Casting Metal

Here are shots I got of metal being casted for hat pins for the scouts. The boys wear the pins on the berets they wear with their uniform. There is a story behind the design, I just don't remember it.


The pewter comes in one pound nuggets like this






it is then placed over the fire in the ladle. Only enough is melted for a single casting at a time.





the metal is allowed to heat up to a good flowable temperature. If it's not hot enough, it might not flow into the mold correctly






here it is being quickly poured into the mold, then it is aggitated back and forth to help it flow into all the cavities of the mold







This is what they look like when taken from the mold. They are allowed to cool, then the extra metal will be removed and pins glued on for them to be attached to the boys' berets.