Now to pouring the collar. You will need a mold, a board with a piece of ½” dowel stuck it in will do, maybe three inches tall. Be sure the dowel fits TIGHT but not so tight that you cannot get it out because you will later chuck the dowel up with the rough casting on it and turn the collar. So don’t glue it in, besides you want to keep any moisture AWAY from the hot pewter.
Make a column out of a piece of heavy paper, I use old file folders, it should be, maybe 1” in diameter and a little shorter than the dowel, the collar only needs to be about 3/4” high but you need a little extra to work with. Try wrapping it around a 1” dowel or a broom handle, tape it closed, make sure the seam is sealed. Put the column over the dowel and tape it to the board, cut some slits in the tape so it will wrap around the column easier. Put plenty of tape on and make sure you seal any escape routes. If you have never poured pewter before you cannot imagine how much can run out a microscopic hole or void. As you are taping try and keep the dowel as centered a possible.
Once everything is taped up you are ready to pour the pewter. Be sure and wear safety glasses, a long sleeved shirt would not be a bad idea. I use a large serving spoon that has the bowel bent into a semi V shape to heat the pewter in and to pour it. I have poured so much that I can tell by the look when it is ready to pour but if you have not, I think someone said if a match stick scorches when it is put in it is ready. Try a couple of practice pours, if nothing else try pouring a line on a concrete floor just to get a feel for it. You can pick it back up and use it again. I use a stick as a brace, like a sign painter uses to brace his arm, on the spoons bowel when pouring. How much do you need…a piece 1” square should be plenty. Pour it in one smooth pour so you don’t get any voids, you can tap the side of the column a little to help it smooth out. JUST BE CARERFUL!
Let it cool and unwrap it, hopefully the dowel is about in the center. It is now ready to be turned to size. I put the dowel in a four jaw chuck (if you don’t have one a ½” Jacobs will do
A live center in the tail stock will help) and turn the collar down using regular wood turning tools, small one are a great help. Sometimes the casting will slip, you can do a couple of things, put water on the dowel and let it swell or remove it and make a jam chuck that will fit. The whole operation takes less time than it does to write this paragraph. It should be about ¾” long, depending on your design, parallel or slightly tapered towards the tip. Square at both ends or slightly rounded at the end where the antler will be. Set it aside, some place where you can find it, so you don’t have to hunt to find it like I usually have to do.
TIM C.
