How to make a simple mold for lost wax casting

Over time all things age and the longevity of a mold will depend on the composition of the mold material and frequency of use. We make a variety of  molds some require metal or fiberglass reinforcement and are not ideally suited for home use but others are possible to make at home provided you are patient and dexterous.

Our frog cabinet pulls are a popular item but we still make these by using a simple gravity pour rather than injection method to create the wax replicas for our lost wax castings.

Animal Cabinet Pulls and Knobs

The frog mold is a 2 part mold that is held together by simple peaks in one half of the mold and troughs in the other half mold that act as keys to tie the mold together. The troughs or holes are created using a drill bit or punch which is pushed into the modeling clay that holds the pattern in place. As this is a 2 part mold the skill comes in delicately building up the modeling clay up one half of the pattern without breaking of the small frog digits.

Once the frog is secure in modeling clay and all undercuts have been filled in we apply 3 or 4 coats of silicone rubber with a paint brush, we use Mold Max 30 by Smooth-on. After the silicon rubber is set we reinforce the mold with a more rigid plaster compound called Plasti Paste 11 by the same manufacturer.

Next we make the second half of the mold which will have the peaks that align with the troughs. First we spray on a mold release agent onto the female mold, we use  Ease Release 200 by Mann Technologies. We then apply more of the silicon rubber to the mold which will collect in the troughs.  We repeat the process described and once we have created a rigid case in Plasti Paste we are ready to start using our mold to create waxes. The release agent allows the 2 halves of the mold to separate, we then can remove the pattern and now we have a hollow space to receive the wax.

Useful sources

https://www.smooth-on.com/

www.moldreleases.com

Celebrating Christmas with Martin Pierce Cabinet Knobs, Capitol Records and Patron

Here at Martin Pierce we celebrate the Christmas season in true Hollywood style. Living in the Hollywood Hills we have a great view of the iconic Capitol records building which every year celebrates the season with an illuminated Christmas tree. This year we have chosen to incorporate our view of the tree and the well known Patron neon sign with some festive cabinet knobs to make a Christmas card. We have also used the vine motif that appears on some of Martin Pierce’s collection off limited edition furniture designs. The card is a collage of photographs with the view from our home as the center piece. Every year, just before Thanksgiving, the Capitol records Christmas tree is lit. It is an event that marks the change of season and is a tradition we have come to love. The tree lights up just before sun down and these days stay lit till about 6:36am.

This year the celebration is also of historic importance as this is the 75th anniversary of the founding of Capitol records. In honor of the anniversary the City of Los Angeles will be proclaiming November 15th as Capitol Records Day. Apanel  has also selected 75 albums from the thousands of recordings made at Capitol to represent the best of Capitol records.

To find out  more about anniversary events and special product releases commemorating the year visit:

www.capitolrecords.com/capitol-records-to-launch-year-long-75th-anniversary-celebration/

Happy Thanks-Giving

We have used some of our cabinet knobs to create a festive wreath to celebrate Thanksgiving, see if you can spot the pieces we used. We will be spending our Thanksgiving with friends and neighbors and celebrating the day pot luck style. To all our friends, neighbors and clients may you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.      

Anne and Martin Pierce

Video Block

Double-click here to add a video by URL or embed code. Learn more

Color As An Accent for Bronze Door Handles

As a large portion of our door handles are cast in bronze we have the ability to add subtle shading to the pieces by oxidizing them and then sealing them with oil and wax. However, those of you who are art collectors will also know that bronze can be finished with more sophisticated colored patinas. Some of these colors, specifically Verde Gris, will often develop naturally on bronze and we have all seen the beautiful blue green hues on the domed roofs of old churches and civic buildings that have developed after decades of exposure to the elements. As our time scale does not permit the patina to develop naturally we are able to create several colors of patina by applying pigments directly to our bronze. To ensure an intense color that permeates the surface we heat the bronze up to 200° and apply the pigment by hand often with a very fine brush. As you can see from the picture below we add a pea-green pigment over the body and toes of our lizard door handle to approximate the color of the Anole lizard.

Green Patina For Patio Lizard Door Lever

We use these hot patinas typically on our nature inspired door handles and cabinet pulls. For an autumnal appearance on our sycamore leaves we use an ox red pigment and for our wasp cabinet pulls we turn to a mustard pigment. Our use of hot patinas on bronze began when we started making our wasp cabinet pulls for our limited edition Ascot series of case goods. The furniture pieces in this collection are all decorated with vine leaf motifs created using a form of japanning, a technique that uses gold leaf over casein to create a raised motif which is then hand painted with colored glazes made by suspending pigments in turpentine. The bronze wasps, some with closed wings and the leader with open wings were made as the finishing touch to the Ascot Highboy.  

