[again] Sling caster

I’m still searching for a sling caster. I have books telling how to
make such an item, howerer, I’m not comfortable making my own. Does
anyone know where I might purchase such an item? Your suggestions
would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
Heleana Adele
Heleana Adele Studios
hagroup@acninc.net

Any jewelry supplier will have them. We have a small unit we might
be willing to sell but I would recommend you look into vacuum
investing units. We have both but use only the vacuum.

JD
MidLife Crisis Enterprises
Cynthia Thomas Designs
Cynthia’s sculptures are at: http://www.mlce.net
Maiden Metals,

About 18 years ago I had a Czechoslovakian jeweler work for me - he
told me many stories of the old country - one of them was about sling
casting - if any Orchid members know a jeweler by the name of Traiko
(first name) ( I withhold last name for privacy purposes) he would be
a great contributor to this forum

Russell
Russell’s of Camden
20 Main St.
Camden, Maine 04843
http://www.RussellsofCamden.com

Heleana Adele, I don’t know what a sling caster is, but I have just
acquired about 50 years accumulation of jewelry store equipment that
includes some equipment which I am told is for making molds or
casting or something. I am an American Watchmakers Institute
Certified Master Watchmaker, and have no trouble identifying the
watchmaker tools but am completely ignorant of jewelry equipment. Do
you have a picture of a sling caster? If I have one, I’d love to
dispose of it (and all this other stuff too).

Jon W. Horton
Certified Master Watchmaker
American Watchmakers Institute

Heleana, I found that one of the greatest resources for things like
this is other people that do them.(and I know other people do this)
So, check it outmaybe not through jewelers, but through jewelers who
do antiquity styled stuff by the book, or possibly reenactors will
know something about this. first, I would check in the Oppi Utrecht
book (usually if I need anything it is in there.) If not, check out a
group called the SCA (society for Creative Anachronism) You may be
able to find a link through them (they are a group who, most of, like
to do things they way they were done 500-2000 years ago) You should
be able to find this group on any search engine. Also , another
channel that you might go through is your library. Think of the
indegineous people who cast in this manner and research on them. (you
might also want to get in touch with a museum, like the University of
Pennsylvania, they do most of their work in other cultures. It is a
museum of anthropology and archeology, and shouldn;t someone there
know something about a process that has probably been used for over
2000 years.) good luck, and if you don’t have any, put up another
post, worst comes to worst, I may have another idea for you. -julia

Heleana It is more likely that you find the sling caster already made
in a dentist lab . cause dentist technicians started with that sistem,
but if you want to know how to cast with homade equipment.including how
to make a real simple pressure casting machine made-out of copper
tubing (regular plumbing tubing) and a tire foot inflator. buy the
LOST WAX OR INVESTMENT CASTING by James E SopcaK Marco in San Diego It
is not a sin trying to learn new techniques.

Ok I know this is very late about 17 years later LOL.
But you can make your own sling caster. I have made a couple of them and it is very easy. Just make sure you do it outside and away from anything that can catch on fire.
This is a video of me making one and demonstrating how to use it

In Ancient Rome, jewelers could easily be identified by the burn scars from sling casting!
Cynthia Thomas Designs suggestion of using vacuum casting makes sense. If you plan on casting small pieces, I’ve heard that some have had success with “steam casting”. But if you want to do more, investment needs to be vacuumed. If you do that might as well vacuum cast.

The sling casting idea is interesting, but there is a reason that most centrifugal casters are set deep in a tub…to keep molten metal from flying about. I would tend to agree with those who advise trying steam casting or an improvised vacuum setup. A vac pump can be had for $150 and a table built cheaply. Rather than a $75 bell jar, a thick glass salad bowl or cake bell can be used. Flasks can be improvised from tuna cans, etc. A burnout oven is a big expense, but you will find material here in the archives on using a hotplate and a flowerpot for burnout, judging the temperature by color. Of course, steam casing only requires a jar lid with a wooden handle attached and some wet paper or cloth. And a torch to melt with, of course. Either vac or steam would work for a few small items up to about an ounce of metal. If I were using silver or gold I would not want to be flinging part of it off into the grass.

As far as vacuuming investment, yes, a good idea, but it is possible to paint your model with investment before investing and the investment coating prevents bubbles on the casting. Lots of ways to cast without a lot of equipment, esp. if you want to find out whether it is for you or not.
royjohn

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I agree royjohn, there are ways to make investment casting work without buying fancy equipment, if you have the money by all means buy the equipment, but i got I to casting when I was 13 and figured out how to hand sling cast before I got my centrifugal casting machine because I didn’t have the means to buy one. And as long as you have a brain and understand where molten metal may go if you do mess up you will be fine.
But some people will forever be stuck on “just buy the equipment” hence what i said a second ago about I can make it work just as good as a professional without the fancy equipment.

