Making Talismans, Do-It-Yourself Methods Options

I will describe two ways to produce magical talismans from metal, having used both ways numerous times and having found them satisfactory. The first we will call the "cheap" method, and the second we will call the "laborious" method. I will leave the process of enchantment up to your own ingenium: this will detail the manufacture alone.

The Cheap Method

Get a piece of the sort of metal you want, about the right thickness, and cut it to a convenient shape using metal shears or a coping saw. Copper, tin, silver, and gold can usually be purchased in sheets, and this may save you some time. If you have something like a copper pipe for a start, simply lay it against a hard surface and bash away at it using a hammer. A nice 8 lb. sledge with a short handle proves most effective.

When you have the flattened sheet, engrave your design. You can use an engraving tool or even a nail. if you can do it carefully, and have no engraver, try tapping the design in as little pinpricks with the nail and hammer. This method requires very little skill, very limited resources, and can produce aesthetically pleasing talismans given a good starting material or a very thorough working.

The Laborious Method

You can do this with a whole set of professional equipment for an expense of anywhere from three to ten thousand dollars. What follows will keep your work in the "under $500" range: still expensive if you have a low budget, but not out of reach for someone who really wants to make these things.

1. Begin by carving a sheet of wax into the shape of your finished talisman. Decide whether to engrave the design, or to have it raised. I like to use the latter way, and to this end affix wax wires to the original wax plate by melting them along the edges with a hot needle.

2. Fix your wax design to a small cone of yet more wax, slightly at an angle. If one side has no features, let that side face downward.

3. Mix a batch of plaster. For lead and tin talismans, you can simply use plaster of paris, but for anything else you will ant to use a hardening silicate called "investment plaster." I like to mix this stuff in a box with a plastic viewscreen and arm holes to avoid inhaling any of the dry particles. Make sure you stir it well to remove bubbles. Paint the wet plaster all over the wax design and base, using a fine brush. You might even want to use a second coating.

4. Once dried, cover the entire wax mould setup with a tube of paper, tin foil, or anything that seals at the sides and bottom with an opening at the top. Let the base rest at the bottom, and the top of the tube (called a flask) sit at least half an inch above the highest part of the wax design. Duct tape can help you here, so can plastic wrap. Mix more plaster, and fill the whole tube, trying to get the bubbles out by pouring slowly and tapping the side as it dries.

5. Let it dry for a full day. Do not rush this step, it will lead to certain failure. When fully dried, heat the whole flask until it melts out all the wax and the plaster shines white. A burnout kiln is helpful here, but you can manage with a small fire-grill, especially if you have some sort of covering for the same.

6. Remove the hot flask using tongs, and place it into a "casting sling." By this I mean a small basket affixed either to an actual casting centrifuge or to a long chain. Any sort of apparatus whereby the flask may be spun around very rapidly at short notice will suffice. A typical casting arm has a spring-loaded arm with the flask dangling from one side and a weight on the other, allowing you to wind it up and affix it with a pin until you want it to 'let go' and spin. Do this step quickly, but not in haste.

7. Melt the metal in a crucible. A steel cooking pan, previously prepared, will work for lead or tin. Just heat up some fishing weights or an old lunchbox, and wait for it to melt. For precious metals, use a torch with oxygen and propane available at hardware stores. For a crucible, get one from a dental or jewelry supplier, it should cost around ten dollars. A firebrick worked out to have a divet and a pourig lip will also suffice. While the metal melts, it is helpful to add a pinch of boric acid to ease the flow of heat and to remove impurities.

8. When the metal looks like a shiny rolling ball or similar lump, immediately pour it into the flask. Be sure to use a red-hot flask. if you are not using a casting arm, have an assistant bring you the flask right when the metal is going into it, fresh from the oven. Handle the flask carefully, as the design is held along the interior and is fragile.

9. Immediately let the casting centrifuge go. If you are using a chain, spin it around in a circle, so the metal goes to the interior of the mould. Practice this beforehand, and make sure the flask will not disintegrate or bump anything.

10. Dunk the whole flask in water. Wait for the debris to settle, then extract it and brush off the remaining plaster.

11. Cut away the base and stem with a saw or file. Polish the talisman with a file, sandpaper, and finally polishing cloths. If the metal looks blackened, it needs only to soak in a weak acidic solution, and for this hot water and muratic acid are most common. Buffing wheels and compounds can be used to add final lustre if desired, and the talisman can also be cleaned by steam or ultrasonic devices.

This is how you can do it. I suggest practicing with simple designs first, and then adapting that to rings, pendants, adornments for weaponry of art, and so forth. If you had wanted to do this, you will eventually want to upgrade your equipment, and there are many catalogues for these tools.

Greetings Imperial Arts,

Excellent post, thank you very much. I have a few questions

1. Where can one buy the necessary equipment ? Are these things you can find at Home Depot, or are there specialty stores (perhaps an online company)?

2. From your experience, what can you tell us about working with different types of metals (i.e. gold, silver, bronze, lead, etc)? I know very little about this, but I assume that they each have a different melting point and have their associated pros and cons. What is a good metal for a beginner to start with to practice casting?

3. What material should one use for the "basket"of the casting sling?

4. I assume the "tube"should be the same diameter as the wax mold, is this correct? Also, how long should it be?

Man, it would be great if you could upload some photos of the tools you use (along with some of your final products). You can do this by adding the pics as attachments to your posts. Once you do this, you are given an option of "displaying the attachment" in the post itself. Alternatively, you can start your own Photo gallery in the Gallery section. Anyway, thanks for post

F

This post has been edited by Faustopheles: Jan 7 2007, 08:12 PM

1. Where can one buy the necessary equipment ? Are these things you can find at Home Depot, or are there specialty stores (perhaps an online company)?

