Popular Post Kimjon Posted May 18, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted May 18, 2019 My impala was missing a knob. No one likes being knobless, so I thought I'd treat it to a brandnew knob! A Google search or two later and I was shocked at how expensive it was going to be, $30USD + $25USD postage!!! WTF!!! That's like $100DNZ. So I thought about turning one up one the lathe, but it would've looked too perfect. Then I remembered casting metal for small projects about 20 years ago when I was a student. So I thought I'd give it a go. I really wanted to capture the imperfections of the original. Original old parts have a certain amount of soul to them...new parts often don't. So here's how it went down: DIY sanding board. $2 cuttlefish from a pet store. It's that white shit you'll see budgies pecking at inside their prison cage of broken dreams and mental hell. I cut it into two halves, and then sanded each half flat. Next push in your original work piece as much as possible. Take it out, scrape away some of the indentation...repeat...repeat...repeat, until it's nicely sitting halfway in. Now match the otherside the same way. You'll need to cut a pouring funnel into the top, to get the metal in. And hard to see, but I cut 4 very small air vents on each half, to let the air out. Then I pinned the mould together to keep the alignment of the two halves squared away. Time to heat up metal. I'm using lead free pewter, same as jewelers use to make rings and necklaces etc. $14/100g online from a craft shop in Auckland. I only needed about 20g...but at that price, I thought I may make something else later? Melting it is as easy as it looks. A $2 shop ladle that I tweaked with a panel hammer to put a pouring spout into. And a blow tourch. Pouring the mould. Opening for the moment of truth...fuck yeah, nailed it first pop!!! Yeeee-fucking-ha!!! A quick tidy up, dremel a slot, buff up on the polishing wheel, scotchbright to dull it down a little to match the original patina...booyah! And what it's all about. Installed in the car. It competes me! I'm so happy with how its turned out. 59 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Tremendous, always wanted to see a cuttlefish mold job... Intrigued by the craft pewter, I've got one of these little blokes missing an arm (not a racist, honest) Thinking of making a plaster/wax arm and casting one in sand or silicon? Doesn't look too challenging a shape (pics are from Ebay)... Was looking at making a coffee can furnace and melting aluminium cans, but this pewter stuff looks the business, just ordered some... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 I've got one of them too,just bigger. Tried to sell it on the tardeme but they kept pulling auction cause of the name, greedy bigger boy. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimjon Posted May 23, 2019 Author Share Posted May 23, 2019 Post up your results. Can't see why it wouldn't work, and if first attempt doesn't get it...melt it black down and try again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Pewter arrived the day after I ordered it. Will update after I've had a go... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Would pewter be alright for larger items. I want to make one of these with a space for tachometer in it 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimjon Posted May 23, 2019 Author Share Posted May 23, 2019 Pewter is probably comparable to say die cast, as in a matchbox car. I think the material itself would be sweet as...just got to find a way of making the mould. Silicone is used by the more sophisticated user...it was just going to over complicate my use for it, been such a simple little object. For your needs, I'd say it's your only option? Have a YouTube search and see what pops up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickJ Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Do you have a link to the shop that sells it? I feel this is a good wet weekend activity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajg193 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 This is exactly the same method we used back at pukekohe high school 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty360 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 1 hour ago, ajg193 said: This is exactly the same method we used back at pukekohe high school I dont remember that class at puke high? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimjon Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 1 hour ago, NickJ said: Do you have a link to the shop that sells it? I feel this is a good wet weekend activity http://www.craftrunner.co.nz/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=6349 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajg193 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 10 hours ago, rusty360 said: I dont remember that class at puke high? Mr. O'Brien year 10 tech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 I cant believe you used part of a fish to cast metal lol. Never heard that one and cant believe it worked so well! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjrstar Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Great job! Cuttlefish is legit, we used it for moulds at high school in the 90's.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Wish I'd done tech. Did Japanese instead cos the teacher was spunky and wore white see through blouses. So many horny guys in that class... (Spam sorry) 3 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimjon Posted June 13, 2019 Author Share Posted June 13, 2019 7 hours ago, Lord Gruntfuttock said: Wish I'd done tech. Did Japanese instead cos the teacher was spunky and wore white see through blouses. So many horny guys in that class... (Spam sorry) I feel I missed out on my education now 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willdat? Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 On 24/05/2019 at 08:27, tortron said: Would pewter be alright for larger items. I want to make one of these with a space for tachometer in it My gut instinct is it wouldn't work, unless you did an awesome job of preheating the mould. With a melting point of 230C, and a maximum hot plate temp of ~300C more intricate moulds seem to suffer even if they've got great flow through their runners and out their risers. The biggest thing I've pewter cast with success would be maybe 1/8 of that size with a mould preheated to 190C (MDF ignites >200C). My 2 cents... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 Il probably sand cast aluminium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 On 13/06/2019 at 11:48, Lord Gruntfuttock said: Wish I'd done tech. Did Japanese instead cos the teacher was spunky and wore white see through blouses. So many horny guys in that class... (Spam sorry) I read this and knew it was from you without even seeing the name. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cletus Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 3 minutes ago, flyingbrick said: I read this and knew it was from you without even seeing the name. He didn't earn his forum title for nothing... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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