: Hi Rob,

: I've been thinking of doing this for a long time but am concerned about the
: dangers, and wouldn't even think about trying it withhout having all the
: proper protective gear. I wouldn't try it near anything that I dont want
: to burn down, such as my house, garage etc. That leaves trying it in the
: back yard, If the neigbours see me in all the safety gear in the backyard
: they might get a little freaked out, maybe even call the EPA or local
: council and report me. A hassle that I really don't need.

: If anyone who read my previous post feels like giving it a try, PLEASE PUT
: SAFETY AS YOUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY! I wouldn't want to introduce anyone to
: something that will end up damaging them horribly.

: I've had a bit of a hankering to try my hand at clay sculpture and casting in
: bronze. My wife is an amatuer artist and she showed me a book on Rodin,
: That just about got me hooked. So when I have time I'll probably sign-up
: for some classes and learn the right way, rather than from a book. Though,
: I don't expect to do anything as good as Rodin did

: Cheers,

: Paul

You can learn nearly all the techniques of metal casting with much less danger by casting with lead. Because the melting point is much lower (500°) you can melt lead in a cast iron pot on a Colman stove in your backyard. NOT GREAT for deck hardware, but it will allow you to learn what casting is all about.

OF COURSE you must be very careful to avoid breathing lead vapors so outdoors and upwind work is a must. I don't know how available lead ingots are these days with all the hazardous warnings standards around. I've cast with lead, and it makes for small beautiful castings when polished.

A fine book covering lead casting, and all the sculptual processes you need to know is Richard McDermott Miller's book "Figure Scuplture in Wax and Plaster". I'd expect it would turn up on a web search.

Another option, if you're only making small deck fittings, would be to think along the lines of jewelry casting methods, involving a small centrifuge or vacuum casting. I've cast silver and gold rings using these methods and they ARE much simpler than dealing with a foundry set up casting even 5 pounds of metal.

Jewelry casting involves much smaller amounts of metal, smaller molds, furnaces etc. that are more easily handled by the home hobbyist. You may be able to use lower temperature alloys to cast with that may have better anti corrosive qualities than brass or bronze.

Another option is to do a polymer casting. There are many specialty casting resins with metal powder additives that look very much like metal castings.

One sculptor's trick is to use metallic patinas over materials like plaster to fool people into thinking an object is really metal when it is not. I've made plaster busts (portrait heads) from plaster and applied a graphite coating mixed with linseed oil. when buffed the graphite coating made the head look like cast pewter.

Casting polymers is easy. All you have to do is learn mold making to cast your resin into. That only took me a few years to learn.

: BTW, I still haven't seen a pic of your new kayak (disko bay?) when are you
: adding it to your website?

I don't have pictures of my Disko Bay kayak on my web site yet because i don't have any good pictures yet and because I'm holding off until I'm near completion of the plans for this kayak. I hope to have pictures and plans available before the Newfound Rendezvous in September.

All the best,

Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.LaughingLoon.com