Australian "Cooroibah" Build update 19th dec 2009

[irondance2003]

Now the spare wheel carrier is placed on this one in the last bay of the chassis more of the total weight behind the wheels.

I started this with some 2in (50mm) x 1/4in (6mm) steel strap. Yep I know that is only small for a wheel carrier but I add to it for strength and there is a fair bit of it.
Now the first thing is to get the depth of the tire plus 2in (50mm), Nothing will get you angry faster than while having a flat the spare is stuck in the carrier.

OK all the measurements from now on are your own as every tire will be different.
So I have my depth so this gives me the point for the first right angle bend with a bit extra for the depth of the chassis rails as the end has to be welded to the "X" member just in from the back.
OH and this job will be centered in the chassis.

and the distance apart / how wide is your wheel?
The steel will carry the wheel on the tire itself not on the rim.

Now I don't have a problem with this tire as it fits between the last two "X" members, If yours is a larger tire than you will have to put in an extra "X" member to hold it up.
So now that we have the distance apart for the 2 straps you can cut and weld into place some steel strap to keep them at that distance apart.
I then measured out a further 2in (50mm) wider than the tire and cut the strap at what is to be the back and then rounded off the corners of this cut and then bent them down to form a sort of ramp for when you put the tire in. (see photo below).

Next you need a strap that will go behind these bends and across the distance of the tire and then up at an angle to the back of the chassis.

This strap is at right angles to the rear "X" member so you have to put a twist in it, this is easy to do with heat .
Just put the strap in a vice at say 4in (100mm) up the slope from the bend apply heat untill red hot over the next 2in (50mm) and then with an ajustable spanner (big) set at the thickness of the steel strap slotted over the strap just above the red hot section turn it to the right (you may have to keep applying the heat untill it is at 90 degrees) let it cool or cool it down and then do the same to the other side of the strap same distance up the slope , BUT THIS TIME TURN TO THE LEFT.
It is not a lot but the look is a lot better if the twists go in different directions.
Mark on both the rear uprights where they will meet the top of the "X" member and cut them off.
Then take your carrier to the chassis and tack weld in the 2 uprights, then at the back of the chassis clamp in place the 2 sloping uprights .
NOW these need to be placed slightly higher than the other 2 as this way while traveling the tire will want to stay in the carrier and not bounce out the door.
Measure in from both sides of the chassis and get the 2 sloping uprights equally spaced from the sides and then tack weld and cut off any excess level with the top of the rear "X" member. Now fully weld everything everywhere you can get to.


Try the tire in place.

Yes I know it would fall out sideways at the first corner so lets fix that now.
My steel strap was not long enough to go all the way around the tire and then + a bit so I welded 2 sections together

and when it cooled i bent it around the tire.

Then I took it to the welded in holder and clamped the center of the bend in place at the back of the carrier.

It was clamped to the tire at the center point and then pushed into place and tack welded, remove the tire and fully weld in place at the two rear uprights. ( you will only get to weld the section that touches the uprights).

When cool put the tire back in and run the strap around the tire and clamp it in place onto the rear angled uprights, at the same hight as the welds just done.
Remove the tire and fully weld and then do the same as the bottom section and cut off the excess and round and fold out.



Now I turned the whole thing (chassis) over and got any welds that were missed.
You may notice at this point that I will do any thing to avoid doing upwelds!.
While upside down I added some angle iron to the bottom of the carrier to add strength.


That's it .
WELL ALMOST .....I will add a door to this later when the TD body is on the chassis so that it will not fowl the body and it will be plate steel and carry the number plate and its light (gives the number plate somewhere to sit and will look like it was made for it.

[irondance2003]

Now when I measured this all up to start with I was working on the fact that when I cut out the sides The length across the bottom was the length of the chassis rails + the "A" frame, Fair enough.
BUT I have dropped the walls 7in (180mm) over the chassis rails and this has meant that the floor is now longer by 6 3/4in (170mm).
Good thing I never cut the floor sheet until I am sure of the wall size.
So the extra length was laid forward as I want to use the chassis rails later where they are exposed at the rear.
This photo shows the extra length forward of the bend for the "A" frame.


