Reddit reviews Practical Casting: A Studio Reference, Revised Edition
We found 10 Reddit comments about Practical Casting: A Studio Reference, Revised Edition. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Used Book in Good Condition
If you move the decimal over. This is about 1,000 in books...
(If I had to pick a few for 100 bucks: encyclopedia of country living, survival medicine, wilderness medicine, ball preservation, art of fermentation, a few mushroom and foraging books.)
Medical:
Where there is no doctor
Where there is no dentist
Emergency War Surgery
The survival medicine handbook
Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicine
Special Operations Medical Handbook
Food Production
Mini Farming
encyclopedia of country living
square foot gardening
Seed Saving
Storey’s Raising Rabbits
Meat Rabbits
Aquaponics Gardening: Step By Step
Storey’s Chicken Book
Storey Dairy Goat
Storey Meat Goat
Storey Ducks
Storey’s Bees
Beekeepers Bible
bio-integrated farm
soil and water engineering
Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation
Food Preservation and Cooking
Steve Rinella’s Large Game Processing
Steve Rinella’s Small Game
Ball Home Preservation
Charcuterie
Root Cellaring
Art of Natural Cheesemaking
Mastering Artesian Cheese Making
American Farmstead Cheesemaking
Joe Beef: Surviving Apocalypse
Wild Fermentation
Art of Fermentation
Nose to Tail
Artisan Sourdough
Designing Great Beers
The Joy of Home Distilling
Foraging
Southeast Foraging
Boletes
Mushrooms of Carolinas
Mushrooms of Southeastern United States
Mushrooms of the Gulf Coast
Tech
farm and workshop Welding
ultimate guide: plumbing
ultimate guide: wiring
ultimate guide: home repair
off grid solar
Woodworking
Timberframe Construction
Basic Lathework
How to Run A Lathe
Backyard Foundry
Sand Casting
Practical Casting
The Complete Metalsmith
Gears and Cutting Gears
Hardening Tempering and Heat Treatment
Machinery’s Handbook
How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic
Electronics For Inventors
Basic Science
Chemistry
Organic Chem
Understanding Basic Chemistry Through Problem Solving
Ham Radio
AARL Antenna Book
General Class Manual
Tech Class Manual
MISC
Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft
Contact!
Nuclear War Survival Skills
The Knowledge: How to rebuild civilization in the aftermath of a cataclysm
For once, I'm actually useful! I just set into this myself and I've found this book to be more than everything I could ever want to know on the subject, with a great bit of information specifically on lost wax. This one by David Gingery (who has several other excellent books for the home foundry) details the basis of the kiln I intend to build much more inexpensively than they can be bought, with the added benefit of being completely scalable to any size of project.
While you're waiting for the books, I can't recommend www.backyardmetalcasting.com enough either. Some of the links are now defunct but there are lifetimes of information there. YouTube, too, I've found found to be a surprisingly good resource when it comes to metal casting.
Not a task to be undertaken lightly. You will likely spend more money on tools and supplies than on actual silver. It's fun as heck, though, and learning the process is it's own reward.
To see what kind of
hellprocess you're getting into, I recommend Practical Casting: A Studio Reference by Tim McCreight. Welcome and good luck!Not bad for a first try.
There are a number of simple casting material pewter can go into but one of the cheapest is plaster. A well made plaster mold will survive several dozen pewter casting if treated properly.
You can buy a 15 or 25 lb bag at the local big box hardware store for under $20, or smaller amounts from an art supply store, though it will cost more per lb.
PLASTER MOLD NEED TO BE BONE DRY BEFORE YOU POUR HOT METAL INTO THEM THEY CAN EXPLODE OTHERWISE. Please wear the proper safety equipment, the bare minimum of a face shield and leather gloves,ideally with an leather apron and leather boots. How long it takes to dry depends upon the size and thickness of the mold and the humidity level . A 3"x 5" x 5" mold will be dry in about 5-7 days if it is not too humid. A way to speed it up is to put your oven on its lowest setting and leave them in there for 8-10 hours. They will be significantly lighter when dry, and will have feel a bit like fired clay.
You might consider making 2 part molds there are a great deal of references out there for that info, here is a video that covers the basics. (this video for clay reproductions but the basics still apply. You would additionally need to also carve or cast in a pouring cup and channel called a gate or sprue into the plaster to allow you to pour in the pewter.)
There is scattered info on mold making on the web, but plenty of solid books on the topics. I would recommend The Prop Builder's Molding & Casting Handbook
It doest talk too much about metal casting, but it covers a lot of the info for general mold making, and is a great resource. You might also look into Practical Casting: A Studio Reference by Tim McCreight is deals with metal casting on smaller jewelry scale and covers other simple molding materials.
I have also heard MDF molds work pretty well for a few trys, though I never have done it personally. Good luck!
Then I would recommend going with bronze or silver. You can get silver for close to $15 an oz at www.apmex.com Get a model of the coin that you want to make and then make a silicone mold of it so you can make multiple wax copies.Read a book on how to do it:https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/096159845X/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You will like this BOOK there is one used spiral bound copy still available as posting.
EVERY rotary casting machine I have used has been mounted inside some tub or shallow weighted drum.
With the lost wax casting I've done (in silver and brass, mostly) the investment was heated to around 1200 degrees. A hot mold is what you want, it'll keep your metal from being bound up in the sprues as easily. Also http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Casting-Reference-Revised-Edition/dp/096159845X/ is the best.
are you using any kind of release? for air bubbles that is. we use a mix of mop n glo and water. something to make the wax "slippery" to the air. hmmm.... check out a copy of any of Tim McCreight's books but especially http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Casting-Reference-Revised-Edition/dp/096159845X.
Either of these books are what you need to get started. The complete metal Smith was like a jewelry bible for me. Good luck.
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Metalsmith-Illustrated-Handbook/dp/0871922401/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1517803513&sr=8-5&keywords=Lost+wax+casting
https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Casting-Studio-Reference-Revised/dp/096159845X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517803438&sr=8-1&keywords=Lost+wax+casting
This is a great small-shop handbook
https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Casting-Studio-Reference-Revised/dp/096159845X
I work in jewelry/metalsmithing and do a ton of casting, and they look pretty good! I wasn't trying to be critical, only offering to help a tenno out :)