Purple Snails

Creations to please the eye, where form trumps over function.
Rasper
Posts: 628
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Location: Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico
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Re: Purple Snails

Post by Rasper »

I think it's just bruised. I should wear real shoes but it's so damned hot down here, and humid to the max (green fur grows on the walls this time of year) that you just can't put on more than a pair of shorts and some tennis shoes. All of the local guys who do construction work just wear flip flops or go barefoot.

Richard
dallen
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Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:06 am
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Purple Snails

Post by dallen »

Rasper wrote:I think it's just bruised. I should wear real shoes but it's so damned hot down here, and humid to the max (green fur grows on the walls this time of year) that you just can't put on more than a pair of shorts and some tennis shoes. All of the local guys who do construction work just wear flip flops or go barefoot.

Richard

that's Mexico for you. livable part of the year the rest it's too damn hot

DA
David and Charlie aka the shop monster

If life seems normal your not going fast enough" Mario Andrette
Rasper
Posts: 628
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2011 4:05 pm
Location: Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico
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Re: Purple Snails

Post by Rasper »

In examining the cast I found it wasn't all steam; there was shrinkage too. Some of those waxes were just too thin. The molds I poured these waxes in are somewhat adjustable. I am purposely treading on the borderline of too thin since these snail pours are mostly experiments, one of which is to find out just how thin is too thin. There is a limit to the head pressure on these snail pours because of the height of the furnace/kiln I am burning them out in. The maximum height of the investment is 12 inches. If I used my burn out kiln I could increase that a lot but I would use up maybe five times as much propane.

Richard
Last edited by Rasper on Wed Jun 18, 2014 6:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
mite5255
Posts: 1740
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 1:11 am
Location: Caboolture Qld Australia

Re: Purple Snails

Post by mite5255 »

Rasper wrote:I think it's just bruised. I should wear real shoes but it's so damned hot down here, and humid to the max (green fur grows on the walls this time of year) that you just can't put on more than a pair of shorts and some tennis shoes. All of the local guys who do construction work just wear flip flops or go barefoot.

Richard
I always wear steel caps, even when working at home, I feel vulnerable without them..I can understand how uncomfortable they would be in the hot weather that you have Richard

Mike
When life gets tough, remember: You were the strongest sperm :)
dallen
Posts: 2321
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:06 am
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Purple Snails

Post by dallen »

Richard
how goes it with the foot that received the smashing load from the investment.


DA
David and Charlie aka the shop monster

If life seems normal your not going fast enough" Mario Andrette
F.C.
Posts: 560
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:28 am

Re: Purple Snails

Post by F.C. »

Rasper wrote:In examining the cast I found it wasn't all steam; there was shrinkage too. Some of those waxes were just too thin. The molds I poured these waxes in are somewhat adjustable. I am purposely treading on the borderline of too thin since these snail pours are mostly experiments, one of which is to find out just how thin is too thin. There is a limit to the head pressure on these snail pours because of the height of the furnace/kiln I am burning them out in. The maximum height of the investment is 12 inches. If I used my burn out kiln I could increase that a lot but I would use up maybe five times as much propane.

Richard
Richard,

Look into steam casting as a means to force bronze into thin, petite cavities. In a sense, it's the old school method of injection casting. I've done steam casts for jewelry of a variety of metals and have duplicated an Alaskan size Mosquito perfectly (in its entirety) before. Made an awesome tie tack. Also cast dragon flies that way, and other bugs. It's super easy but requires small melts and individual investment molds (talk'n silver dollar size in dia., or there'bouts). You hold a small cup crucible in tongs with one hand, keeping the crucible in a blow torch flame on high intensity flame, and the other hand ready with a wet pad of leather in the other. When you pour the melt into the mold cup and it fills to capacity you take your other hand with the wet leather padding and quickly and forcefully jam it onto the pour cup and melt and it'll instantly force feed the mold cavity giving absolutely perfect fill even to the teeniest limitation. The pour cup of the mold, though, doesn't have a big gate at the bottom like we use in sand casting and large mold investments. The gating going into the steam cast molds are teentsie tiny no bigger than the head of a colored stick pin (smaller than a b-b). All you're doing is forcing the steam reaction to force the metal through the bottom hole(s) of the pour cup into the mold cavity inside. Otherwise, the metal stays in the pour cup even when it's liquid due to surface friction of the metal. It's pretty cool... you're only melting a small dollup of metal at a time in this fashion. You might ultimately use up more investment in the long run this way but the cast quality and success rate of producing quality casts each time this way can be well worth it. Google it.... read up on it. It's super easy and FUN!!! :D
Rasper
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Re: Purple Snails

Post by Rasper »

That sounds like a definite thing I will try. Seems a lot better than all of that centrifuge business.

Here are the finished snails.

Image

Richard
mite5255
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Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 1:11 am
Location: Caboolture Qld Australia

Re: Purple Snails

Post by mite5255 »

They look soooo cool Richard, what's the patina you used
When life gets tough, remember: You were the strongest sperm :)
Rocco
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 8:35 am

Re: Purple Snails

Post by Rocco »

F.C. wrote: Richard,

Look into steam casting as a means to force bronze into thin, petite cavities. :D
There's a details how-to on steam casting at http://myheap.com
Rasper
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Location: Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico
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Re: Purple Snails

Post by Rasper »

what's the patina you used
I used Birchwood Casey Brass Black, which I buy in my gun shop. It is used by shooters and gunsmiths mostly on brass gun sights. It is also sold by sculpture supply places as something with a number like M-20 or something like that. Same stuff.

I dilute it about 20 to one with distilled water unless I really want it to turn black. The dilute mix gives me flexibility using multiple applications.

On the top side of the snails, over the the Brass Black patina, I used cupric nitrate applied sizzling hot.

Then I rubbed them with a Scothbrite pad and water and when dry applied transparent wax.

Richard
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