The arrow shows the bend.
And the extra length means a bigger Kitchen storage area.
The next photo shows you that the ends of the floor are not square , They must be cut to the body (wall) shape.


Now you have the wall shape and .....I MISSED A STEP so here it is.
No matter how good you were with the Jig saw when cutting out the shape you will have bumps and in some cases sections of ply that were missed. LIKE THIS



So you have to run around the whole edge of the walls with one of these big buggers (BELT SANDER)

Hold it down where you can see over the top of it and see what the belt is doing and away you go'
You will be able to see and feel that you are getting a smooth curve.
OK all nice and done?
Not quite get a square and check for the squareness of the edge all the way around.
You don't want this.

SEE THE LIGHT PASSING the square at the top? it means you have to redo the sections that are not square (JUST LIGHTLY) working with the belt sander at an angle.

[irondance2003]

Early I showed you what the walls would look like with the pattern cut from thinner ply, so now I will show you the real walls and how I did them.

This is the door side and you can see the frame pattern that I have worked onto it, the section of the frame that runs around the outside is 3in (75mm) wide and this sheet is 1/2in (12mm) thick.
Across the bottom the frame is the full 7in (180mm) that is below the floor level (this adds weight to the look of the whole and strength as well to mount the wall to the rails) also there is the cutout for the axle and the 2 holes 3in (75mm) are where the spring hangers sit.
(See below)photo of the hangers and how far they are out from the rail.

S here is a run of photos on the cuts.





A bit of the carving

School holidays so you get a helping hand from the locals!.

I have at that point given the whole frame 1 coat of a light stain and the highlight section running down the middle has 3 coats to darken it just a bit.
I also when rounding the edges of the INSIDE of the frame (DON'T ROUND OFF THE OUTER EDGE Roof has to fit to the outer edge) carved into the outer frame and some of the uprights to give the center section the look of being on top of the rest of the frame, I only carved into the glue layer under the first level of ply, Not a lot but looks good.(in my eyes).
OK I'll be back when I have them both Clear coated .

[irondance2003]

Better toss this in as it may help.
To cut a very straight line with a jig saw you can run it along a timber (or steel) straight edge that is set up the distance away from the line that is equal to the distance of the far side of the blade to the edge of the jig saw (but just check that you jig saw blade is centered(if not you must mark the side of the saw that is what you are working off.



Very simple job.
.NOW most times it is possible just to drill a hole in the waste part of the work and then just run over to the line or straight edge.
BUT WHAT IF you want just the line and you need both sides of the line?
Well try this ..
All jig saw blades have a lead tooth at the very bottom of the blade and if by some chance yours has not grind away the tip until you have just the tip of first tooth showing.
Now if you lay the saw on the front of itself and have the blade running in the air above the line and take a firm grip and slowly move forward and at the same time bring the blade into contact with your pencil line, then slowly tilt the saw up while slowly moving in the direction of the cut the lead tooth will dig a line hole for you keep moving and standing the saw up to the cutting position and very soon it wll dig through the timber and you have the hole to start working from for the rest of the line.
Now if your blade is not centered than when you reach the far end of the line you want to cut than remove the straight edge and finish the last bit of line in the other direction



Try this on some scrap first until you get used to the movement forward and down at the same time .
You will know when you are not moving forward fast enough as the saw will give a kick.
And you will feel it as soon as it passes through the bottom of what you are cutting so stop and get the saw down on its base against the straight edge and cut away.
Hope that helps.

[irondance2003]

2 things in this post.
1st is what the side looks like (still in the workshop) with all the carving done and a few coats of clear.

I'll not go into the problem I had with this side as it was coated in clear about 10 minutes before 1 of the Best Dust Storms Australia has seen arrived and gave it a free coat of CRAP.


That's Life
And the second thing.
Well that is of a slightly different matter.
I needed to run a wire to above the bed for 2 lights that will be mounted on a timber section running across the TD internal ceiling and if you have been following this build you know that the main walls are a very thin single layer of ply.
So I had to hide the wire (+and -) so this is what I did.
I routed a channel in the back of the external frame, that drops through 2 holes in the thin ply, 1 end is where the floor is (just below) and the other end pops out where the light board will be.


