Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I've read a couple of excellent guides on here (props to Blackhand), but I'd like to create a more reliable process than gravity casting that can produce larger and more intricate casts (ie. sprues).

After a bit of googling around I found this machine for sale from a couple of places in the states. It looks good, almost too good for the price point (around $400). It claims it's for casting with metal, but I doubt there would be any problems casting with resin (or even molten plastic). Anyone know if this would be suitable for casting up miniatures of a similar level of detail to GW ones?

I've done casting at a professional level before (photo frames!), but I was working with pewter (a very maleable and forgiving material). I used a centrifugal casting process, which spins the mold very quickly as you pour the casting material in, pushing the pewter out to fill the mold. Is the process of casting resin more forgiving or more difficult than metal? I guess resin doesn't need to be heated, so I don't have to worry about the resin cooling before it fills the mold, so is air channelling the only thing I have to worry about?

Thanks.

The cost of the chamber does not include the pump - which explains why it may appear to be inexpensive.

I think most resin casters use Pressure chambers rather than vacuum chambers. The vacuum will pull the air bubbles out - but it will not force the resin into the smallest chambers of the mold.

I've seen some pretty decent casting chambers made with pressure cookers before. Try searching using your favourite search engine.

The other trick with resin is vibration. You can vibrate the mold to get the bubble to the top. I'm sure I don't need to tell you the best place to procure small, discrete, vibrating items...

Anyway, search for Vibration Tables and you'll find some pretty decent tuts out there.

I bought a vacuum/pressure pump off of eBay for around $50. My vacuum chamber is made out of a pressure cooker.

There are some things you need to do to the pressure cooker, for it to work properly. You have to drill out a hole and insert a fitting in the lid of the pressure cooker. Then you have to disassemble or stop up the two emergency release valves on the lid.

If you attach the spurs correctly to your piece, you shouldn't have any issues with the resin getting in the tight spots of the mold.