Some of my art

[Douglas1552]

Hello, I have been studying the forum for a while and i didn't want my first post to be a help me. I am interested in gold recovery not for profit but to use in some of my art projects.
None of its great i don't sell my stuff normally its all for fun. If you like this kind of stuff i have been casting metal in the back yard for close to 12 years now and have made hundreds of projects like this.

"treasure box knife" This is forged from a leaf spring, there is about 2TOZ of sterling silver, I used purple heart wood, and gold leaf. The stone was an amethyst i cut my self but i had no clue how to set stones so its glued
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xX8MshYK93FrUVaFA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RxJiAPDqSXZHYXHM6

 

[Douglas1552]

Here i tried to teach myself how to cut and set stones properly, The stones are just carved garden stones and the rings are made from home brew sterling silver
https://photos.app.goo.gl/H1Jjdso3Dgg5EqQNA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2rtk24LsrSm9PGqf8

An anniversary present for my lovely wife, Made again of home brew sterling with a tanzinite gemstone, box is dyed pine
https://photos.app.goo.gl/sJ4cfM5DmRbK1QwU7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Cz4gRqemLQZjXpKs9

 

[Douglas1552]

I posted this on an art fourm as inspired by Emma wattson holographic locket" ..got me banned. I made a locket from sterling silver, then enamel the wires in place Made the chain also of sterling... it has a fancy french name i cant spell
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5CYE4FHdrQkMNXx8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ePUNrjv3hzz4Jrxk7

I am most proud of this compass, it was an absolute bear to build. Paduke and purple heart wood, sterling and brass wire inlay. the bezel is copper i used gold leaf on, and hardest of all was cutting the glass
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7D1ySHoHpSRxjGnTA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ELoh8ga4FqKzV39UA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XB5BXkHByonp62hD6

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Welcome to the forum Doug!

That's some nice work!

Dave

 

[Douglas1552]

Thanks! I have only been playing with jewelry type work for a few months now it all looks pretty rough to me ha ha. I'm better with bigger sculpture stuff but i wanted to be relevant to the forum

 

[kurtak]

If you like this kind of stuff i have been casting metal in the back yard for close to 12 years now and have made hundreds of projects like this.

Hi Doug - first of all - VERY nice work

I'm better with bigger sculpture stuff but i wanted to be relevant to the forum

I for one would be interested in seeing some of that work as well

I have done a lot of smelting so the only thing I have ever "cast" is bars/ingots

But being as how I am set up with a couple of furnaces I have always wanted to give real casting a try

So I for one am interested in your set up - as in furnace(s) molds alloys fluxes (if used) etc.

Pics are always good :!:

So more show & tell please :mrgreen:

Teach us more about casting & we will teach you more about refining :mrgreen:

Kurt

 

[UncleBenBen]

Very cool stuff. Thanks for sharing your work.

 

[Douglas1552]

Thanks all, I appreciate the complements. kurtak as covid and my 8 year old have shown me, Im not fit to teach. but ill talk and hopefully you get something useful
Started out with home made green sand and wood pattern castings. In my opinion its the worst way to start. In the old foundry's you had three experts involved a pattern maker a molder and the furnace operator. In the hobby world its just you and trust me theirs lots to know about each of those disciplines
I use to enjoy making mad max looking rat rod parts these where sand cast
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MDEjuhhvkvQRfkkV6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Rdb7iJy94cQ3zMuC7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/aBJU61xj6Mq7SB6JA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/wAoxxe1yfZjej9BH6

Had this chromed and i made it into a taillight for my bike
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qVvvhTAGAghNctRM8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/hn3vtnBSK98DVqCs7

In my opinion if you want to start out go with lost foam casting. You just need foam insulation and regular sand. still some playing around with gating and the like but you dont have to worry about pulling the pattern out of green sand
these where lost foam cast, see how organic they are with all the nooks and overhangs? very hard to do with green sand
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jCKxzotAaBjt4H7c6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7J8xsM5BaRf5vSsn8

this hood ornament is a good example of a bad casting that i go around pretending the flaws where intentional
https://photos.app.goo.gl/e6aai7aiCD6ViyZF6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/NThHSSug86RTCirY6

you can rapid prototype really well with lost foam too. I made a oil temp monitor for my bike unfortunately Harleys rattle so much it killed the arduino i was using to monitor it.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CdkDzXXSwWaFv5XeA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/wMPoVjmPuQ4Mh6xA6