I stapled the wire in the slot and then used a hot glue gun to fix it so no movement.


There is enough wire at the top to cross the TD ceiling and the other end has enough to run from the front of the door to the rear of the TD just below floor line.
May also put a porch light where it hits the ceiling yet

[irondance2003]

This is the walls next to each other so it's the only time I will be able to see the effects of both sides at the same time.
Now if you look at the last photo in the last post of the wire hanging you will notice that I had to rerun the belt sander around the edge to get them all the same again. DONE.
I am kinda fond of the work of Kenneth Graeme Howard (September 7, 1929–September 19, 1992) A.K.A. also known as Dutch, Von Dutch or J.L. Bachs (Joe Lunch Box)
So in memory all 3 of my TD's have this and here is the 3rd.
Being done with a solder iron old style Poker Work.




small on the sheet



and a coat of clear

"thanks for the inspiration"
OK that gives me where the front of the TD is so now I coat both sides with clear BUT NOT FULLY.
The outside has a wet coat and the inside has 1 as well ,BUT the inside has to be taped off so that the glue between the roof and the sides are clean wood.

I used a 1in (25mm) wide masking tape down both sides of the sheet and across the ends.
When it was all touch try I clamped the front bottom between 2 bits of 3 x 2 (75 x 50mm) stood the sheet up on this end vertical with a slight angle towards the rear , and clamped it to the bench.
Got a trusty 44 gal (200ltr) drum and placed it on the bench holding it in place with a scrap of wood, then covered it with a blanket, I then added 1 sash clamp to the end high in the sky and let nature take it's course about 1 hour later I added some boxes to the bench and as it had bent about 30deg by then I left and will see what is there in the morning.
SO THIS IS TRAINING PLY.

Tomorrow I will mount the sides and as the ply is predisposed to the bend the roof will be EASY. (I hope
)

[irondance2003]

Well it is the end of that tomorrow and the Ply Training is going well, not fully finished but dam close.
This was the shed this morning.

So I put in the block for the high point of the TD and started on the Training for the lead down to the kitchen.

I added a bit of weight to the clamp(in the form of a straight edge so the end was straight and a lump of steel about 1lb (2kg) this is plenty.
That was 8am and here was the photo at 5pm.
.
Not bad if I may say and at this point no stress on me love gravity.
So most of the work of bending the roof is done before I even get the walls up, and so most of the fight has gone from the ply when I put it on.

OK... The first trick in putting up my walls is I need the bed to be level in all directions (across and length way's)

If your TD body is just sitting on the chassis/floor you won't need the bed to be as level (but it helps).
My walls will hang over the sides so I have to be sure that it is (level).
Now I used 2 trolly jacks under the wall (as the bottom of the walls are not square) and I placed it in relation to the lines in the frame work.
From the wall cut out I took the 2 largest sections and used them as squares to hold the wall vertical.

When all was just right and the sides met the floor in the right places I put in 3 self tapping metal screws down the side into the chassis (these will be replaced with some nice dome head bolts later) (when I get into the hardware shop)
I then put up the other wall with the jacks as support and when I felt it was in the right place I ran a level over the bed again to check it was level then ran the level over the high point of the walls (side to side) and checked that (about 1/8in (3mm) to high on the second side) so it was lowered and then fixed with the screws.


(if you noticed a 1/8in (3mm) gap down each side at the bottom of the walls where they meet the floor don't worry there for electric's and a good water seal between the floor and walls later)
That's the walls up!

Now as the floor is only 1/2in (12mm) thick where the roof meets the floor I am putting in a section of timber to build up the contact area
1 1/2in (38mm) x 3/4in (19mm) it was to be on top of the floor but I had (by error) (not thinking) figured I had the length of floor to long by 1/2in (12mm) so I cut it down, WRONG (wall was not in right place) so this section of timber will now go on the chassis rail and butt against the floor.
This section needs to be a good fit as it is the length of all the other sections that go from 1 wall to the other.
So the bottom of it was planed to fit to the floor and then when in place it was shaped to the shape of the curving wall and then glued and screwed in place.



