Crusoe the Painter Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 So would there be any interest in this? I've been wanting my own Spincaster for a while. But the cheapest professional ones are $2500+ (for a small jewelry one), and I've seen the kind of figs that Zombiesmith is capable of producing on their admittedly bare bones homebrew spincaster. So looking on the net, I think it should be pretty easy to build a solid, affordable hobbyist spincaster for <$1500. And then I realized other people may be interested too. So would anyone here be interested? The end result of the kickstarter would be a set of plans/instructions for building your own spincaster, suitable drawings for custom parts, including eMachinshop files ready to go, and extensive build documents, photos, and a howto guide. I'm thinking $2000 basic funding level for the caster supporting 9" molds, with 'stretch' goals including such items as support for 12" molds, Variable Frequency Drive ( Variable spin speed support ), vulcanizing frame plans, even some video tutorials on casting and using it. I think the base 'buy-in' would be $20 for a DVD of the plans/documents. $5+ would get you mentioned as a contributor in the docs. Other higher pledge amounts might include things as a set of the parts you can't buy off the shelf ready to go ( mostly the spindle and mold holder ), or comissioning and casting of a custom figure of your own design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokingwreckage Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Yeah I'd be in for this. Probably about $30 no questions asked, if that's an option. Above that will vary week to week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistwalker Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 You have my interest, and probably cash too if you go ahead with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe the Painter Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 So I am thinking benchtop size, 9" mold support, Interior baffles for keeping metal out of the mechanics, a 'lid' and safety interlock for the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe the Painter Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 Been pricing out the custom parts, and I think with the custom hardware needed including a 9" mold frame for vulcanization, building the spincaster will come in at $1500 or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper_the_2nd Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 I'd likely be in to support this. I know nothing about sculpting, let alone casting, but the idea of being able to cast stuff at some point is very cool. Heck, I'd support it just to see what other folks can make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisler Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Don't you another device to make the molds with though? Spincaster by itself wouldn't be very useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe the Painter Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 Yes, you need a vulcanizer mold (mentioned above), but you can compress the mold using C-Clamps, and cook them in your oven. Its what Zombiesmith does. The 9" mold frame is the 'can't get it off the shelf' bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe the Painter Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 I've made small molds via this method, using a jewelers mold frame and vulcanizable mold rubber used for jewelery molds. Works great. Unless your figures have unusually deep cavities, this should work fine. And you can't cast too big of a figure in a 9" mold anyways. A 9" mold should be fine for 28mm figures, and multipart medium sized monsters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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