So, casting.
Dolphin mold
Here are two sides of the dolphin mold. We have no idea what Doug used his dolphins for, or where he got the original model. Doug made metal molds. While my father has some of them still around, we never use them. My dad makes rubber molds.
dolphin!
The final products
Casting dolphins and sea horses is fun, but not really the important stuff, except maybe to my kid. The important stuff to cast is the more functional bits, such as the handles for beer mugs and candleholders:
My father also casts in somewhat less orthodox ways. Below is a clock he makes by pouring molten metal onto a sheet of steel. Because of this, each one is unique, of course. Technically, it probably isn’t casting, but it is cool.
One of the fun things I learned to do recently was to ‘slush cast’, where you pour the hot metal into a mold, let it cool somewhat and then pour part of it out again. I made bowls by pouring metal into a stainless steel bowl and swirling the metal around as it cools.
One nice thing about it is that if you do it wrong, you just cut it up and drop it back in the melting pot. You do have to be careful, though. This splash of molten metal now embedded into my shoe makes me very happy I didn’t wear my crocs that day.
Becoming a Pewtersmith 