Different Ways To Remodel Your Dining Room

When planning to remodel a room many of us begin with the color scheme and build our design from there. While this is admirable it may also unwittingly turn us into trend followers. So what other approaches are there?

Much will depend on the scale of the makeover, is it the entire home or is the scope limited to the social areas of the home such as the dining and living room, or the more personal areas like the master bedroom and bathroom.

Re-upholster chairs that are worth saving

For the purposes of this piece I will focus on the dining room. As mentioned in a previous post, both ends of the age spectrum from the millennials to the baby boomers are moving into smaller homes and making use of more flexible spaces. Hopefully, the dining room as a place to relax and enjoy meals with friends has not fallen victim to this scaling down and still exists as an area demarcated from the rest of the home. If so, look at the furniture and determine whether it can be revived. As furniture makers we are fortunate in having chairs that we made from solid walnut and that were intended to last if not forever, at least for a few lifetimes and that have over the years been easily revamped by new upholstery. If your chairs are worth saving  and are made of solid wood or metal then they can be revived by re-finishing the frame and by re-upholstering the seat or back. If you live in Los Angeles you should have no problem in finding a furniture finisher or upholster but if you are not familiar with how to order fabric what yardage to use, or footage to buy if using hide, then I strongly recommend working with an interior designer. The designer will be able to guide you through the maze of questions about which fabrics need to be backed, how much fabric you will need depending on the pattern repeats of the fabric, whether the chairs should re-sprung and if so whether coil and spring is a better option for your chair frame than webbing.

Replace the cabinet knobs for the defining touch

The dining room can also be remodeled by focusing onbuilt-in cabinets. Built-ins are a common feature regardless of the age of the home and can be revived by re-painting or re-varnishing the doors and frames or by removing the doors to create an open cabinet either with or without shelving. This is how I plan to revamp my dining room and to add the defining touch I will be replacing the cabinet knobs.

Hawaiian Door Pull

We have added a new cabinet door pull to our animal and bird collections and have used the inspiration of Hawaiian birds and fauna to create this piece. The pull is substantial in scale measuring 12” high and 3” wide and can be used either for large cabinet doors or for interior doors.  It is cast in solid bronze and made using the lost wax method of casting which allows us to achieve incredible detail and fluidity in design that is difficult to achieve by other casting methods.

Fusion of bird, vine stem and human attributes for abstract cabinet pull

The pull is a fusion of bird, vine stem and even human features all of which flow together to create an abstract mythical piece.  The pattern for this piece was sculpted in wood and was carved as a 3 dimensional sculpture, both sides having the same design. In the picture we are showing 2 pieces and  by turning the piece over we are able to create pulls that are the mirror image of each other. The mounting posts are attached after the casting has been made and so on this occasion we were too able to create a left and a right pull using one pattern and one mold.

We have named this new addition the “Grand Hawaiian” pull to distinguish it scale wise from the single and double-headed  bird pulls in the same collection.  If you are looking to use other Hawaiian inspired cabinet pulls we also have an orchid stem and bamboo design  to complete your  tiki dream room.

Chinese New Year 2014---Year of the Horse

Another Chinese new year is upon us and 2014 is the year of the horse.  The official new year begins with the arrival of the new moon on January 31, 2014 amid celebrations that include street festivals and art fairs so check your local community to see what is being offered.

In Chinese astrology a horse year is believed to bring good luck and good fortune amid a wild ride of financial fluctuations throughout the world.  Whew!  In reality, that does not seem much different than every other year but I certainly hope the good luck and good fortune hits all of us in the interior design world.

As our products enjoy a worldwide presence we are hoping that the international "financial fluctuations" are all positive.  Here is a list of spots where our custom architectural hardware pieces are currently being enjoyed:

Candy and Candy, located in London, England, chose to have many of our cabinet pulls silver plated for one of their residential clients.  Also in England, the musical group "The Prodigy" selected our Bee passageway sets from our Netzuke collection for their studios.

HOC Architecture and Interiors out of Valencia, Spain chose several of our Willow and Hedgerow sets to decorate various suites in a spanish villa.

A residential client in Switzerland enjoys our sycamore leaf pulls in her home while artist Bruna Arpea from Milan, Italy chose various insect and animal pulls for her bathroom.  We are able to enjoy her artwork as well as we have many of her pieces proudly on display in the dining room of our home.

The W hotel in Singapore, through The Rockwell Group, chose our pieces to use in the entry and other public areas of the hotel.  And we are currently working with Anna Marie Chen of Deco Locks in Panama to set up a showroom and introduce our work to Central America.

Other projects scattered in various spots around the world are in the works and when we are able, we will be excited to share that information with you.

If you would like to view any of the products mentioned above or see our entire collection of bespoke hardware please visit our site at www.martinpierce.com.  And we hope that 2014, the year of the horse, brings good fortune and financial stability to all of us.