Oh man...if I could make my own silver or pewter conchos my leather work might actually be worthwhile...are there any tutorials or books you can recommend?
At age 5, I started working for my Dad in his laboratory as a dental technician. By the time I was 8, I was making dentures and gold crowns. The crowns are carved in wax and then cast in dental gold...same process I have used for years to make jewelry and gun parts. Here are some pictures of silver flint cock charms that I make showing some of the centrifugal casting process.
Silver and gold casting of small parts is best done with centrifugal equipment, but can be done in cuttle bone by pouring. The required equipment is a torch capable of getting the silver to melting temperature, a long handled crucible, and some cuttle bone. All of this is relatively inexpensive to acquire. I haven't checked YouTube but there is probably some video info there about the process. Cuttle bone is available at any pet store (parrots use it to keep their beaks in shape.)
Pewter is dirt simple to cast (because of the very much lower melting temperature) in plaster, cuttle bone, wood, and even vulcanized rubber molds. There are many books available on all this. Check the How To books listed on this web site:
http://www.riogrande.com
