ROTOCASTER – How to Build a DIY Rotocasting Machine / Tutorial Part 01

Here in our studio we’re always keep an eye out for new tools to do small series of top grade handcrafted designer toys. To be able mold & cast larger resin toys we decided to start building our own Rotocasting Machine! This is a project in collaboration of Pepe Hiller and swiss based artist Inigo Gheyselinck who does stunning ceramic work. After many hours of research and some technical advice from the very best sources we think we are able to build this double rotating monster! :)

We would like to share all our experience and researches in this continuous tutorial series with our readers! When we have this thing up and running we’ll also share all resources and technical plans here. Our DIY instructions aren’t the only way to build a rotocasting machine so feel free to tweak it to your needs/size and take this more as a guideline. If you have questions or helpful suggestions & improvements about this rotocasting tutorial please drop a comment or send us a email to info [at] pepehiller.com 

Now let’s get ready to rumble!!! :]

Before we start with a quite large project like this, it’s essential to do some technical researches and find suppliers for the hardware you will need. When everything is more or less definite about the materials you want to use, you can start to draw building plans. This is the most important step and if you do this properly it can save you a lot of time and money!

PEPE BRASS BRANDING – Signature Tool for Wood Toys

After the first wacky try to make a branding tool (HERE), i made me new tiny brass branding iron stamp for my wooden toys.

This time, instead of using a common font, i did vectorize my signature and let the CNC mill do the work with a our smallest 0.3mm drill. Afterwards i made a brass mount with M2 screws for holding the stamp plate in position. The signature stamp is approx. 15mm wide. I still have to get a good feeling how long i have to press on different woods till the signature is burned clean into the surface.  So far i’m pretty happy with my new tool and it heats up very nice while clamped into a 40W soldering iron.

Now all my new wooden stuff will get some hot mark on their butts for sure! ^____^

PEARBLOCK – “Pepe” Brass Branding Stamp (Version 01)

I’m a huge fan of brass, it’s really easy to work with it and it’s perfect for my next small experiment: branding my wooden toy hordes! I used the CNC milling cutter to get me some small brass stamps with my name engraved (first attempt was a miss, because i forgot to mirror inverted the letters…urgh!). I used a soldering iron and needed some patience with the sightly goatish PEARBLOCK guys, but finally i got the result i was looking for!

There are also a few pictures of a new wood fellow, i call him the PEARDEER! I finished him with a nice and shiny semi gloss finish, hope you like him…

Product Review – Wax Carving Pencil / Waxer

Today the Wax carving Pencils found their long way from Shanghai to my Studio. I thought about to build me a DIY wax carver out of a soldering iron, but for now i’ve found a solution about a week ago on ebay. Shipping was free and fast but the Swiss customs duty was pricey. The product name is “Dental Lab Electric Wax Carving Pencil SJK-II” and the list price was 89$, so i suggested a price of 80$ to the seller and he agreed…maybe you could go even with a lower price…i  would definitively try, if i had to buy second one.

For some first impressions, watch the short slide show movie of setting up and testing the wax carving pencils.