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skigod377 wrote:
Can you fill it up, let the outside dry, then drain some in the middle? Thats how my friends did their ceramics. Maybe that is just dumb… 😕
Gyspum sets up all at once, so there isn’t a time when the outside is set, and the inside isn’t, though we did try rotational molding. That is done with a machine that rotates the mold while the plaster is setting so that it coats the inside of the mold leaving a hollow inside. It didn’t work for this sculpture, though I know it works, because you see those hollow plaster piggybanks and bulls in all the markets around here. They even got legs.
foxfeather wrote:Just a thought….
What about attaching some sort of armature to the outside of the mold that would hold a core form of heavier material up and in the propper place while the gypsum sets and then you could pour out or peel out the core mold?
A vaguely remember doing something like this in Art class years ago…..
Just a thought
*** Oh, if you have time (we all know you’re busy)and its not a trade secret, would it be possible to post a description of the casting process? Maybe it would help get the ideas flowing for us. The pieces are cast upside down. The gypsum is poured into the mold from the bottom of the piece. The molds are very thin glove molds made of silicone rubber that are supported by precisely fitted, two part “carriers” made of gypsum. If you haven’t seen it, there is a picture of an assembled mold and carrier here: http://www.windstoneeditions.com/galleries/displayimage.php?album=16&pos=14
As you can see, often there is very little room to pour the gypsum into the mold. The Secret Keeper, of course, has a much larger bottom area so there is some room to work with, but obstructing the pouring area is a concern too, because the gypsum must have time to run into the mold before it starts to set. Gypsum also gets really HOT when it sets! The larger the piece, the hotter it gets. That is why we thought wax would work well, it would melt when the piece sets. Gypsum also expands a little when it sets, so the core hole would get slightly bigger than whatever you used to mold it with.This is good if you want to remove something,but perhaps it is bad if you want to leave something in place, though I can’t see why voids between the sculpture and the permanent core inside the piece would make a difference. Nobody is going to rattle these things!Except ups.
There is a nice flat surface across the pouring end of the carriers to mount a framework for supporting a form inside the hollow mold.
We do that with cores for several of the pieces, mostly the stone finish things and the rock dragons. They are silicone plugs that pull straight out of the sculpture. We could make a small, straight core in the bottom of the Secret Keeper, but it wouldn’t gain us too much.SPark wrote:Quote:I’d been visualizing a flexible rubber mold for a shape inside, just like the molds on the outside. Maybe one that you poured water into to give it support and shape, and then when it’s hardened you dump the water out and pull the mold off from the inside.
That was the theory behind the wax filled one. Water wouldn’t work because it is lighter than the liquid gypsum, and would just be pushed up out of the inner mold. Wax would be rigid, then get melted somehow, and poured out after the piece sets.
What else could fill an inner mold and be poured out… Ball bearings? Sand? those are too heavy…hmmmSPark wrote:I’d been visualizing a flexible rubber mold for a shape inside, just like the molds on the outside. Maybe one that you poured water into to give it support and shape, and then when it’s hardened you dump the water out and pull the mold off from the inside.
Is this stupid of me, or do some molds actually work like that? For some reason I thought they did.
The core needs to be stong enough to support a lot of liquid plaster pressing on it until it sets. A flexible inner mold would collapse under the weight. The core needs to be rigid, but then it couldn’t be removed out of the sinuous shape of the dragon’s body. So it needs to be rigid, and it needs to stay put. That’s my plan. Or, the dragon needs to be cast in two halves and glued together.yuck.
Inner molds are used in bronze casting.dragonmedley wrote:Just out of morbid curiosity, what exactly was the disaster? Collapse?
I take that back, that was an experiment in packaging them for shipping. It had foam patches stuck all over it. I still have that dragon, she is one of my sample Emerald peacocks. I painted her after the foam incident.
SilverArrow wrote:I was looking at this auction of so many beautiful unicorns:
I asked the seller if they would box each piece individually inside a main shipping box. I even offered to pay extra for bubblewrap and packing peanuts. Here is the reply:
“I plan on double wrapping them in bubble wrap to ensure safety.”
Can you say shipping disaster waiting to happen? 😕INSIST on proper packaging!
purpledoggy wrote:My husband bought me my peacock mom dragon a few years ago for my birthday but she is missing the smaller jewel in her forehead. Is there any way to get a replacemtn jewel for her? I noticed it when I opened it but I wasn’t going to take her back to the store since she was a gift.