The picture above is where you will need to shape to the wall.
And when it was in place I ran a bead of glue across the floor.

This was to make sure that it was glued fully in place (must have as it never bled through).
Now the next step for today was the OVERHEAD LIGHT BOARD.
This was a section of 4in x 2in (100mm x 50mm) it has to carry 2 LED lights.
I routed 1 side and drilled for the wire's and turned it over and ran a routed grove from 1 end to the far light's wire's, gave it a coat of clear and mounted it between the walls where the wire that is in the frame came out.


I will take more photos of the last 2 processes as that is not enough.
OK more photos
The front section of the roof mount.

This is it when shaped.

and when the glue is dry.
..............................................................
More on the light board.
NOTE the light board is not glued in it has 4 screws that hold it in place from outside the TD, these are 2in (50mm) long and at the top of the board there is a loop of wire so if ever something goes wrong you will be able to take it out and fix. (without pulling the TD apart).


Next photo is of the LED light (there are 2 of them )


And the last is of the fixing screws .
Note .. My grandfather showed me his car a long time back and told me that you could tell if a worker cared for what he was doing "look at the screws the heads all line up with the flow of the timber "

[irondance2003]

Wallet and watch?
This little project is an easy one when you are building a TD.
I like the W and W.
What is it ? A shelf. Just above your head, just big enough to toss on you keys ,wallet and your watch, when you spend some time in a TD you will find that the idea of putting these type's of things down the side of the bed can be fun? yes fun trying to find them in the middle of the night or next morning, so a small shelf fits the bill.
The shelf here runs across the TD at the front 20in (500mm) above the floor level and is just 4in (100mm) wide x 1/2in (12mm) deep.
I always put on some form of barrier at the front of it to stop nasty things falling when fully asleep.
This time around I got some 3/8th in (10mm) alloy tube and made up 2 mounting blocks that were glued and screwed with the screws running up through the alloy tube to lock it in place.
The tube is about 1/2in (12mm) above the shelf and gives easy seeing for the stuff that is on it and it's also easy to clean the shelf off.





As you can see the support for this shelf is 2 small sections of the strut timber running under each end ,These will be trimmed to the curve of the walls later when the glue dries.
Later when the roof is in place I will add a small section under the middle of the shelf, for support (in case you have a heavy wallet)
All the exposed struts in the cabin have been hit with the router and so has this shelf and any of the extra sections that form it.
The small sections are held to the outer wall by glue and 1 screw each side (only 1 screw as I am trying to keep the amount of screws that show on the outside of the TD all in the same line around the frame) This will stray later as the kitchen will have to be held (screwed) in other places.
.......................................................................
Ply Training
Yep it is still ongoing (mainly because I don't have the walls finished yet so why not?)



Nice!!!
................................................................
Struts
The sections of timber that support my roof are fully routed on the show side.

I am not putting in a lot of them as there is no need (in my view) as the whole TD is strong and the ply will have inherent strength when wrapped around the profile.

[irondance2003]

OK just a few photos to finish off some of yesterdays post.
The first is the cut mountings for the Wallet and Watch shelf so that the roof can go on.

And now is the best time to toss on a coat or 2 of clear, because when the roof is on it will be hard to coat.

Now while that is drying I finished the light board.

These are the 2 lights (LED) that are being mounted on the board.

I ran the wires up through the board then ran some shrink wrap along the main wires so when the wires are joined and soldered this will cover the exposed wire join fully.


out with the heat gun and shrink them.

Hell I missed a photo...
The wire has a loop that is under the masking tape where the tape is x'ed it's self in the above photo, the loop is to allow the removal of the light board to check the wiring, if it ever goes wrong (the tape is to hold it all together while the roof goes on and to hold it down )
OK that is up to speed so another post now ...THE ROOF...

[irondance2003]

On all the other TD's that I have built or had a hand in the fun (PUN) part was putting on the roof.
It is just not a 1 man job, So this time I planed to TAME the ply by prebending it to shape on the bench over all manor of things, and I did (LUCKY I'M NOT TRAINING LIONS) it was still a fair way out but it was a 1 man job.
1 of the main problems was that the start of the curve in the roof, right at the start at the chassis.
The rest laid over the body almost like a glove.
So lets do it!

