Dan Levinson, at Rapier Wit , asked me to repair the hilt's on some swords because they were getting worn and tended to shift with use.
Above is one of the refinished hilts and below on the right is the original and on the left one of my mis-pours. Because functionality and durability were very important to this build (and the safety of the actors) Dan and I used several different materials and then field tested them. We settled on smooth-cast 325. In an earlier iteration we used pmc 790 and not only was it super toxic, it bent the hilt. not the right tool for this job.
I didn't take picture of building the mold but some of my notes survived (below)
(below) The resulting mold turned out well. to make it I mixed reoflex 40 and bits of silicone leftover from a previous job (suggested by Alex Hurter, great idea)I made the mother mould out of scrap wood and held it together with nuts and bolts.
(BELOW)Is a failed concept. I wanted to make a Keon Key I could click into place during the mould process. I realized the hilt would stay snug for longer if it were moulded directly onto the tang. So, the Keon needed to be in place during the moulding process.
(Below)After several iterations I figured out my plan of attack. This sheet would be my directions (minus the measured amounts of smooth -cast 325 parts a and b, to prevent waste as I made several copies. I wrote this on the mother mould)
No comments:
Post a Comment