Laser cut: Pewter moulds

My studio has amassed kit for just about every hobby over the years (except knitting). I was looking for lollipop sticks and came across my pewter moulding kit that I’ve had for ages but never properly used… Turns out you can use your laser cutter to make wooden moulds:

I designed the piece in Adobe Illustrator, and it’s three layers thick: backplate, shape and then engraving. The cut shape has air holes to allow the mould to fill completely either side of the pouring spout. I cut these from 1.5mm birch which gives the final thickness of the pendant. Dust with talcum powder before clamping together. Pour the molten pewter into the mould, cool and then turn out, saw and file off the sprues and voila – a rather nice pendant if I do say so myself. 22mm diameter. I’ve strung it onto 1mm leather thong with sliding knots.

Given the first pour turned out perfectly, I’m now reticent to do any more! I was expecting several failures, e.g. not filling the mould completely, not turning out once cool, so to have a correct mould, pour and finish for the first time was either a fluke or shows I did my research well… One benefit of pewter is that it easily melts, so if wrong uns happen it’s just a matter of chucking it back in the crucible and trying again.

UPDATE:
It turns out I was quite right – the first pour was a fluke as subsequent tries with different designs and moulds proved somewhat frustrating as time after time the pours weren’t successful. Here are two more designs that I eventually got the mould and the pour right. The first features one of my hand-drawn mandalas.