14/05/2018 -Post-Mortem
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if I was designing the bracelet again, knowing what I know now, it would be totally different.
Sharp corners, it seems, are not possible to replicate reliably through casting.
My master pattern was easy to clean up to a high standard because each layer could be individually buffed before assembly.
Cleaning up the casting involved filing & buffing AROUND the edges of the different layers. This probably introduced more flaws than it removed and I would have been better off leaving the casting texture rather than trying (and failing) to get a high polish.
My silver Polyfilla was not totally effective as much of it was removed during buffing, and there is a noticeable colour difference in places (that looks like firestain but is not).
Despite a few tabs falling off, and one tube setting being much too deep, the stone setting was perhaps the easiest part of the whole assembly process.
This whole project (including the 3D printed spinner) has not left me with much confidence in the whole casting business. Why is it so hard to get perfect copies from this industry standard method?
Sharp corners, it seems, are not possible to replicate reliably through casting.
My master pattern was easy to clean up to a high standard because each layer could be individually buffed before assembly.
Cleaning up the casting involved filing & buffing AROUND the edges of the different layers. This probably introduced more flaws than it removed and I would have been better off leaving the casting texture rather than trying (and failing) to get a high polish.
My silver Polyfilla was not totally effective as much of it was removed during buffing, and there is a noticeable colour difference in places (that looks like firestain but is not).
Despite a few tabs falling off, and one tube setting being much too deep, the stone setting was perhaps the easiest part of the whole assembly process.
This whole project (including the 3D printed spinner) has not left me with much confidence in the whole casting business. Why is it so hard to get perfect copies from this industry standard method?
