immitation wood casting composite, ???

[wildthing423]

Guys , I was at a show at the pavillion here in virginia beach and this man and women had carvings , along the same vein as many and I picked one up and was admiring it and asked what kind of wood it was. It looked like wood and spelled like wood but they told me it was not wood and that it was a type of casting, filling material that they cast in things such as butter molds and loaf pans and when dry carve and finish just like wood. They were very busy and I never did get the information from them about these cast materials that they were carving just as wood. Have any of you here ever heard of such things?



Mark

[Simplyme]

First time I ever heard of something like that. I am now curious to.....

[mark yundt]

Here is a place near me that I , and many of my friends use. They have a complete line but I'm not sure if they have the stuff you're looking for. Can't hurt to contact them.
Polytek Development Corp.
They run from the mold making materials to casting resins that are crystal clear to bronze looking. Neat possibilities.

[Donsexton]

The antique restore types in and around New Orleans use an epoxy with ground pecan shells that looks like stained wood till you cut it no grain but it feels like wood. You need to be more of a plaster mason to make it work I worked for a master carver in the 1970's when we came across this stuff we would ask the customer if they wanted it removed and replaced with real wood 90% of the time they did. Just my two cents.

[wildthing423]

Originally Posted by Donsexton

The antique restore types in and around New Orleans use an epoxy with ground pecan shells that looks like stained wood till you cut it no grain but it feels like wood. You need to be more of a plaster mason to make it work I worked for a master carver in the 1970's when we came across this stuff we would ask the customer if they wanted it removed and replaced with real wood 90% of the time they did. Just my two cents.

Yes, I too, was familiar with this as I have done much furniture repair in the early 70's but being that this is 2009 I did not think that this was what I was looking for. I have seen some one at a craft fair carve all types of cast material but have never been able to talk to her to find out the different types of cast she uses. Well it would appear that what you are talking about is exactly what I was thinking about only a more innovative solution. here is a link sent to me from the owner/operator of one of the types of places that sell it.

http://www.artmolds.com/pdf/awoodcasting1.pdf



Merry Christmas all!


Mark

[Robert Cahill]

I am a bit confused. Do you make a block of this and then carve it or do you make a mold of your carving and then use this to copy it.

[wildthing423]

Originally Posted by Robert Cahill

I am a bit confused. Do you make a block of this and then carve it or do you make a mold of your carving and then use this to copy it.

well, I have seen a woman create molds that resemble bass wood blanks or larger using things like butter molds or brick molds and use them as the wood blanks to carve with, mostly with power carving and rasps and files etc.


Mark

[brent]

Sounds like pecan resin. Make the carving, suspend it and pour the resin into a container that holding the carving, wait for the set up, the you have to destroy the piece to have the mold. Sorry, mold is not made with the same material as the molded pieces will be. The only drawback is that the original is destroyed,

Tom Wolf use to do this ( I believe) to keep up with demand. Now tom, could carve another "original for those thaat want the real wood.

Mitchell can correct me if I have made a mistake here concerning Tom, he worked closer with Tom than I ever did. I just waited until I had enough money to buy an original rom Tom.

[lorax]

I can't imagine it would be very efficient to carve pecan flour/resin. I would think it would be more likely that they were working with a two-part pour foam. Commercial sculptors use it then coat it with a resin or fiberglass typ coating. I sculpted Big Boy's dog Nugget for a restraunt owner who wanted one to sit by his Big Boy at his home. It was really fun, but I still prefer wood =)

[aquilalittle@mail.com]

Hey Don: Do you know anybody who could cast existing wood carvings into this type of material you described that could be used for lamps and chandeliers, etc.? composite material. thanks aquila