Mold for Silver and/or Pewter

[Russ Nobbs]

I'm a litttle unsure of what you want to find. You are looking for wax models to cast in silver or pewter? Or are you looking for rubber  or steel molds to shoot waxes for casting?

ALA Casting is one of the largest mfg of wax models in the US, making rings, pendants, charms etc. Their site is http://www.alacasting.com/ . I've not seen any of their big catalogs for several years so I'm unsure what they offer today.

Do you have particular rune designs you'd like to cast? With current technology,  you can have any design on paper or in a computer turned into a 3D model. Once you have the model you can make a rubber mold, shoot hundreds of waxes and cast them in any material you want.

Here's a link  to an interesting article on Ganoskin.com about "rapid prototyping" to get your first original.
http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive/200308/msg00925.htm  The original wax or model can be expensive made eithr by an artist carving the oiginal wax or by a computer controlled protyping system. Each reproduction after that is very reasonable.

The ganoksin forum is a place to ask about ready made rune designs you can cast.  

[Russ Nobbs]

Ah... now I understand. You pose questions outside my experience. I've never worked with the metal molds used for sinkers of other "pot metal" tin/lead alloys and don't know much about them. If you are casting in higher temperature metals like silver and copper alloys I'd suggest you learn wax carving, lost wax casting and use  rubber molds to do production casting.  You could use silver art clay for the original, also.

Here's a simplified view of the process:
1- carve a wax model,
2- invest it in plaster with a sprue attached,
3- burn the wax out of the plaster in a kiln,
4- in a spin caster, cast the metal item,
5- break the finished piece from the plaster investment and do any cleanup needed,
6- for reproduction, make a rubber mold from your metal original, ("cutting" the mold is the hardest part)
7- shoot waxes with the rubber mold,
8- repeat steps 2 thru 5 to get as many as you need.

The rubber mold lasts a LONG time.

If you use metal clay you can make the original in metal clay, fire it and use it for your model and jump to step 6 above.

When our ACS expert comes back from Holiday he may have some other suggestions. I'll ask our staff if anyone has experience with metal molds like you are currently using.  Maybe someone else can jump in with their experiences using metal molds.

Since most jewelry is made with techniques similar to above I have my doubts about finding metal molds for something as specific as your  Elder Futhark rune designs.  I think most commercial metal molds would be for tin/lead alloy work for tin soldiers and, as you say, sinkers.  Perhaps some of the historical reinactment folks, like SCA, might follow other techniques?

[Runesbydesign]

Great minds must think a like Metalman. I have some ASC but had no idea what it was until I read the forums here. Cast and set a rune set this weekend. Have them tumbling now for hardness and a more aged look. and its 24 pieces per set

[Runesbydesign]

I am looking for a mold for runes and have been unable to find any. I know there are metal rune sets, rings, bracelets and necklaces on the market. But I have been unable to find casting molds.... So if any one knows a supplier who may have some in stock please tell me.
Thank you
Runes

[Runesbydesign]

I cast in silver, copper, and pewter. So the molds I have made dont last more than a few pours. I am looking for a metal mold, like the ones for fishing sinkers, but with the Elder Futhark runes design.

[Metalman]

Regarding Runes:  Wax work and casting is the way to go, I think.  Production of your originals for all of the runes [is 21 or 28?] will probably be most easily accomplished with the Art Clay Silver. It was not clear what scale of production you intended.  For 5 sets or less, I might make up a set in ACS [Art Clay Silver], make rubber molds from them and make the other sets in ACS from the rubber molds - this would be fast. If you are really wanting production, I would make up my originals and find a casting and mold making company to crank out the molds, waxes and rough castings.  This would generate a lot of finish work for you [which you could get jobbed out as well].  The nice aspect regarding the ACS is the ongoingtouch of your hand on and in the material - a more handcrafted quality.
Send further questions here, or to kram@rings-things.com, also have a look at the Art Clay Silver part of the forum.