- Joined
- Jun 13, 2016
- Messages
- 99
- Reaction score
- 296
I was melting down about 66g of dollied gold so it would be readily sellable. It always looks so nice and rather than just pouring a couple of buttons I thought I might have a crack at casting something instead. I was thinking about my daughters birthdays coming up and remembered I had a couple of cuttlefish bones stashed away in the shed. They both love the ocean and one thing led to another and I decided to try to cast a shell. The money cowrie (Cypraea moneta) has been used as currency in many parts of the world, it's yellow, and importantly, it is small and smooth. If it worked my plan was to make one for each of my girls.
First attempt was very encouraging. Although the top half of the cast had slag in it, I was surprised by the detail in the bottom half.
That cowrie was too big (too heavy) so I found a smaller one and made two moulds from the same shell. I cleaned up the gold by doing a couple of re-pours until it was pretty clean. Then did my pours and I was really happy with the results. I don't have any jewellery gear, just used some snips to cut off the excess, a set of small files to smooth the join mark, some wet and dry and then a final hand polish with some 'bar' cleaner I found under the sink. I was planning on taking them to a jeweller to have some findings put on so they can be worn as pendants, but not sure. I don't think the photos do them justice, it's so hard to take in-focus photos of gold! They feel heavy and weigh about 10.5g each, and they are made of good gold too - about 97%. So even if they aren't worn as jewellery they still have monetary value, and it was fun way to pass the day!
First attempt was very encouraging. Although the top half of the cast had slag in it, I was surprised by the detail in the bottom half.
That cowrie was too big (too heavy) so I found a smaller one and made two moulds from the same shell. I cleaned up the gold by doing a couple of re-pours until it was pretty clean. Then did my pours and I was really happy with the results. I don't have any jewellery gear, just used some snips to cut off the excess, a set of small files to smooth the join mark, some wet and dry and then a final hand polish with some 'bar' cleaner I found under the sink. I was planning on taking them to a jeweller to have some findings put on so they can be worn as pendants, but not sure. I don't think the photos do them justice, it's so hard to take in-focus photos of gold! They feel heavy and weigh about 10.5g each, and they are made of good gold too - about 97%. So even if they aren't worn as jewellery they still have monetary value, and it was fun way to pass the day!
