Metal casting using laser-cut molds - Make a Pewter Keychain or necklace

Pewter is a very easy metal to work with. Because of it’s low melting point, it can be poured into molds of a variety of materials. You can even melt it at home on the stove! At the Node, we have a small electric melting pot and will be using it to head up pewter and pour it into a acrylic molds made on the laser cutter.

In this workshop, you'll learn to design a necklace pendant using design software on the computer, make a mold for it using the laser cutter, and pour molten pewter into the mold. Once the metal cools, we'll remove it from the acrylic mold polish it, and add a hole with the drill press.

Please bring a laptop with CAD or design software installed, if possible. Inkscape is free and can be found here at https://inkscape.org/en/download/

You'll leave this class with a lead-free pewter keychain or necklace you designed and made yourself. As always, if you don't finish on Tuesday night, you'll be able to come to our typical weekly Thursday Open-Hack and use the space.