Help with replicating decorative trim on a phonograph?

[startgroove]

I've used Harvey's method before except with a few slight changes. I use oil based modeling clay to build a dam around the part to be case. Then I use Pledge, sprayed onto a small paint brush and applied to the area inside the dam. This makes an excellent non stick layer. Place the cabinet on its side or back so the area to be cast is facing up. Then use the RTV to cast the mold. After the RTV sets up, carefully peel it away and clean off the clay dam. The clay can be found at hobby stores or on Ebay. I got some RTV silicone and 2 part casting resin off Ebay recently. The cleanup of the cabinet is easy, use paint thinner or mineral spirits to get rid of clay that has stuck to the wood and to clean off the Pledge residue. Cheers, Russie

[alang]

Then....OHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOO.....there went all but 2(!!) of my Brunswick 135 door screws!! Ohhhhhhh boy...and they're pretty small and we have lots of nice healthy grass to hide them. I was so angry with myself for not putting the screws in a baggy as I always did in the past. So if anyone might have some door screws for a higher end Brunswick please let me know.

Doug

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Similar thing happened to me once with some special small screw jumping into the grass. Took me half an hour and a strong magnet to find it again, otherwise I would have been screwed

Andreas

[FellowCollector]

Then....OHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOO.....there went all but 2(!!) of my Brunswick 135 door screws!! Ohhhhhhh boy...and they're pretty small and we have lots of nice healthy grass to hide them. I was so angry with myself for not putting the screws in a baggy as I always did in the past. So if anyone might have some door screws for a higher end Brunswick please let me know.

Doug

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Similar thing happened to me once with some special small screw jumping into the grass. Took me half an hour and a strong magnet to find it again, otherwise I would have been screwed

Andreas

It's great to work outside on nice sunny days but when tiny phonograph screws are being removed or installed or even handled...I never seem to learn my lesson. I get caught up in the progress I'm making and seldom remember to take time to find a container or place my work over an old blanket to catch the tiny screws if they try to escape! We do have a big magnet on the end of a pole too. Maybe I'll try it. Considering the aggressive manner in which I shook my shirt who knows how far they might have landed. Thankfully, the screws look to be fairly common sizes unlike some in past years that I've searched hardware stores and online for with zero luck.

Doug

[Cody K]

Hi Doug -- That's an interesting challenge, all right. I have a similar repair that's needed on my XVIII, which is missing a section about as long as yours in a similar place. What I expect to do is use a block of clay about an inch thick -- thick enough so that it's not very flexible, but flexible enough to conform to the curve of the door. I'll take the impression from a section of existing trim that has as little curve as possible, bend it to match the door's curve, and shim underneath it with more clay before filling the mould with epoxy, to make sure it doesn't lose the curve under pressure. I haven't made this piece yet, so this is just theory at this point; it's especially challenging because the trim isn't much thicker than a wooden kitchen match, but I feel pretty confident it will work.

I noticed that in your original post you mentioned something about letting clay dry. It's important to use the sort-of-waxy, non-drying kind of modelling clay; it's slightly greasy so it tends to release from the trim being copied cleanly and easily. When lucky, as I was in the case of the missing Credenza part, it even copies the wood grain, making the replacement part, once stained, even more credible. The clay comes in blocks about the size of a pound of butter. Plasticene is one well-known brand, I think. I've had my stock for so long I don't remember what brand it is. Good luck with this project!

That's a sad story about the screws! Have you tried a strong magnet in the area where they were lost? Might find some of 'em, anyway.*

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*Suggestion void if screws are brass!

[need4art]

Both methods can be used-both the clay that hardens and the one that does. If you use the clay that hardens, be sure and use a release agent of some kind and it helps to put a depression close to the part that you are casting so that you can get it out of the mold. If you use the non drying clay just be careful not to flex it or you can distort the shape. A release agent is not necessary with this process.I usr both methods it just depends on what I am casting.
Abe

[Cody K]

Abe, I haven't used natural clay for this type of mould-making, so I'm curious about when you'd choose to use that. It seems to me that it would be appropriate for a large-figured ornament like a rosette of some kind, or something like that. But it has a natural graininess that would seem to make it unlikely to pick up fine details like wood grain, for example. Also, do you find that it shrinks when it dries? It also seems to have a natural habit of leaving behind a slight powder -- is this mostly absorbed into the releasing vehicle, and so easily wiped away? Does its porousness cause any problems when casting in it? Do you find that it's prone to shatter? For what sort of project would you choose it over an oil clay?

[On preview, that paragraph reads like the Spanish Inquisition, which, of course no one expects, especially around here! Sorry...]



(Also -- I was pressed for time earlier and didn't see that the magnet idea had already been brought up. But hey...great minds and all that... )