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Thread: Small components

  1. #1
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    Default Small components

    Say I wanted to make a little sculpture of a dog or a bear and put it ontop of a ring band how do I go about this? I am thinking metal clay or wax casting. Any advice for making 3d components. It's something I haven't seen a lot about.

  2. #2
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    As I make one offs Sheena, I have found it simplest to carve things out of thick sheet using burrs. If four legs are involved, I have used two sheets and soldered them together, to get the separation.

    You can also buy small plastic figures from model shops, such as the 4D Model shop, and cast them, or get them cast.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Dog Whistle Necklace.jpg   Dog Detail.jpg   Frog On A Box.jpg  

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dennis View Post
    As I make one offs Sheena, I have found it simplest to carve things out of thick sheet using burrs. If four legs are involved, I have used two sheets and soldered them together, to get the separation.

    You can also buy small plastic figures from model shops, such as the 4D Model shop, and cast them, or get them cast.
    Where did you get them cast, is it more cost effective to get several casts of an item?
    What sort of burrs did you use for your dog?

  4. #4
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    It might be worth simply poking around on eBay and the internet generally for an hour before you do complicated stuff - unless you want to do complicated stuff. There are plenty of charm sized silver dogs out there. Many breeds.
    Author: Pearls A Practical Guide
    www.pearlsapractical.guide
    www.Pearlescence.co.uk

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sheen View Post
    Where did you get them cast, is it more cost effective to get several casts of an item?
    What sort of burrs did you use for your dog?
    I use tungsten carbide burrs like this one below from Walsh. They need to be run a little faster than ordinary steel ones.

    As I make one offs, carving them in metal saves me going to a caster, but you could use https://www.west1castings.co.uk/.

    Its much more cost effective to have multiple castings done, but the caster could make duplicates from a master. Dennis.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Tungsten burr for carving.JPG   Sea Horse Pendant .jpg  

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by pearlescence View Post
    It might be worth simply poking around on eBay and the internet generally for an hour before you do complicated stuff - unless you want to do complicated stuff. There are plenty of charm sized silver dogs out there. Many breeds.
    i think i want to do complicated stuff but it's good to remind everyone that why make something complicated if you can buy what you want. i have a good selection of premade stuff in my stash. i rather liked curious gems selection of simple cutouts for soldering. stars etc. though they weren't for me. i noticed that there's a few makers in America that sell artisan cast components; of leaves, flowers etc. Shame there's no one in Britain that does that.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dennis View Post
    I use tungsten carbide burrs like this one below from Walsh. They need to be run a little faster than ordinary steel ones.

    As I make one offs, carving them in metal saves me going to a caster, but you could use https://www.west1castings.co.uk/.

    Its much more cost effective to have multiple castings done, but the caster could make duplicates from a master. Dennis.
    thanks dennis, will be investigating

  8. #8
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    Love that sea horse Dennis, very nice.

  9. #9
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    Thank you Deb. I had a spell of making stuff like that by cutting out blanks and then carving them. The fins were soldered on afterwards and the body bent to a curve. I gave up snake chain as too prone to kinks.

    Years later I'm into acrylics. They are equally labour intensive, but don't have the intrinsic worth. Dennis.

  10. #10
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    Snake chain is the work of the devil.
    I've been looking at your acrylic work with interest - at the end of the day the desire to create is strong isn't it? And should always be given in to.

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