INTRODUCTION

In producing Advanced Mouldmaking and Casting my aims are to provide a book that can be used both to advance levels of pre-existing skills and to introduce new techniques and materials that may not have been used previously by the reader. The content builds upon and goes beyond the fundamental techniques and principles described in the precursor to this book, Mouldmaking and Casting (The Crowood Press, 2005).

Some of the processes and materials covered are ‘traditional‘, and the reader may have had some experience of them before. Hopefully this book will address any problems encountered with these. Other processes and materials in the book are relatively new to the subject, being in use in industry but only recently available on the smaller-scale domestic market. It is hoped this book will encourage further levels of exploration and experience of the subject.

Mouldmaking and casting is, of course, not a finite process and the reader may choose to reinterpret certain processes. The options for a particular project are often multiple and varied depending on the requirements of the maker. The aesthetic, economic and timetabled requirements of the particular project in hand will all inform those options in a multitude of different ways. Having the specifications and technical practices for the processes and materials is only the foundations for a project; what the maker does with that information is what ultimately informs and inspires the work. It is hoped that this book can be a part of that process.