 

[Douglas1552]

These castings where all lost foam and they might be my favorite story of all time. In my early 20's I loved rat rod shows and at one i met this girl who happened to be a professional chef, She told me her boss would love my art and introduced me to him. This guy owned 3 restaurants where the cheapest plate of food was $60 and celebrities frequented the place so much no body got excited when one walked it.
He commissioned me to make him a sculpture for one of his restaurants his only request was it had animal skulls so i made this
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dUbhgt6zkub7NCLz5
https://photos.app.goo.gl/X2jvZvKPtRTMNDz6A
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xNxsT7FsV5rVBSnk8\
I sold it to him for $100 and some ostrich meat, he sold it the next day for i dunno how much. so he tells me to make another one. Meanwhile i started dating that chief i mentioned earlier who was completely bandannas but made the best pork chops i have ever eaten
I made this
https://photos.app.goo.gl/H5fUMSBynBQaKCGh9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/gN94arAAhRkMUh8j9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/QenpM8uG2eFCZxdQ7
He gave me $150 and some kind of french chicken dish. Sold it within a few weeks. Another restaurant owner got a hold of me and wanted some art done so i made this
https://photos.app.goo.gl/iCVeuZbEuq4GTAt68
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YGBsvd65Cum6dCZ88
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ss31xh566aU7AjCX9
He asked how much and i said i dunno how about $100? He was acted kinda funny and said how about $300?
By this time i was getting tired of the crazy chef lady and broke up with her. Apparently when you break up with the head chef you also break up with the owner and that's the last time i got to hang out with those crazy rich people

This all happened in swickly Pennsylvania and i didnt sign any of this work. So if you ever see it around the Pittsburgh area let me know i would love to know where this stuff ended up

 

[Douglas1552]

Free refractory stuff can be had at pottery's. I spent 6 years working in a small one and we tore apart the kiln cars once a month. each kiln car had hundreds of those foamy high temp alumana bricks that are like $4 ea online and they just throw em away. I at one time had an entire pickup truck full of used fire brick. old "saggers" make great furnace lids. Pottery is normally fired in a sagger to keep from thermal shocking the wear.

My normal melting furnace is just stacked fire brick with a sagger lid, But i have made traditional bloomery furnaces on a few occasions. they where just mud bricks stacked up.

As far as melting is concerned i prefer charcoal with two tweers or blower holes.I have melted iron with charcoal and two hairdryers. once up to temp you dont even need the blowers for aluminum and bronze/brass melts pretty quick. I find propane to need lots of baby sitting, and i made a wast oil burner once but i was worried of whatever was in the oil being burned up polluting my land
I use crushed charcoal as a cover and borax as a flux but only for brass/bronze..I have heard sand or glass works well but never tried it as im pretty happy with charcoal. Use only royal oak type charcoal or even better go to tractor supply and get a 50 pound bag of "nut coal" for like $6. Keep in mind its stored outside and can explode when added to your furnace. The charcoal briquets are not good they add gravel to them when they make them produces way too much ash.

if melting aluminum break up old cast aluminum things anything extruded will shrink and crack, for bronze i love manganese bronze its easy to identify as its magnetic and it casts great with a very deep gold color

when designing a pattern always remember that to "feed" the skinny parts because the fat parts will pull metal from the thinner bits giving you cracks, gates runners sprues bobs figuring those out and using them will greatly improve your chances of a successful casting.

post hole diggers are great for lifting crucibles, I have had lots of luck with salamander crucibles they are some of the cheaper ones.
Me at 18 melting iron, a green sand mold is on the left hand side. I was not safe I was young I am embarrassed about how i went about it but it is a neat photo
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zLLssCutipzebDvN7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/eGq27UBxgKpgDV2g6