codex seraphinianus

Insane book with imaginary language describing insane imaginary world.
Check out the whole book:
 Codex Seraphinianus
click image for full size.

DIY casting a belt buckle: Fish, Trilobite and Turtle

Starting with a clay model of the final belt buckle. The clay surrounding it is intended to hold in the plaster that will be used to make the mold.



I made this fish using a pottery tool set like this one:


Next plaster is poured to make a mold for the zinc.


Once the plaster has set the clay is removed.




The plaster cast is heated in a woodfire or BBQ grill.
Zinc is heated in a metal can in a wood fire or coffee can furnace until it is molten.
The molten zinc is poured into the mold and then the back is compressed with a 2x4.
Finally the coat hanger is dipped in to the zinc and held until the zinc sets.
The metal is pulled out of the plaster.

The extra metal is cleaned off with a Dremel tool




Cartoon turtle and Trilobite. Some more of my belt buckles with the same method.

My cartoon turtle belt buckle.
Other online cast metal fishes!

Here is a book that I have really enjoyed about casting: Creative Casting Jewelry Silverware Sculpture
lots of good photos and descriptions of a number of casting processes.

My metal source. is rotometals.com or buy through amazon

palpatine and blitzer image

For those of you who did not say up late enough on election night 2008 to see them screwing around with the hologram machine.

Check out my other DIY pages.

DIY: Fixing a cracked LCD (and backlight) on a Canon Powershot Elph. SD600 SD790 SD1000 SD1100

Building a Digital Velcro removable Camera LCD Protector/Guard

Lost foam with packaging peanuts.

The current system:
Packaging peanuts are glued together with hot glue and pour spouts are made out of pink insulation.I have used both drywall mud and plaster and found that plaster is much better for holding the shape.



After the foam is coated with plaster it is buried in play sand and the metal is pour over burning out the foam.






Concerns:
Cleaning the plaster off is a pain. Currently I do it by soaking the piece and working out the plaster with a fine metal tool and a wire brush. I was thinking a pressure washer or sand blaster might work well.
The hot glue sometimes obstructs the profusion of the metal. In this piece one of the rear legs is not getting the metal.

 buy my ingot from Rotometals. also available through Amazon.

Casting a zinc belt buckle.

UPDATE: I have improved this technique and a much better example is on this post:
Make your own fish trilobite or turtle belt buckle.

This is the shape of the Twin Cities with the neck of the dinosaur approximating the path of the Mississippi.


I used:
a small porcelain dish like a evaporation dish or crucible to heat the zinc
UPDATE: This is much easier with a small can like one that veggies come in. Plus it is esentially free instead of $5.
a source of scrap zinc
clay
plaster
a candle
an item you would like to cast
a place to have a fire
a coat hanger
tongs
Sandpaper or a Dremel tool.

To start I pushed the dino into the clay creating a negative. Then fill the hole with wax. This wax will be a positive of the eventual cast.




Next I placed the wax in the bottom of a milk carton and pour plaster over it.

Once the plaster was set I melted the wax out of the plaster by holding in over the fire.

Now the fun begins.
dish with the zinc and waiting for it to melt.
then I pour into the plaster cast


I Bent the coat hanger to attach to the belt as shown below.

DIY: Screen printing a hat the cheapest way.

You will need:
Screen printing ink (i used superball that cost about $5 at a local shop but you can probs get it online), a paint brush, a nylon, krazy glue, push pins, a hat (preferably a free hat you don't like.... yet) and some sort of frame. Of course all this can be done on a t-shirt as well.

Also props to craftgrrl for the concept of using nylons.


Start with a hat that needs re-purposing like this cooperate gecko hat:
I don't show this but I blacked out the gecko with black screen printing ink.


Draw your image on a 3x5" note card.


Stretch the Nylon around a frame and tape it down:


Trace the image onto the nylon with a black pen:


Take the card away and cover the lines with Krazy Glue:


Once the glue has dried test the screen on a piece of paper:


If you are satisfied with the image cut out the section of the screen:


Pin the screen to the hat and paint it:



Remove the screen and touch up the design:

Wash the screen let it dry and repeat.