Made a handmold! (Video)
A short film illustrating the process of making the mold, engraving a sample matrix and casting my very first letter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KwbYsiBqtM&feature=youtu.be
/dances happily
Idea: Making a compact simplified version of a traditional hand mold for my portable foundry-in-a-box. The plan is to cast some ancient Cyrilic and Glagolitic type.
Method: I am using a Proxxon MF-70 mill converted to use CNC for both the mold parts and matrices.
Findings: There is a fair bit of variation between faces, gotta work more on the pouring technique and make a spring to lock the matrix in place that will allow for faster casting and should improve the quality. When engraving he matrix, the design path needs to be slightly thinner to allow for the cutting bit offset and ink spread.
Still miles away from quality casting on par with the likes of Sky or Bixler with their fancy machines and voluminous knowledge, or the handcrafted excellence of Stan Nelsen’s historic reproductions. Just a silly little mold done on a shoe-string budget that gives me immense pleasure.
Well done and incidentally, a nice demonstration for an historical introduction to founding. Congratulations and good luck going forward.
An excellent piece of work, has got to be a must see video for any letterpres printer using metal type.
Extremely well done. I’ve always appreciated Stan Nelson’s re-creations and yours is a great addition. Thank you for making your efforts known.
Excellent job! Congratulations!
A wooden handle for the humble handmold.
My handmold project is now complete! Fitted with proper insulation of the locking spring.
A new thermometer should help with establishing the right casting temperature. The proper testing can now begin for the optimal casting conditions.
mold-handle.jpg