I buy my casting gear from dental and jewelry suppliers. It is entirely possible to improvise on any piece of equipment and get acceptable results. I heartily recommend "Practical Casting: A Studio Reference" as the only operating manual you will need.


2. From your experience, what can you tell us about working with different types of metals (i.e. gold, silver, bronze, lead, etc)? I know very little about this, but I assume that they each have a different melting point and have their associated pros and cons. What is a good metal for a beginner to start with to practice casting?

I recommend beginning with lead or tin. These have low melting points, and you can obtain them easily from fishing weights or ornamental tin. As a kid I used to make fantasy miniatures by pouring lead into moulds made from hard-drying clay after melting it over a barbecue grill in a disused saucepan. Since "Saturn" and "Jupiter" talismans (to remove obstacles and to obtain wealth) are often made in lead and tin, you can work out the details of getting better equipment from the success of these first steps.

Gold and silver and copper have high melting points, and to melt them you need a torch with oxygen/propane mix, gas tanks, tubing, and regulator valves. There is always a bargain to be found when buying these things. For talismans, I recommend using pure metals, 24k gold and .999 fine silver. The expense is worth it, and lends a certain dignity that cannot be gained by going the cheaper way.

I have never worked with bronze.

3. What material should one use for the "basket"of the casting sling?

A standard casting arm has a metal backplate with two long bolts leading to the part attached to the "swing" mechanism. If you're using a chain-sling, you can just run two 9-inch bolts up through a backing (even wood will work, though you will want to cover it in several layers of aluminum foil) and attach the bolts to a metal bar running through the end link on your chain.

4. I assume the "tube"should be the same diameter as the wax mold, is this correct? Also, how long should it be?

The mould needs some edge-room, at least half an inch on all sides. More is OK but unnecessary. A steel pipe is fine for the flask. Attach the wax base to clay or rubber, then put the pipe down over it and pour the plaster in over the shell-coated mould, tapping the side to release bubbles. When it's dry, remove the clay base, and you should see the wax base sticking out. this makes the hole for pouring your melted metal when the wax has been removed by burn-out.

I might add that this is not difficult (even though there are specific processes and some essential yet obscure tools), and that an enterprising person can make an enormous amount of money by creating fine jewelry and other items in precious metals. For jewelry purposes, you will want to use 18k or sterling silver. I amalways amazed at the number of "career options" that are never given consideration in the educational system. There is a matter of acquiring supplies, advertising, etc... but the basic skills are at least enough to merit $15.00 hourly wage at the lowest-quality jewelry stores, or making rings and knife-hilts for bikers. This is how I began, and now we sell two or three works in the $70,000 range weekly. If you have any artistic talent at all in this media, your profit is limited only by your vision and your venue.

Happy casting!

Thanks Imperial Arts for that awesome instruction on professional casting!
and the Pics really made it easily understandable.
I have a question on the ceterfuge; I couldn't make that out in the pic series, is that to spin off the excess casting material? or does that process Fill the mould thouroly with the metal? thank you very much as this stuff is very interesting,

Also about Esotericas method..can you just make a clay(or other material) open top "flat mold" and then just carefully pour into that being careful to not overflow the metal?

Lastly: would one of those mini-oxy acetalyne torches form the hard ware store be sufficient to melt lets say silver?
Thanks for the class

This post has been edited by Lightning777: Jul 26 2009, 12:53 AM

I use a propane/oxygen mix with a wide multi-outlet torch. This will melt platinum, reduce steel to sparks in seconds, and melt gold like butter. I don't know much about other sorts of torches, but silver needs a hot and consistent flame in order to be melted thoroughly, as it conducts the heat out from itself very quickly.

The centrifugal force pushes the metal through the mould and fills it. The force of the swing causes the gases inside to be pushed out, whereas gravity might not be strong enough to press the hot metal into every tiny crevice.

Interesting... can't beat doing things yourself.

Have just had a cloak tailor made and have been thinking about making some gemstone cufflinks to go with it.. several... appropriate correspondences for the planet I may be working with but am having problems finding decent clasps or backings for them.. would be easier to have a clasp set that can open so varying gemstones can be used perhaps... unsure... would also be good to have a clasp set ring also.

Hoping this will be my introduction into jewelry making for talismans later on.

Any advice?

Peace
.M.

This post has been edited by Mchawi: Aug 21 2009, 12:40 PM

If you wanted to buy base metal cuff link backs in gold-tone or silver-tone, you can buy pairs for about 8 dollars a dozen. Bezel backs in 20mm sterling cost about five dollars each. It shouldn't be a big deal to buy several and set them individually, rather than move the stones around from one to another. If you are working with something high-quality, it is best to set the stones and leave them in place.

I prefer solid-back cufflinks. This is just my personal preference, but they are also easy to make from a whole casting. To make a movable-back link, from scratch as opposed to using a pre-fabricated piece, you'll need flat sheets of metal. If you want to know how to make one, get a cheap one and tear it apart to see what makes it work. Some people use a short chain and a cross-bar, but either way you just cut the pieces and solder them together. The chief obstacle there is the soldering equipment (a simple iron and lead solder will be too weak), but it is pretty simple to put things together once you've cut the shapes.

You can of course engrave on the back-plates or the stones, use inlays and enamels, or other decorations once the whole piece is complete. If you plan on working with jewelry often, consider setting up an account with a supplier like RioGrande who, while ordinarily for wholesale orders, has a division set aside for hobbyists.