I have clamped the roof at the chassis in the above photo and added a clamp and a bit of wood for weight at the rear to see the fit.

Bit of a miss here.

next photo shows the straps I put on to help hold it down and the section of timber that will be mounted across the front to hold the ply.

Here is the start of the brass screws that hold down the roof you have to trust me that it was glued as well as there was not enough time to point the camera at the same time.
All the screws were predrilled to depth.

Here you can see the fit as the screws pulled the ply into place.

And here are the longer screws that hold the front section and the ply onto other and into the floor.

Now this next photo is a bit hard to explain but here goes.
I am laying a large sheet of ply up over 2 rails (walls) and if I am 1/16th- in (1mm) out at the start then by the time I get to the far end of the sheet I would be out by mobs.
So I started the sheet in place after checking a few times and then using the strap webbing I pulled it into place as best as possible, and it was going to run off by a 1/4in (6mm) at a minimum, so I made a clamp out of a bit of ply scrap with a block screwed onto 1 end and a clamp .This was mounted on the ply roof and across to the opposit wall when a bit of pressure was appiled the roof came back into line by pulling the body of the TD over a bit (later with the big square I checked the walls and they are still at 90 deg so that's good.

So on with the glue and drill and then screws.

A quick look inside at this point (1/2 way through the screws ) looking for glue drips (yes we have some ) quick cleanup and keep going.

Now as I start to get near the end of the roof I need a strut to finish off on.
So I pull down the ply and mark where it meets the walls on both sides.

This strut is made up and put in place, the roof finishes fully on this strut as it will be the start of the kitchen hatch.

Another look inside, where the WW shelf is (nice fit ) later I will run some No More Gap into the corner for a neater look.
In this photo you can see a lighter color on the ply just above the WW shelf in the corner where it joins, that is the section of the roof that is masked off from the clear coat, that is where the offline was starting.

Now to space my screws along the roof I decided that 3in (75mm) intervals were a good look , so I cut a scrap bit of wood to this length and starting at the front marked each as it was needed (well about 10 at a time).

The easy way for this is to put your fingernail on the mark, place the block and mark the next point, again with the fingernail and mark.



Now the strut in the middle has no screws so I have to prop it up untill the glue has dried.(no screws means = never any leaks)

At the rear on the strut I only clamped it until the glue dries = the reason here is that the hinge for the kitchen will be here.

And that is the roof (well the hard bit of it)

Oh and the bit that would not train?

This small bit was between the 2 planks that were the base of the training so it will (I hope ) pull in later, with a bit more pressure on the screws.
OK that's it for a few days.
EDIT .... The overhang on the roof has a reason, it is to form an eave so that there is no need for some form of corner covering (this is a lightweight build with just the single skin roof )

[irondance2003]

OK I decided at this point on a full rear hatch going from floor level up to the end of the single roof sheet.
So to start I cut a section of scrap ply (don't ya love the shape of a TD it gives all this off cuts) to fit from the where the hatch will start and to the floor with enough hanging out to scribe a line.

I then cut out this line with the jigsaw and cleaned it up to the pencil line with the belt sander.
Now I want the inner hatch to be all timber as it is fully exposed when open so I got some timber and drew the line on it, and cut it out.


You will no dought notice that the timber I have selected is far to narrow for this full job.


Have no fear, if you cut so that there is still just 1/2in (12mm) of timber left at the top of the curve then the 1/2 moon section is simply placed on the top of the leftover section and you now span the full curve and have saved on a large section of timber being waisted .


Out with the glue and put them together and clamp it all up.




That was Saturday so I will get it all out tomorrow Monday and post again.
...............

Some photos of the Gap filler under the eave on the roof.


This will get a rubdown with the sandpaper later for the final few coats of clear. (Oh and the photo's were taken before I ran a wet finger along the filler) this filler is water based.

[irondance2003]

Well a bit slow the last few days, it started on Monday Got a good deal on a Jocky wheel at last (on Sale) so put it straight on as I was sick of the plastic box the TD has been resting on.

