This is where I left off working on my heraldic token mold. I cleaned up the edges and defined the quarters a little better. Once this was cast and the result was satisfactory I moved on to the three doves.
I started by using a felt tipped pen to mark the location of the head and body of the three doves.
I then used a small hand drill to drill a very shallow indentation for each body and each head.
To test the depth and appearance of the image I took a small piece of clay and pressed it into the mold. This was a process I used over and over at this point to test the final image without having to use molten pewter.
I continued to tweet the body and head and once satisfied I used a small needle to make the scratch which would become the beak and the feet.
The finished mold. Ready for casting.
Time to put the metal in the pot.
I found it very difficult to even get a piece filled in as much as th ed following image. This was cast when the mold was already too hot to touch. I could not get a decent flow even after 40 attempts. Time to give up and make the piece thicker.
Here are the four major stages thus far.
I cut a sprue on both stones. When the cast piece was set on the back stone I could trace around it to mark the location of the area that would need to be cut deeper.
Working with some dental tools and small carving chisels I removed some material to thicken the piece by about the thickness of a few sheets of paper.
Test fitting to ensure I cut enough.
