Looking for a someone who can cast and manufacture items from Brass

[Trevor Abslolon]

Hello everyone,
I'm venturing down a new road. I'm getting into the custom manufacture of Scottish sporrans as a hobby. Many include brass cantles and cones on them.
There just don't seem to be many suppliers of such items anymore. Most parts are made in in Pakistan and sadly the quality and detail on these pieces is for the most part just terrible.
I have physical examples of everything I want to produce.
I'm looking for someone ideally in the Edmonton area who can cast brass and that is willing to do small custom jobs. I'm also looking for someone who can cut brass and weld part but still do it a a reasonable rate.
Obviously most stuff is off-shored because it is so cheap. This of course is reflected in the quality.
I want to stay local because firstly i think that is important and secondly so i can be sure that the quality is up to the standard I want to see on the items I make.
I'm attaching a few images of some of the pieces I want to produce. If anyone is interested and in the area please get a hold of me.

 

[PeterT]

If you do find a small, local, reasonable casting outfit please let us know. On other (model engineering) forums I frequent this is the #1 issue - very few places that have the capability without charging a fortune on low batch quantities. It is very labor & consumable materials intensive.

I'm curious, what stage are you at presently? You have target originals obviously, but molds to make lost wax models for example? Or you are expecting to farm that task out too?

Reason I ask is for 'art' objects like that, may lend itself to 3D metal printing which would yield a modern 'equivalent' of the native material (or other materials such as bronze, steel alloys). Here are some Shapeways objects where people are selling finished objects. You can kind of guestimate mass by size (which is the primary price driver, not profit)
https://www.shapeways.com/marketplace?type=product&q=brass+bell
https://www.shapeways.com/marketplace?type=product&q=brass&facet[materialGroupId]=10&s=156#more-products

and you can google similar images with keywords '3d brass jewelry' etc. Just make sure you see what they look like out of the furnace resolution wise, not just in finished form (=your job).
http://weddbook.com/media/2503862/r...printed-jewelry-in-golden-brass-free-shipping

Another option might be 3D printing molds form which cold cast metal infused resins are poured in. Of course this isn't real brass so that might be a non-starter for you.
https://medium.com/@ZMorph/how-to-c...ds-ready-for-metal-fluid-casting-1baf8e9be102

of course, if you are not set up for generating 3D modeled objects, this is all kind of moot. But just showing some potential avenues

 

[Janger]

I think you should start casting your own. Looks pretty cool to me.

People are printing 'wax' for direct casting from 3d printers.

 

[Trevor Abslolon]

Thanks to both of you for replying. I'd love to do it myself. I would need to take lessons or study under someone local to do this though. I anyone in St. Albert area can help me in this regard please let me know. I'm willing to drive reasonable distance to do this as well and to pay people for their time.

 

[YYCHM]

Is pewter an option? Much lower melting temperature.

 

[Trevor Abslolon]

I'm a novice in this field so bear with me. I would think it is strong enough, though I cannot honestly say which would be more durable, but I think it would be brass. My question would be is it still economical to cast using pewter and to then chrome and or gild the castings? Colour is important. The finished products would need durable brass-like and chrome/silver finishes on them.

 

[YYCHM]

So you want both brass and pewter like colouration? Some of the items in your images look like pewter to me, others are definetly brass.

 

[Trevor Abslolon]

Brass and chrome coloured finishes are what I need. Pewter can polish up I believe but it will tarnish again as well so chrome is better as a finish.

 

[kevin.decelles]

Ok, I'll admit that I googled Sporran. Up to speed now. To get the quality/detail that I think you're looking for, I think you're looking at investment casting over sand. That isn't my wheel house but lost-pla/wax casting is on the imminent horizon to learn though.

 

[YYCHM]

Brass and chrome coloured finishes are what I need. Pewter can polish up I believe but it will tarnish again as well so chrome is better as a finish.

Geee…. polishing your sporran bits and bobs is akin to polishing your brogues Laddie. Calgary Highlanders. Brass and Silver accoutrements. Been there, done that.

 

[Tom O]

You would be better off looking into centrifugal casting.