Gothic Chair repair

 I do this not because it is easy, but because I thought it would be easy.

If I'm being honest I knew this was going to be challenging. I traced, scanned and imported the outline of the back into Vectorworks and cleaned up all the lines before exporting the dxf file to Alphacam to apply the toolpaths. I glued up the new material from Quarter sawn White Oak and cut out the bulk on a CR Onsrud panel pro router. There was a bit more post processing than a had wanted but I was able to achieve the look ii wanted with a few hours and a carving chisel. I added some Gilsonite tinter to the varathane walnut stain to really darken the grain lines. In the end I'm pretty happy with the results of remaking this broken back on this chair for a friend.

As I received it

Lots of tool pathing.

Medieval Cast Pewter belt

I had wanted to create a medieval style plaque belt for my wife for some time and finally talked my self out of all my excuses.

I wanted the belt to reflect elements of her registered SCA heraldry, shown below but not be an exact copy. 

I decided to cast the plaques in pewter since the material and equipment was relatively inexpensive.

About $80.00 for the casting furnace and I recommend getting the Lyman Casting Dipper to make your life easier.

Next, I designed the part in SolidWorks exactly as I wanted, then printed the STL file on my Creality 3D printer using PLA plastic. This provided me with the positive image, including a sprue, needed to create the high-temperature silicone mold.

With a bit of rubber cement, I secured the part to a smooth surface. Then, using Mold Max™ 60, a high-temperature silicone, along with some reusable mold forms that  I 3D-printed from an online design, I poured the catalyzed silicone to create the mold. in two operations to create a front and back.

I ended up using a pair of soapstone blocks that I had to clamp on either side of the silicone mold to act as a heat sink but could still only cast 6-8 at a time before needing to allow the mold to cool.

After some clean up and polishing i mixed a clear slow curing epoxy resin that I added some liquid pigments to. this needed about 24 hrs to cure. 

Once the plaques were complete I used the posts to attach them to a leather belt that I lined with felt after all the setting was done. For the closure I used a 1 1/2" removable pin hinge and riveted the two haves to the leather.

It weighs in at 2lbs 15 oz which makes the belt hang just as I hoped.