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It’s been about a few weeks, and I was wondering how things were coming along? Hoping it’s for the better 😉 . Any chance in seeing any PYOs (regular and/or rescue) being re-stocked? Don’t mean to be impatient 😳 , just curious 😉 .
Just on the outside chance and a bit of SWAG (scientific wild-**s guessing) – could the water being used there in Oregon be a chemically different from the water used in California? Maybe there’s just a bit more metals, chlorine or salts to prevent the gypsum from setting up correctly. :scratch:
Suncat wrote:Just on the outside chance and a bit of SWAG (scientific wild-**s guessing) – could the water being used there in Oregon be a chemically different from the water used in California? Maybe there’s just a bit more metals, chlorine or salts to prevent the gypsum from setting up correctly. :scratch:
Actually that is a high probability. If they use a different water treatment to soften their water, there could be a different composition. Or if there is high dissolved gasses in the water – that could lead to de-gassing during the casting procedure which could cause bubbles. But almost all water is chemically different. Here in Edmonton, it’s alot harder (has more dissolved calcium and magnesium) then south in Calgary. Also, if they use an ion-exchange water softener, the water could be exceedingly high in sodium. It goes on….
I don’t know how it would effect the gypsum itself, however.
Have they tried purifying the water, or even degassing it?
The flaws that I’ve heard of sound alot like they are little bubbles right? That means that there’s some gas being released during the casting process, that might be coming from the water itself, and the gypsum slurry might be too thick to let the bubbles fully escape before drying. But I don’t know. My gypsum knowledge is alot less then my water knowledge. :scratch:
I thought Jen said they hadn’t been able to cast right since before the move (when they were still in Cali)? o.o; So it can’t be Oregon’s water, then..?
Suncat wrote:Just on the outside chance and a bit of SWAG (scientific wild-**s guessing) – could the water being used there in Oregon be a chemically different from the water used in California? Maybe there’s just a bit more metals, chlorine or salts to prevent the gypsum from setting up correctly. :scratch:
We tried filtered water, boiled water, distilled water.. didn’t make a difference. Everything is a variable here! New people, new barometric pressure, new humidity level, temp, water( We are on well water. One can only imagine what random chemicals could be dissolved in that stuff, so that was the first thing I suspected), material, molds… it has been difficult to find the cause of the problem.
Melody wrote:Suncat wrote:Just on the outside chance and a bit of SWAG (scientific wild-**s guessing) – could the water being used there in Oregon be a chemically different from the water used in California? Maybe there’s just a bit more metals, chlorine or salts to prevent the gypsum from setting up correctly. :scratch:
We tried filtered water, boiled water, distilled water.. didn’t make a difference. Everything is a variable here! New people, new barometric pressure, new humidity level, temp, water( We are on well water. One can only imagine what random chemicals could be dissolved in that stuff, so that was the first thing I suspected), material, molds… it has been difficult to find the cause of the problem.
Well the nice thing is that you can at least make a list of stuff that could be the cause and go through and do process of elimination. Bad part is I’m sure it’s taking forever becuase you can only take one factor out of the equation at a time. 🙁
Do you want me to try and go snag some water from the old factory site and send it up there to see if that makes a difference? I’ll do it ya know! 😛
Wishing you guys all the best in figuring it out! Maybe it’s something like from that movie “Medicine Man” with Sean Connery (SO sezzy) where they think this cure is in the bromiliads down in the South American rainforest, but it turns out to be the ants that harvest nectar from the plant that have the right stuff…
I know when I do castings in San fransisco I work in a dry room… We get no bubbles with our mix and we are not that professional…I cast frogs, busts, and other types of sculptures for people. We use strait tap water but we pour slowly. don’t know if this is old info but I do know SF is greatly influenced by humitiy and crumy weather like oregon.
Nirvanacat13 wrote:…Sean Connery (SO sezzy)…
w0rd! Also, I love that movie. Hehehe.
Well, if it *was* already happening while they were still down in LA, the weather issues (humidity, barometric pressure…) could be counted out, right? o.o; Buuuut…if they weren’t using a dehumidifier/dry room while they were down there, and the formula of the gypsum was changed, and they started having problems, then packed up and moved…and they still aren’t using a ‘dry room’ (sounds difficult to make that happen in a large open area like the factory…), that could explain it? Well, I’m sure they thought of all of this in their many experiments, anyhoo…
I just keep wondering if the supplier of their gypsum is sending lower quality stuff. It seems people are doing that now…charging more money, for less and less quality.
I wonder if it’s time for a new supplier for the gysum?Yeah it’s sad to see a lot of prices going up on everything from basic essentials like toilet paper, or soap while so many of us aren’t getting raises, are stretched beyond our means, or losing our jobs. 🙁 Not only that, but it does seem that quality is going down the drain on many things. 😕
Dragons4Life wrote:I just keep wondering if the supplier of their gypsum is sending lower quality stuff. It seems people are doing that now…charging more money, for less and less quality.
I wonder if it’s time for a new supplier for the gysum?No, I am pretty sure that is not the case. 🙂
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My art: featherdust.comWell, the gypsum may not be of a lower quality, persay, but is it perhaps being mined from a different source? Sometimes different mine sources can lead to different minerals being present in the rock itself. And that can produce all sorts of nasty chemistry.
(yeah I am just throwing ideas around here…)
Although it’s probably safe to assume that this has been addressed already with the company itself.
Is it possible to get a dry room and attempt that? Even if the problems started in Cali, it might be making the problem worse. 😕 Or is that just something that’s too huge to attempt at this time?
Dragon87 wrote:Although it’s probably safe to assume that this has been addressed already with the company itself.
Yes. The company visited with Windstone on-site to try and resolve the problems.
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My art: featherdust.comI’m sure you guys are dead tired of hearing about casting issues, but what’s the latest on this? I saw someone say in another thread that ‘experimenting’ with the gypsum was still going on, which makes me think this hasn’t been fixed…true/false? And do ALL the bad casts get used for Copper Patina dragons? Because I haven’t seen any restocks of those in quite a while. o.o; *has been waiting* D:
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