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Making Pewter buttons


renfairpirate

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I have had a few members ask about making a Inexpensive temporary button mold and since I have some time before surgery I am posting a tutorial

So here we go

You will need some craft plaster,You can get it at walmart or hobby lobby for under $5.00

DO NOT use plaster from the hardware store it will flake and crack at over 400 degrees

Molding clay, any kind will work $2.00

A mold frame,I use Styrofoam cups $1.00

masking tape or duct tape $2.00

A small paint or craft brush $2.00

A can of pan spray NOT THE BUTTER FLAVOR KIND $2.00

A tube of powdered graphite to dust mold after baking

I carve my masters from Jewelers wax, But you can make it from just about anything or use a button you already have as long as there are no undercuts in the design

This will take about 4 to 5 hours from start to first button

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Edited by renfairpirate
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Lets make a Dutch East India Company Button

Step 1

Roll out your clay slightly larger than the top of your cup and center you pattern

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Then make alignment keys I use the back of the craft brush

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Spray a light coat of pan spray on the pattern, Wipe off excess

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Cut top off cup

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Place frame around pattern and seal edge

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Mix enough plaster to fill first half of mold

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Fill mold and let set till plaster is set about 45-50 min

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Edited by renfairpirate
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Step 2

When plaster is set remove from clay and remove pattern

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Now if you are working with a thick piece or unfinished back take a small peice of clay and

roll it out to the thickness you want the finished button

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Place clay in the mold and form the shank

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Spray the face of the mold with a heavy coat of pan spray if you forget this step you will not get the mold apart later

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Cut the top off the other cup and tape the two togather and fill with plaster

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let set 45-50 min

Edited by renfairpirate
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Now remove tape and separate mold you might have to pull hard.

Remove clay

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Next place mold in 350 degree oven for 2-3 hours

when dry cut vents and pour sprue

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I use a melting pot now but i started with a old tuna can and melted pewter on the stove top

You can get pewter by the pound on-line but with shipping it is like $25.00

if you can get a few people together and do a group buy on a 5 pound bar you can get the price

down to around 12-14 bucks a pound

Here is the first button out of the mold in pewter

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I tumble my buttons with steel shot but you can buff them on a old pair of jeans and they will shine up

Someone said try lead free solder I will try it later on tonight and post the results

Ok here is one poured with 60/40 it came out fine but it is a little soft i have some hard lead free around here somewhere for making screw back coins i just need to find it

Picture170.jpg

If you have any questions fell free to ask

Edited by renfairpirate
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That is awesome stuff RenFairPirate! Thanks for sharing!

One question I have about this, how many castings does one tent to get out of a mold before the plaster degrades and the detail starts to get washed out?

And I love how you explain how to do it all with household items or stuff easily found at the local hobby store.

For anyone that tries this, another source of metal is plumbing solder. At about $12 per pound at the local hardware store, it is comparably priced to the casting metal one can buy, but much easier to find... Proper casting metals are generally 90% tin, 2% copper, and the remaining 8% is usually bismuth or antimony (or a blend of the two), most plumbers solders are around 80% tin, 2% copper, with the rest being antimony or bismuth or a blend... While the 10% difference is enough to make the metals act differently slightly, it is still possible to do some decent casting with solder, you just tend to wind up with a bit more slag to skim off.

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i tried sculpy a while back and could not get it to keep the detail of the coins. it got stuck in the reliefs. i was using vegetable oil as a release,but not the spray kind like here. I cant wait to try this out over the weekend. thanks for posting this how to!

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have you ever tried to make the casting mold out of sculpey? fimo?

will baked sculpey take the heat of the molten flux?

Sculpey will burn when you pour molten pewter in it,been there tried that

The extra firm stuff worked a little better but still only good for two or three pours

I got started making buttons because i was making leather pouches and the button selection at walmart sucks. So i started trying everything i could think of to make a cheap mold.RTV rubber is

not cheap average mold cost is $35-40 at the time i could not justify the cost to myself

I found out that you use investment plaster to cast silver and gold so I thought why not try some craft plaster just to see what will happen.I just got started using rubber last year but still use plaster if i just need a small run of a new button as the plaster mold only cost around 50 cents

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Someone said try lead free solder I will try it later on tonight and post the results

Ok here is one poured with 60/40 it came out fine but it is a little soft i have some hard lead free around here somewhere for making screw back coins i just need to find it

I have had good luck using lead free silver bearing soldier to cast buttons.

