Art Brush Posted July 29, 2004 Report Share Posted July 29, 2004 I'm wondering if anyone here has tried any of the following products for casting lead. Alumilite's Dow Corning J silicone: http://www.alumilite.com/line.cfm?Action=view&ID=3 Smooth-on's Smooth-Sil: http://www.smooth-on.com/silicones.asp#ssil Don't know who makes Quick-Sil: http://www.miniaturemolds.com/mainframe.htm These RTV's are supposed to be formulated for low melt alloys. So far the Quick-Sil looks to be the best with 900 farenheit capabilities. I heard that Moldmax could handel the job but have since found that it wont produce many casts. I got a shipment of Smooth-Sil 940 a few days ago... I'll let ya'll know how well it performs. Tight lines, Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattlures Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 smooth sil works fine. One tip, lightly sprinkle talc powder over your mold cavities it helps the lead flow. I use a little sewn up cloth bag and lightly tap it on the cavities. You could just sprinkle some in and then tap the excess out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Brush Posted August 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 Thnks Matt, I hope to cast a few this weekend. I'll try the talcom powder when I get the lead hot. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richoc Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 You need to use very little power. I you can see it, there is to much. If you blow on it to get it off the mold the moisture from your breath will collect in the power and really mess up your pouring. When spin casting we even dry the talc bags out before use. By heating them in at the same time as warming the molds for the first pours. Was pouring just great one day then talced the mold to heavy. No good parts the next few shots. To much talc, blew it off with my mouth, never made a good part till, I cleaned and redryed the mold in the heater. Bad thing is I could have just used the compressed air because it has a dryer on the system. I did not , so I share this chunk of hard knocks learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Brush Posted August 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2004 Rich Thanks buddy, I appreciate the info and hopefully I'll be able to cast lead as well as you guys do. I have yet to try my hand at it but will keep an eye on the moisture. I'm thinking of getting a face shield and leather apron for protection. The Smooth-Sil 940 is a good molding compound however I ran into problems with the enamel basecoat I prepped the model with. The platinum refused to cure anywhere the model was. When I called Smooth-on they said to try sealing it with clear acrylic. After sealing the enamel with the acrylic the second attempt also failed. However there were areas on the mold that did cure where the acrylic did seal the enamel. I've got the model stripped now and completely re-surfaced with acrylic. The platinum RTV takes 24 hrs to cure per side... crapola hardknocks :oops: Are either of you guys currently using smoothsil? Approximatley how many castings have you been getting from the molds before they burn out? What shore hardness are you using? Tight lines, Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