Email me with your address and I’ll send you one. reptangle@gmail.com
Lupin wrote:Didn’t know if I should just PM you or post a topic on it for you Melody, so definitly no offense to discovering this topic not in existence. We don’t know what you’ve attempted yet insofar as the “Hollow” cores for the SK’s but I had a thought, actually severral, some of which I believe have been mentioned elsewhere on the forum.
Wouldn’t a hollow core lend itself to a far greater chance of major shipment damage?
How about a “Foam” core instead, I don’t know if this would be possible since I don’t know what the molding process exactly takes. I know some materials when setting would just eat through the foam, if not earlier as in the pouring. But there are also multiple diferent “Foam” compounds available so that maybe one of them might work.
My main idea was of a pre-formed foam core blob suspended inside the mold as the sculpture is hardening around it.
Maybe if you find the right foam it may also cut down on the drying time aswell.
Just a thought to try and help you guys out. I know we all want SK’s asap. And again don’t know what you may have tried already. Hopefully though we forum members may be able to give you a few new ideas to try, I’ve grown up seeing first hand that sometimes it’s that fresh perspective that helps.We’ve tried a few different approches: We’ve tried a cast-in-place foam core..disaster. We have tried rotational molding, no good. We have tried an elaborate system of wax filled bladders… that was a big mess. I want to try my idea next, which would be a core (possibly blow moulded plastic)that we could leave in place, as you suggest. Our biggest problem is that we just have no time to work on it! We will figure it out eventually, and your ideas are welcome, Thank you so much for thinking about this!
Nytetyger wrote:Hi-
Yeah, I know, 99.99% of the posts here are about the other part of windstone, but I figured this was a good place to ask a Journeystone question too. 😀
Melody? WIll the journeystone pods ever be released in another color other than the creamy white? I just got my first (Healing) and LOVE the organic feel of the curves; I spend more time HOLDING the darn thing that putting it on a shelf, and the tiny size is perfect for that!
I’m about to buy another… and prolly another… they’re so darn NEAT, but I’d love one in a steely grey… or a soft chocolate… or an onyx… or even better, a deep blue.
Any hope that might happen? And please, tell the artist I ADORE her work, and that I think I now need to now save up to get the larger pieces to place all over my home.I’m so glad you like the Maya stuff. I am crazy about it! I always fondle them. The new little pod ones are irreistable! I don’t know if the six new ones will come in other colors, but the the Journey stones come in a nice charcoal black too. They look great in black!
purpledoggy wrote:Melody wrote:I’m still dithering about that one.I only have so much oil to slop around.
I refuse to stop squeakin till I get my oil! I would like some purple with my oil too please 😉Never give up hope!
purpledoggy wrote:I’ve been squeakin for weeks for an ema pea old warrior. Where’s my oil?
I’m still dithering about that one.I only have so much oil to slop around.
purpledoggy wrote:Why did the purple get toned down in the later production batches of emerald peacock? Will it ever be brought back?
The purple got toned down in the production ones because we thought they were WAY TOO PURPLE. They still have the same amount of area that is a “purple” color, but we mixed a little blue in with the purple paint so that it blends a little more easily into the pure blue it lies next to on the dragon .
Does anyone have both kinds?
I felt that the two types looked so similar to each other, one could hardly tell the difference.
No, We don’t plan to paint the intense purple ones again, but ya never know…pegasi1978 wrote:Actually I’d like to know as well and if the same black that is used on the pieces today is the same that was used on the black unicorn family when they were in production.
My male could really use some touching up from where I had to reassemble his tail from when he broke in shipping. I think it is the same paint we still use.
lamortefille wrote:Sorry to start a new thread for this little question…
What color black does the factory use for their pieces? I bought Golden Carbon black, but it seems much glossier than the touch-up paint I received from the factory. Thanks for your time: -)We mix our paint. The “warm black” color(which is the body color of most of the black creatures we do) is Golden brand carbon black mixed with burnt sienna.
dark_zorse wrote:This might have been asked before, but I couldn’t remember. I know this has been asked about the regular eyes, but is it possible to get replacement candlelamp eyes?
Yes. Let me know what color you need, and include your (real) name and address.
my email: reptangle@gmail.com
