Chez 106 FM Plaque...
My best work to date...
(Warning!!! Heavy graphics please be patient)
This is the original artwork I submitted to Chez 106 FM's promotions dept... I've included it as a reference for comparison to the finished product.
After completing the first course of my Foundry certificate, I wanted a project that would exercise as much of my new skills as possible and would provide some spin for theworkshop.ca
So I approached Chez with the offer to make this plaque. My motivation was to treat this job as though they were my best customer, so drawings, courteous correspondence, and periodic updates were part of the job beyond the physical work of designing and making the plaque.
The two images above are the 2nd attempt at the castings that were flawed in Sec #13... These have simple gating and fairly good detail. The flashing and rough finishing, including the cutting away of sprue, riser and gates took just over an hour.
This is a mild bath of cynuric acid that is approx 400 ppm (parts per million), diluted enough that the gloves aren't really needed but strong enough act as an etchant for the raw castings.
The castings are scrubbed and rinsed in the bath as a prep prior to priming.
The etched castings are air dried quickly over the wood furnace on a rack.
Notice that the castings have mounting studs embedded in the directly into the metal.
This saves time on not having to drill and tap threads, as well as the risk of drilling through the plaque, and ruining it.
Above on the left the castings are painted with a Zinc Chromate primer that has excellent adhesive properties for Aluminum. On the right the castings are mounted on a working jig that will also act as a template for drilling the final mounting holes on the cherrywood back-board.
The finer finishing/sanding is done on the board and the first of 3 coats of hi-gloss enamel is applied.
After the first coat is baked onto the plaques the surface polishing is done.
Two more coats of enamel are applied with minor surface work, between coats. The third coat is really just a minor touch-up job.
Promo... Promo... Promo...
This fine DeWalt Biscuit joiner is prominently featured, not only because it's an excellent machine, but to add "DeWalt" to the growing list of possible supporters that should feel free to send theworkshop.ca any tools or monetary remuneration they feel is appropriate...
In actual fact I have to thank MacDonald Construction located in Prospect Ontario for the use of this rig, and Ted Cruise for dropping it out.
I won't belabor the fact that I once felt that wood work was beneath me, as this is a skill that is part and parcel of taking my casting to the next level.
Standard Glue & Clamp... yet another job is to make a more permanent fixture/bench for this kind of work.
The castings were mounted and the contour established, scroll cut and routed with a very subtle edge profile.
I found that the castings had too high a contrast to the wood grain, and opted to air-brush the same hi-gloss enamel around the edge to soften the wood metal interface and unify the two in a sense.
There were 2 coats of "Diamond coat Urethane" prior to the black, and 3 more coats over the air-brushed black to achieve a nice luster.
This is the final part, an ID tag that will be affixed to the back of the plaque...
This is CNC'd into a 1/16th" Alum plate and screwed to the back...
As a known "Self-Promoter" do you think I'd miss a chance to "brand" an original theworkshop.ca piece?
All castings are branded at the back, but their obscured by the wood...
And this is the finished unit... I have fussed, obsessed, agonized and sweated over this project more than any other to date, went out drinking last night and will deliver in the A.M.
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