Now they are useally mounted on one of the chassis arms but I tried to center this one so it was welded on to both as far forward as possible and still be able to get at it, I welded it on both sides of the bracket.
Next I decided to change the self drilling screws that held the body onto the chassis for the nice dome headed bolts that were allways going to be the finish.
Drilled out the first after taking out the self tapping screw and put in the bolt and then started to drill out the second, at some point the drill went through the first half of the chassis rail then jumped into the second side and very sharply stopped, now when holding a big drill at low speed one tends to hang on tight (with hopefully a light trigger finger) yes I held on tight and so did the trigger finger so instead of the drill bit spinning we went spinning (thats the drill and me).


At least the 1 that is done looks nice, and the drugs they gave me for the torn back muscle are nice
So what to do with out bending.
The Hatch.
This hatch has a small gutter down both sides to stop the water and dust from getting in, so here is how I have built the gutter.

Here we have 4 sections of ply that have been cut to match the shape of the walls at the hatch opening.

2 of them are glued and screwed onto the other 2 (just to help with the photos 2 are bigger (wider)at this point.)
The lay back at this point is about 3/4in (18mm) this amount will get smaller as we go on.



They they (even though they were screwed ) clamped untill the glue dried.
Next they were taken out to the TD side and put just inside the wall so that we can see how they are for shape.

Using a square I look for all the points that are higher than the wall, These are marked with a pencil and later sanded down in place just to be sure.



When they are the same as the wall it's back to the work bench with them for a final cut.

This cut was 2in (50mm) down from the side that is staggered (don't toss the scrap)

Now clamp the two of them together and sand the inside curve so it is neat.


Also sand about 1/16th in (2mm) off each end and make them neat.
This will make both of them just a bit smaller for the place that you have cut them for , this will lower them about 1/8th in (4mm) down from the wall.

Now we put the section in place against the wall with the lower section against the wall this forms the gutter.
I glued this in place and clamped it and later I will screw it in place as well, (just glue at this point as it is easy to place with wet glue and won't move later when screwed in place.( here is where the scrap sections come in handy as they protect the outer frame from the clamps.

I will draw this out tomorrow so I can show you what I am doing with the hatch (I draw and than photo the drawing, cause I can upload photos)

[irondance2003]

OK today I went the next step with the hatch gutter.
Here is that drawing that I said I would do.

That should get your head around what I am doing here.
So the first step was to place in all the screws and then fill the holes that were created.

now I am going to use some foam in the gutter so first I get a section of ply that is the same size as the gutter and just sand it a little on either side so that it will run freely down the whole length of both gutters, Than I ran in a fillet of No more Gaps (and using the section of ply that is shaped to fit the gutter) I smoothed out the NMGaps.
OK bunch of photos




When this is fully dry I will clear coat it all.
.......................................
Remember on the frame there were 2 holes on either side that allowed for the spring hanger in the frame,?

Well today I also covered them.
Easy job with some thin alloy sheet, Just mark out some circles on the alloy with a pen. Making sure that they are 1/2in (12mm) larger than the holes all the way around.

Now I never took a photo of the next step as it was messy, I made sure that the holes in the ply sides were coated with the car under body dead'ner so that they are water resistant.
Then I mounted the circles of alloy with some short screws not all of the screws are there yet as I want to see where the Fender will go.

Another trick! when you cut the alloy out the tinsnips will bend down the edge just a bit, This is good ( when you screw them on the bent edge will stay in contact with the side wall)

[irondance2003]

Ever looked at some car badge and wanted it for yourself.
In my case, My second TD has a badge that I collected years ago. It is a reflector with wings (don't know what it was on).
So I want one for this TD also so I am going to show you how I make my own.
Here is the badge.

So I sprinkle on some talc (powder)

Using a soft cloth wipe the powder all over the object and make sure that you get any powder that is caught in the corners with a fine brush, DO NOT BLOW THIS OFF WITH YOUR BREATH, you have moisture in your breath.