I'm just getting ready to make a mold to make a bunch of buttons for my Buccaneer coat... My mold looks close to what you made, but I carve it out of soap stone...

Instead of the dimples to align the two parts of the mold, I drill two holes through both parts of the mold and then use two chopsticks of pencils to hold the two halves together.... so I can pour the "pewter" and then open the mold to get out the button, then press it together again and re-cast as the mold is still warm/hot....(yeah... I've burned my fingers a few times using this method... but I can make a lot of buttons quickly.... :D

One of the advantages of using lead free silver bearing soldier, it that I know how long of a piece I need to fill the mold...(this button will take an 8' length...)

I got a lead ladle at PiP last year that Bo made, so I will use that instead of an old tablespoon held by vice grips to melt the metal in this time....

I cut the lead free silver bearing soldier into short chunks and put them in the ladle (or spoon in vice grips) and then melt it with a propane torch, then pour it into the mold.... Of course I do this outside, so when I spill molten "pewter" I don't mess anything up (well other than waisting some "pewter".... ) I'm sure there are safer ways of doing it.... but this is more fun....

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  • 3 months later...

Hello Everyone, Thanks for the well wishes, Surgery went well They bypassed 5 arteries.

Had an infection set up house in one of my leg incisions. They were talk about amputation

But just found out last week that i get to keep my leg for now.

So I just wanted to see if anyone has tried this yet

Edited by renfairpirate
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best wishes for your complete recovery and thanks for the tutorial

Edited by Saltypots

Mud Slinging Pyromanic , Errrrrr Ship's Potter at ye service

Vagabond's Rogue Potter Wench

First Mate of the Fairge Iolaire

Me weapons o choice be lots o mud, sharp pointy sticks, an string

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I hope you make a complete recovery. I haven't tried this yet, but plan to. It's a bit too cold to pour outside in Wisconsin right now, I think.

"The time was when ships passing one another at sea backed their topsails and had a 'gam,' and on parting fired guns; but those good old days have gone. People have hardly time nowadays to speak even on the broad ocean, where news is news, and as for a salute of guns, they cannot afford the powder. There are no poetry-enshrined freighters on the sea now; it is a prosy life when we have no time to bid one another good morning."

- Capt. Joshua Slocum

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Haven't tried it yet, but it sure looks neat! I have tried plumbing solder to cast metal toy soldiers; it works like a charm. Best wishes on your surgery, I hope you will soon be recovered and casting buttons by the thousands! :ph34r:

"Now then, me bullies! Would you rather do the gallows dance, and hang in chains 'til the crows pluck your eyes from your rotten skulls? Or would you feel the roll of a stout ship beneath your feet again?"

---Captain William Kidd---

(1945)

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Haven't tried it yet, but it sure looks neat! I have tried plumbing solder to cast metal toy soldiers; it works like a charm. Best wishes on your surgery, I hope you will soon be recovered and casting buttons by the thousands! :ph34r:

It gets a little better each day

I started casting again but it is slow going for now.

Still needs more clean up but I got a whole 14 poured

Picture029.jpg

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Haven't tried it yet, but it sure looks neat! I have tried plumbing solder to cast metal toy soldiers; it works like a charm. Best wishes on your surgery, I hope you will soon be recovered and casting buttons by the thousands! :ph34r:

It gets a little better each day

I started casting again but it is slow going for now.

Still needs more clean up but I got a whole 14 poured

Picture029.jpg

Those are cool i might want totry something like this. And i hope you have a speedy recovery.

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That is awesome stuff RenFairPirate! Thanks for sharing!

One question I have about this, how many castings does one tent to get out of a mold before the plaster degrades and the detail starts to get washed out?

Good question. lets try a new mold and pour 100 buttons and check every 25.

Here is button 1. It is uncleaned right out of the mold

Picture026.jpg

Edited by renfairpirate
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Looks pretty good. Do you have a favorite brand of plaster?

"The time was when ships passing one another at sea backed their topsails and had a 'gam,' and on parting fired guns; but those good old days have gone. People have hardly time nowadays to speak even on the broad ocean, where news is news, and as for a salute of guns, they cannot afford the powder. There are no poetry-enshrined freighters on the sea now; it is a prosy life when we have no time to bid one another good morning."

- Capt. Joshua Slocum

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