Sign Ornaments

[joe cieslowski]

I'm up to 19. These are sold as add-ons to my house markers and cottage signs.
The thistle is my newest. The center pic shows the original with a mold wall....the mold...and the casting (plastic) painted with Krylon Fusion.
Do you have a favorite that I don't have ?






Joe,

[Ron Berlier]

Joe, very nice work and a great assortment for the customer to choose from.

Tell us about your casting process. Are you doing it in-house? What products are you using to cast with? What can you pass along from lessons learned during casting?

TNX

[joe cieslowski]

Ron,

I've been casting and molding since the 60's both in college and working in a pattern and model shop. It's a pretty straight foward process. here's a good site that shows the process. http://www.smooth-on.com/howto.htm I use the OOMOO 30 for the mold (mostly cause you don't need a release agent when casting) and the Smooth-Cast 300. The Smooth-Cast is not UV stable so I spray it with Krylon Fusion front and back(that's why the sample in the pic is yellow). Here's another Co. with interesting products... http://www.industrialpolymers.com/rigid ... hanes.html.

The biggest learning curve here is in the model. The mold is very flexable but if you capture it with undercuts......you'll have a big problem. As an example, the trouts tail has a severe under cut but the face of the tail goes all the way to the ground.....this way the tail can slip out of the mold. It's not too difficult to get a handle on. The other thing I'm very anal about is getting a really good seal on the wood. Then 2 coatings of butchers wax (let dry completely before buffing) and a release agent. Your heart will drop if you can't get your pattern out of the mold.

These ornaments take minutes to make and they are a great sales feature for the signs. Some folks buy the signs just to get the ornaments....lol.
I make well over 100 of these each year $26 a pop. Well worth it to me.

Hope this helps,

Joe

[Mike Jackson]

Hi Joe,
I'd add:

• Moose Head
  Moose Full Body
  Elk Head
  Elk Full Body
  White Tailed Deer Head
  White Tailed Deer Jumping
  Mule Deer (head and body)
  Grizzly Bear
  Running Mustang
  Pine or Spruce Tree
  and of course.... an Eagle head and full body
  Great Gray Owl
  Great Horned Owl

Of course, some of these are more regional specific to my area.

[joe cieslowski]

Thanks Mike,

Your comment about regional likes is exactly what came to my mind as I was reading your list. It instantly brought me back to the galleries I see out west. The Eagle head is on my list already along with a dolphin (our regional likes )
Most of the ones I've added recently have been requests.....it's always nice to get paid for the first one . The man and moon and sun are another two good ones.........so many options.....so little time! lol

Thanks again Mike,

Joe

[DAVE SMITH]

Very nice pieces Joe Thanks for showing them.
Dave