OK.. So today I was bored and looking for something other than stuff I had to do to play with, so I dug out the partially completed mould I started for my challenge of making a fully cast pewter chain. The mould makes 2 links linked together, with a place to then put those pieces so that the next ones can be cast in place. This mould was fairly ambitious and only really survived one casting, as removing the pieces from the second casting showed that the mould had broken and allowed molten pewter to encompass the previously cast links.

Whilst this attempt was more of an experiment to see if it could be done, I am very tempted to try a slightly different way of doing it so that the mold might last longer and therefore be capable of producing a decent length chain, as well as be able to link the chain back onto itself, which isn’t possible with the current mould.

The Technique uses period technologies in a soapstone mould to create Large linked chains… But it can also be used to possibly create linked tokens, badges or other periodesque pewter items. The produce might be documentable in the sense that the techniques and technology used to create them are period and documentable, however the produced items and the linking in a single casting are not. As always… I’m open to suggestion or discussion on this topic. :)

I have been asked a couple of times if I do Commission work… With my current financial situation, I can’t afford not to be, so I have devised a simple costing scheme for commission quoting. I value my time at around $20/Hour and making a mould for a commission is what takes the time. For my own stuff, it’s easy for me to charge a price per item, but for commissions where the mould is kept only for that customer, then I need to charge for that time. A mould can take from 1 to 8 hours to make, but is usually only 2-3 hours, for a more detailed one, maybe 4-5 hours. Once made, That mould can’t be used for anything else… Sure, I can use empty space on the mould to carve another mould, but I can’t sell someones commissioned work to others. So for commissions, I’ll charge a Mould making fee, and a then charge per token/casting after that. The Per Token/Casting cost will depend on the size of the item, and will range from $2 to $5.
I think this is a fair fee for personalised commission work, however I’m always open to Bartering as well.

Their Excellencies have given me permission to sell the Rowan Tree Badges. These badges are an excellent way for you to show your support for your Barony, or even just a nice shiny badge to spice up your garb. They come with a loop at the bottom so that you can hang something from them, wether that be a hanging badge, a ribbon, or a lock of your true loves hair is up to you. These badges have a normal dressmaking pin behind them to reduce damage to garb, and are Available for $5.00 each at any event I’m at. If you want one, just ask me.

Today I found myself making a belt mount for someone and wanted to include integral rivets into the back of it. Because of the semi random nature of the rivet locations, it wasn’t feasible to create a multi part mould so that the rivets could be made and the casting removed easily. So instead tapered hole were drilled into a flat soapstone mould. These holes had the distinct problem of trapping air which stopped molten pewter from actually getting deep into them. To rectify this issue, the holes were drilled all the way through the soapstone, providing an easy path for the air to escape…. Though this also allowed the pewter to escape the same way. So what was the solution to this issue? How can you drill holes all the way through soapstone, and also stop the pewter from escaping whilst allowing the air through?

Bamboo skewers. Yes, bamboo skewers were used to make small little plugs that also allowed air through them. With careful trimming the skewers can be used to provide the correct length rivet too, by altering the length of the skewer filling the hole, you can adjust the length of the rivet on the finished casting. It works well, and is a method I shall be using for future belt mount with integral rivets.

It’s been a long time between posts… A lot has happened in that time that I wasn’t very open to discussing. Some of it life stuff, some of it Pewtery goodness. The life stuff just isn’t worth discussing, however the pewtery goodness is.

Baronial Officers Badges
I was commissioned to create some hanging badges for the officers of Rowany (Yay, I get one!!). The badges consist of two parts, with a small round link between them. the badge consists of a Rowan tree, with a frame around it, though the tree sits out of the frame slightly, making the frame just there for symmetry. These were cast so the back of them has a spot to mount a pin which is crimped in between two pewter lugs, with the third stopping the pin from sliding out. This method of holding a pin was stolen from Anzac badges I have seen in the past, and seemed to work quite well.

A side project stemming from this has been an attempt to get the Barony to allow me to sell the Rowan tree separately as a badge. The idea being that I remove the roped frame from the tree, attach a pin and sell these as a separate pin. These would be sold for around $5 each At any event I am at… however I have yet to get approval for that, so we shall see what happens with that idea. There is talk about the Barony using them as such as a populace type livery badge.

Indexed Moulds
I finally tried it!!! Yes, Sveinn has gone from using the basic two slabs of soapstone hand held together in roughly the right place, to using a 3 part mould with a total of 6 indexing nodules. Using the method described to me by Master Crispen, I have created a 3 part indexed mould. Now, I must confess, I cheated here… and used modern tools… After drilling the first hole by hand, I opted to use a Dremel tool to drill the holes for the other 5.

After casting using this mould… I have no idea why I hadn’t tried this method of mould preparation sooner… It’s amazingly easy to do, though it does increase the time taken to prep a mould. For flat one sided stuff, it’s really not worth the time, however if you are reliant on getting two halves of a mould to match spot on each time, it’s well and truly worth putting in the time.

My only issue with making moulds this way, is that I can’t preheat my moulds the way I used to with indexed moulds. Previously I used to plonk the soapstone in the direct flame whilst waiting for the batch of pewter to melt, however with an indexed mould, this would ruin the indexing.

Flying Monkeys
A week or two ago, Stanzi in St Florians put out a call on the Lochac list for willing participants in an A&S club type thing to get projects for Bethan and Berenger’s coming reign as the Crown of Lochac ready. I’m not sure if I can spill what I will be working on, or even show you pics, however just thought I would let you know to look out for pewtery bits on their royal highnesses during their coming reign.

An Interesting and slightly evil challenge
This evening whilst thinking in the manner that sometimes works well… I set myself an interesting task… One that requires some interesting puzzle manipulation, and careful planning. I think it can be done… and I think I know how I can do it… I’m hoping I’m right. Want to know the challenge? I challenged myself to create a soapstone mould in which I can pour a cast linked chain. Each link in the chain is cast already linked to the previous one.

What got me thinking about this project was the Knights chains, those big chunky chains that in some cases are nicely forged, and in others they are just decorative chain bought at hardware store. Thinking about them, I was trying to remember if I had ever actually seen one that stood out amongst them all… and whilst there are some very different ones, I couldn’t remember any very special ones… then I thought about a chain with detail on big chunky links, and how cool would it be to make one that didn’t have a single join on any link… So that’s my challenge to myself… And hopefully I think I can get it done.

Feel free to take up the challenge if you are game. ;)

Anyway, That’s it from me for the very pewtery post. Oh, other than to let those of you who care know that I am mobile again!! Have van… Won’t travel far, cause I have to work out how to pay for the repair….

Mmmm sleep…

A world of beauty,
A world of pain,
The world in which my love remains,

A gift of life,
A gift of rain,
The gift in which my love sustains,

A life of trust,
A life of pain,
The life in which my love inflames,

A heart so true,
A heart so mine,
The heart which beats my love for you.

Copyright ©2007 Syridian.