THE CRAFT OF FIRE

After our last attempt at aluminum casting, we decided that what we needed to do, finally, was to make molds with proper venting, to allow the hot metal to enter more easily and fully. So we did that. [ some different vent/pour configurations, including a 'simian Venus' model ] We made the figures and prepared the molds for plaster. Then I burned out the molds in the toaster oven for about 3 hours, at a nice even temperature of around 125 degrees, so all the wax poured out and it didn't burn or stink too badly. And then we decided to put everything in the kiln as we had done in the last session , so the molds would have the same temperature as the molten metal. Except that we realized that we hadn't mixed the plaster with sand, so would it survive such high temperatures? It was just plain old Plaster of Paris... The answer? No. All the molds cracked. We had also forgotten to design the molds as we had previously, with a spot for an ...

In our previous aluminum casting session, and even in the earlier pewter ones, we often encountered this problem where the pour hole for the Venus is too narrow and won't allow the material to get in. Even when making wax copies this can be a problem. The void fills up with hot gas, creating an air pocket, and then the metal can't get in. (A Venus attempt gone very wrong.) I wanted to make an aluminum Venus and turned the issue around in my head for a time, thinking that maybe the mould needed a vent to allow the air to escape, but could this really be necessary for such a small form?? etc. Another issue was how to keep the mould hot while the aluminum melted in the kiln, in order to get a really good casting - not to mention not cracking the mould through thermal shock. (A fine example of the difficulty of casting into a small opening.) And then one day it hit me! What if we made the mould with a spot up top where the aluminum could sit and then melt...

I saw a post online about making a potters' wheel with a kick-mop bucket, and thought I'd give it a whirl (har har) ( groan ). So I bought this here mop bucket at Canadian Tire for $35. and then I cut a disk of wood and glued it on to the spinning part. And then, well, that's about it! We're in business! Not moving. Moving! I've had some experience with a wheel before, included in the half-year of pottery lessons that I took years ago. The main thing I remember is that it's not easy. And that centering the material is the first and most essential thing to learn, because if the clay isn't centred nothing is going to work when it starts to spin. It's a great lesson when—even when you know it's futile—you go against this fundamental point by trying to adjust and correct your misshapen blob, and of course it doesn't work. (And why do you insist on trying when you know that it won't work? Is it because you think you might ju...

We did pewter casting months ago in plaster molds, but I realized that Smooth-On has a molding material (Mold Max 60) that is rated for high-temperatures. So I wanted to try it out, and decided to cast a few little ingots with a decorative bee on top, as a little gift for my brother and sis-in-law who keep bees in their backyard.  (The originals I copied were from Bees Are Life on St. Clair Avenue.) I heated up the molds a bit in our toaster oven, to help in the casting of the metal. And then melted the pewter on a hotplate, which took no time at all. The casting worked out quite well. Here they are, after some buffing and polishing. But the whole process got me thinking about this thing of making copies.  Nowadays, being original is what is prized most of all, at least in our culture. An original thinker, an original piece of art, an original point of view, etc. But maybe being one-of-a-kind isn’t really so special after all, not compar...