Thursday, December 31, 2009

Goodies in the mail!

There is nothing I relish more than getting packages in the mail. The more the merrier!! I like a steady flow. If a week goes by with nothing, I have to up the Zoloft dosage :-/. Today, I received some leather Tudor shoes and a coin pouch from my buddy, IGMA Artisan Carol Cook! I adore them! They are fantastically made, as I knew they would be. I may not have a Tudor house yet, but when I do, these prized pieces will be ready and waiting ;-). I'd like to see her make other leather goods as well, since I do love them! Hint hint...

The second thing I received a few days ago was the Chinese soup spoon that I had Linda Master carve for me! I am so pleased with it- it's exactly what I wanted. So delicate and fine..and smooth! And yes, perfectly shaped, just like the real thing! You can't tell from this angle, but it dips down in he back, too. My mission now is to have a master mold made of it and reproduced, so that I can use them for my Chinese soups and stuff :-D








12 comments:

  1. gimme your addy ;)

    and i think your email has rightfully relegated my mails to the trash again ; ; just like mine has wilfully marked all incoming personal mails as read -_-"

    HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! *tosses spam-flavoured macadamia nuts around*

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  2. Now that you have your Master-full carving you need a master of mold making as the next step. You don't want a single pour mold, you will want a bunch of spoons lined up in a row in the same mold that all fill by means of sprues from the same recess.

    The original piece you have will first create a single piece mold to make duplicates from. That original piece is always held in reserve to use for this purpose as molds do wear out over time. Those first casting duplicates are then used to create the ganged up mold that will be your production tool.

    A jewelry artist is a good person to have make your molds for you. Try giving Jim Pounder a jingle and see if you will make you a mold. He teaches mold making and being a manly man is of course easily influenced when the request comes from a pretty woman so be sure to include your photo with your request, rflmao.

    The material your spoon is made from is high density tooling foam. I sent it to Linda so she could do this type of project. Wood is not strong enough for the purpose. It can be coated with primer, this is something your mold maker needs to know.

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  3. HAHA!!!!! Happy New Year, Cindy!! I am going to go digging through my monster spam folder again. You can try miniaturist59ATgmail.com! Sustitute an @ for the AT (like you didn't already know that). I'm keeping my mouth closed if you're going to toss spam nuts at me, though :-D!!!

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  4. Wow! Looks like you have been busy! I just got back net access and now spending tons of time catching up! If you wanna chat I will be on fb.

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  5. WOW Karin, you are incredibly knowledgeable about all this stuff :-O!! Thank you for steering me on the right course, because I had no real clue what to do next. So THAT is what my spoon is made of!! I knew it wasn't would...I thought maybe some kind of stone or something. Well, thank you again for sending Linda the tooling foam!!!

    Ok, I will contact Jim the mold maker. I will have to do a bit of photoshopping to erase some bags and zits, and maybe add cleavage to my pic, though. Actually, the cleavage would be beyond my PS skills. I would need 3-D imaging or something. ROFL!!!!!

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  6. Speaking of molds... I think now it is the time to go buy some alley goop! :P What you can do is to make the putty, immerse the object with the alley goop (make sure to put something in as a pour spot), and then cut the alley goop in 2. You can put the mold back together with rubber bands, pour resin in, and let the magic work out that way too.

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  7. Can I just say that I can't stand Firefox? I USED to love it, but it the last couple releases have been NIGHTMARES. I am back to IE, although I am running the 64 bit version, which doesn't play Flash. AAARRRGH!!!!

    Ok Betty, huh?? So I would be making resin spoons!? What about ceramic or something? Or at least cold porcelain? Betty, you are an ace at mold making, but this would give me a classic migraine. As in, having to go into a darkened room and lay down :-/. I don't think I was meant to make my own molds. I just want the freaking spoons, damnit! Who do I have to sleep with??? Oh yea, Jim the mold maker :-D!

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  8. Alley goop can be used for poly clay or cold porcelain for that mold too. Firing that off a regular kiln I think is out of the question as the silicone can only reach so high of a temperature. :) I have been experimenting on mixing liquid air dry clay as well. It should be fine.

    I think you can make your own molds! You can do it! Just give it a try. You would not believe yourself!

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  9. The latest version of Firefox is not so bad but I have downloaded 4 browsers : Chrome,Safari, IE8 (remember to dl the java script or you can't do internet banking), Firefox.

    Those minis you got are great. Didn't know you collect them since you do not have a house.

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  10. OK here is something you guys are missing that is an essential step in mold making. You must have some way to register the two halves of the mold or they will slip and you will have a mess. Easy enough to do, take something like a bamboo skewer or a dowel. Coat it lightly with vaseline or mold release. Stick it into the Alley goop or whatever you are making your mold with. Once the mold sets remove the registration pins, cut your mold in half. When you go to use the mold put the pins in to hold the halves in perfect alignment.

    Registers in molds are also called keys.

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  11. Susan, I do buy some occassionally, just to look at and in preparation for a house. Damn, any house this point!! Yea, I do online banking too, with IE. I used to love Firefox but it has just gotten progressively worse for me (with every new release) :-/. Not just my computer, but mom's too! It is sooooo slow. Maybe I'll try Opera next?

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  12. Karin, isn't that what Betty used the rubber bands for? To hold the two halves together? You guys, this is sounding more and more nightmareish!! The only time I thought about making a mold before was when I wanted one for my clam and oyster shells.

    Someone needs to start a company for manufacturing difficult to find accessories for food makers!. Chinese spoons, correctly scaled egg cups, chopsticks...stuff like that. If they can make miniature bongs, why not a freaking egg cup?? I think I will have someone, like that guy you mentioned, make me the mold, Karin ;-)!

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