Thwheless,
You said you can have the same success
as a professional…
Try slinging a 3"x7" flask with
350 grams of silver, let me know how
that works out.
So I do not think sling casting a ring or
two would be equal in any way to what a
“professional” needs to do.
I could not make a living using a sling
caster, and it is far riskier than vacuum, steam
casting, centrifugal, cuttlebone, or tufa
casting.
Craig Dablers has a sand casting system.
http://www.diycastings.com/
I certainly would not feel like a
“professional” slinging metal in Denver in
the snow in the winter.
In Oregon, during fire season, a lit torch
outside would be breaking the law.
No goggles or protective clothing?

Wow dude I’m talking about doing it for fun, I never said I could get the same quantity as a professional, i said quality. I have been doing it for years and it has been working every time, i use a centrifugal casting machine for my customers now because its less risky and you can use bigger flasks with trees but made the video for people who want to start out for very cheap.
I dont claim it is something professionals and jewelry stores should switch to, it is something that not a lot of people have tried and i thought I would share my knowledge on the subject.
Sorry for trying to share this information and help the person who posted about it originally I guess ill try taking this technique elsewhere.
-thomas

I loved the video and if I were younger, I might try that. One thing I
should add, is that whenever I cast, I make sure to wear heavy leather
boots…just in case of accidental hot spillage of any kind. Johnny

1 Like

Watching sling casting can be fun. There’s a video clip of a sling caster
presented by the Pt-Guru Juergen Maerz, former Director of Technical
Education for Platinum Guild International, USA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN0rmyPf54k
Ptshort.wmv - YouTube.

Of course, there are many bargain ways to get into (centrifugal) casting, as
we at Ti-Research know by heart. There’s an ultra-low cost sling caster
dating back to the late sixties of last century shown in the image which was
formerly used in a dental lab (metal spill not shown).

You may pay for a make-over of your shop and your physician’s bill or just
go for safe and reliable equipment from this century.

There’s a reason why we filed a patent for our palm sized, compact and SAFE
centrifugal casting machine.

Experience you have to make yourself – we assist you to avoid some of them.

Sandor Cser

Hello
In the fall of 1961 I was in the Army as a Dental Lab tech and was
assigned to 2nd General hospital in Landstuhl Germany. Imagine my
suprize when the Dental lab staffed with German civilians were casting
by hand. We had a good Centrifuge caster but the German techs told me
that the only way a artisan cast gold was by hand. I was gobsmacked. I
never had the courage to try it myself. Too many things to account for.
Torch, Gold, casting ring glowing red hot, molten metal and my lack of
coordination…YIKES!'Needless to say I let the Germans do their
thing and when I was reassigned to the states i used the Kerr caster.
I never did screw up my courage to try the hand casting.

Mike

Sorry, my opinion is that with sling casting
there is more risk than steam casting, you
can get the same results and it is much safer.
Your words, "And as long as you have a
brain and understand where molten metal
may go if you do mess up you will be fine."
And, "make sure you are away from
anything that can catch fire because you
will almost definitely sling molten metal at
one point or another."
I assume that means metal might go flying
through the air?
I also think protective goggles might be
appropriate, safety issue.
I have noticed over the years, people
who are concerned with liability issues in
suggesting processes that involve risk.

I’m getting the impression it’s not something I’d want to demo in a crowd of people. Hi Richard. Hope all’s well in California.
Dick Stromberg
Ah Mexico! Where “C” on a faucet means HOT, and “M” on a restroom means THE LADIES ROOM.

Good morning Orchid folks… and as I am here having my second cup of coffee on Sunday morning 9/17, and I am still reading about ‘Sling Casting’ I don’t think any Jewelry Supplier would have them as stated above. It may still be a fun thing to do in your back yard as a curiosity item, but very dangerous, I still believe that a Horizontal Centrifugal Casting Machine mounted inside a Tub is the way to go for the professional jewelry maker or hobbyist. You know how to find me… Lucadent@verizon.net or www.LucasDentalCompany.com Have a pleasant Sunday morning, regards, Richard Lucas where ‘M’ on a restroom means “maybe” :wink:

I guess “M” on a restroom means maybe in Mexico too because of all the non-Spanish speaking men who don’t know “M” is for mujeres which means women.
Ah Mexico! Where “C” on a faucet means HOT, and “M” on a restroom means THE LADIES ROOM.