, not at home)
and it's way less complicated than you would imagine
I'd say look for some classes near you and if you have the money/time it's totally worth it