The next step is to get yourself a hunk of plastercine spread it out and put it in the sun to warm up (not to much as it will turn to a wet gooey mess)
You then put this on the object and starting from the middle use your thumb to push it firmly onto the object (this will only work with a flat type of object that has no undercuts).

As soon as you have pushed it down, pull from one side and gently remove it



Now lay it face down on a flat surface in a cool place on some clean paper.
We want it to cool down from the heat of the sun.
When it has cooled get some more plastercine and make a dam wall all the way around the shape so that it will hold some wet plaster.

There are 2 here at the same time just in case I bugger 1 up.
I use Pottery Plaster for all my molds as it is very hard and goes off under water very fast .
So I make a very wet mix of this plaster and pour it into the mold slowly (try not to get bubbles) then tap the bench that it is sitting on with a hammer the vibes may dislodge some air bubbles that have formed .
This plaster settles down very quickly and leaves a layer of water on it's self so I sprinkle some more plaster in the middle of the mold while it is setting (just to help get rid of the water on the surface (DO NOT POUR OFF THIS WATER) you will upset the plaster under it.

Just walk away for a day.
As this is OFF TOPIC I will edit it untill I have finished it.

[irondance2003]

OK
At this point it will take me 3 days to catch up with the computer side of the build so here is next installment on the casting of the badge.
Belive it or not I only did this cast today so long time between posts.

now this is the new master after trimming off all the excess plaster (this is about 3 weeks after casting as I was into other stuff and it had plenty of time to dry )
next I gave it a coat of wax using the heatgun to soak it into the plaster.

The reason is that I am going to recast this in plaster to get the mold for the pewter.
HERE is a trick...If you cast up some plaster in a flat thin slab and then when it is dry you grind it up into sawdust type size and mix this with the new plaster for the mold we are making here it will be better protected in the heat that will happen when you pour the pewter, bit along the lines -if you add salt to the plaster at mix up time it will go off faster and if you add lemon juice it will take longer to set.
Ground up plaster in the mix of new makes it heat resistant.
Back to the story .
pour out in a form some plaster about 1/2 in (12mm) deep and then bounce it on your bench for a while so the air will rise to the top then very carefully push the air bubbles off to 1 side than place the waxed master into the plaster letting it sort of float DON'T SINK IT.

Wait for a while untill the plaster mold is going off and then remove the master.(before it is rock hard, Fingernail will mark it very easy STATE)

At the top of my master there is a small chip this is from there being a small undercut in the mold (under cut is when the master is not shaped at the edges so that it is in the form of a wedge when going into the plaster , the bottom of th emaster was wider than the top so something hade to give when removing the master from the mold and in this case it was (lucky) the master that gave way)
Now what you need is the mold to be compleatly dry (put in hot sunny spot for a week or two or in the oven with a slow cooked roast) just get it fully dry (goes white and is very light)
Now ..CASTING.
Go to a second hand shop and get a few old Pewter mugs (Trick pewter is very soft so if you find some in the shop and they want a lot of $'s for it just give it a squeeze and it will bend out of shape and then you can argue that it is worth a lot less.
SET UP
here is what you will need.

Pair of vice grips to hold and pour the tin of molten pewter,
a tin can of some sort (fold in a pouring lip )
some old pewter mug or 2
Your mold and either an OXY set or plumbers torch.
The idea is pewter melts at a low temp about 600deg so the tin will take the molten metal well , so hold the mug with some plyers and just melt it into the tin.

when it gets to small to hold just sit it on the tin and keep going,

and if some large bits fall in than just heat it from the top .

You will note I am using a very low flame -You don't need a lot of heat
WARNING
1 all this is HOT
2 If you have old pewter it will be made with LEAD and if you over heat the pewter and the LEAD boils the gas from the lead is very dangerous, YOU KNOW YOU DEAD type of DANGEROUS.
then as soon as you have all your pewter melted turn off the OXY or torch and then pour your metal into the mold.


This one was a test so was over filled and it also bubbled when it went into the plaster that ment there was still moisture in the plaster and therefore it would be no good casting.
Proof.
Here is that casting.

And that is the good side .
OH well it melts easy and now I just have to wait for the plaster to get very VERY dry and try again.