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PEWTER, SMALL SCALE CASTING PROJECT - 1
V. Ryan © 2007 - 2009
 
You are the manufacture a medallion based on an initial. The initial will be manufactured through small scale casting of pewter and then cleaned and polished by hand. Although the best metal for small scale casting, even a small amount is expensive.
 
You will also manufacture the casting box. Inside this box will be placed sand called petrabond which consists of fine, high purity, silica sand bonded with oil. A pattern will be pressed into the sand and the molten pewter poured into it.
 
 
 
 
The first stage is to make a casting box. This is composed of two pieces of 3mm MDF and four sides made from pine or similar material. The sides can be jointed using rebate joints and glue or left as simple butt joints.
 
 
The rebate joint seen above is quite strong when glued. It is stronger when the four sides of the box are glued to the base.
 
A butt joint is seen opposite. This is strong enough if the four sides of the box are also glued to the MDF base.  
 
 
 
The main parts are shown below.
 
     
1. The two sides to be jointed are arranged as shown in the diagram. A pencil is used to mark the thickness of the material. Alternatively look at point 2.  
     
2. A marking knife and a try square are used to mark the material as shown on the diagram. It is possible to use only a pencil but a marking knife is more precise and it has the advantage of cutting the wood fibres. This means when a saw is used to cut the joint the surface of the wood is less likely to split.  
 
 
 
3. A marking gauge is then used to scribe a line around the end. A pencil can be used for this stage of marking out but the gauge cuts the fibres of the wood. This means that when a saw is used to cut out the joint, the joint is more precise.  
     
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