Mould Making and Casting Workshop

Tuesday 30th October 2012
Introduction into mould and cast making to go through the basic skills, techniques and safety. To make it interesting for each group the technicians did something different for each, he chose to make metal casts with us.

Pewter Casts
We made shapes out of clay and cast them in plaster to make a mould.
Once it was set we dug out the clay and put powdered graphite so it is easier to get the pewter out of the moulds.
The moulds and pewter had to be heated up before it could be poured into the plaster moulds .

 After it had set we had to smash the mould to get out the hardened pewter.

Video to show how the pewter was heated up and put in the moulds.

Smashing the plaster moulds.

 Front of the piece

 Back of the piece.

Wax Casts
I found a mould of a man's head, so I decided to make different coloured wax casts.
I used clear wax but added wax pigments to make the colours. I placed the mould in cold water to speed up the drying time.

Hand Mould
We were told that our hands can be used as a mould, so with the left over plaster (before it set) we made casts of the inside of our hands. We took a hand full of the plaster and closed our hands around it in any way we wanted. I really loved the out come of mine because any where you look at it there is an imprint of either my fingers or palm of my hand.

My Finished Examples

I enjoyed the workshop a lot and will be working here in the near future. I now have new skills that I would like to try out independently. The workshop is a very safe place to work as safety equipment is used and worn at ALL times. Also, before you use any of the facilities you are given an induction so you can use them properly and as safely as possible.