Machining and Casting Recycled English Pewter Workshop Magnets

This film follows me making a number of novelty (though hopefully useful) workshop magnets. The plan was to make 36 (6 sets of 6) to give away, in the end there were nearer 50. This is the most of one thing I’ve ever made!
------------
I begin by machining the cast pewter bars from my previous film ( • Identifying, Melting a... ).
When my parcel of disk magnets arrives I’m reminded that “the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten”, and embark on some testing to see how good or bad they really are.
As is entirely normal for me I suffer from another case of project creep, and take a meandering detour from my machining to try directly casting the molten pewter.
When it comes to assembly time I realise winter has crept up on me and adapt my mini mill’s rust prevention heater to warm things up.
Finally I make a tubular cutter to prepare the foam insert for the presentation tin.
------------
Why pewter? Why not! I’ve machined wood, plastics, various brasses, bronzes and copper, steels, cast iron, titanium and anything else I can get my hands on to play with. Part of the fun of my hobby is seeing how different materials behave, and what can be achieved with benchtop tools in the home workshop.
Any imperial conversions are ballpark at best, just so non-metric viewers can keep up.
------------
Chapters:
00:00 - Machining Pewter
02:16 - Magnet Tests
04:13 - Adhesive & Prototyping
09:07 - Mould Making & Casting Pewter
16:30 - Cleaning, Polishing & Buffing
18:22 - Warm Box & Magnet Assembly
20:53 - Presentation Tin Preparation
------------
The polishing compounds I used (in order of appearance) in the film are (no affiliation):
Yellow: Dialux Jaune Compound
Green: Menzerna 439T Pre-Polishing Compound
White: Dialux Blanc Compound
Red: Dialux Rouge Compound
Yellow: Menzerna P175 Superfine Compound
------------
My thanks go to ‪@JimTaylor42‬ for getting me started on Design Spark Mechanical, which I've used for the 3D visualisations.
------------
Manually subtitled for accuracy - Press the CC button
------------
Shot: HDC-HS700 1920x1080 50P AVCHD
Edit: FCP7 ProRes 422
Mic: DR-05

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

The foam hole cutter and air extraction was pure genius. In fact, this whole project was pure genius. Thank you for sharing 👏👏👍😀 Happy new year to you. Looking forward to more inventive content . 😀

[@SeanBZA]

Yes, that cutter is great, as I have used a similar style of cutter in the past, that had an ejector in the chuck so you could clean it out. 6.3mm hole, and a lot of work on the cards that had been punched out to 4mm, too small to use. Took about a month to finish the lot off, using spare time here and there.

[@westweld]

This is a really good channel you have here

[@bilbo_gamers6417]

Your content reminds me of Clickspring a lot. There's so much attention to detail and care that goes into your work. It's all so clean. Very admirable.

[@imantss]

gives me "How It's Made" vibes in the best way!

[@Pushyhog]

my top 4 channel yearly, now another year to enjoy this channel 2023.

[@venksb]

I am a big fan of this channel. Although, I have never worked with lathes and the other machining stuff, the detailed explanation, along with the lessons you have learnt while making this, helps ordinary people understand how things are made. You have a wonderful problem solving mind, I love that the most, tools are secondary, the thought process is so much more important. Thanks so much and I look forward to your future videos. I have watched every one of them.

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

Thanks for your kind words 👍 🇬🇧

[@teodor103]

Hey, I am very saddened by the fact that so few people came to watch this video. I really like Your channel. Hopefully the public will come back! awesome work.

[@Jims-Workshop]

Really interesting project and very well presented. The ejection of the foam plugs was indeed genius, as was the use of the silicone tubing as a collapsible mold so it wouldn't get stuck. Thank You!

[@phylippusvonhohenheim3232]

The foam hole cutter and air extraction was pure genius. In fact, this whole project was pure genius. Thank you for sharing

[@robwgeorge]

Wonderful presentation. I have to admit. My favorite bit was using compressed air to "extract" the foam plug. Well played.

[@krieghound3931]

It's amazing watching someone who's capable of performing fine detailed work. I myself am not good with exact measurements. It's why I became an electrician

[@F1DesignUS]

The air gun trick was cheeky and genius!

[@traxxgoingwild]

Lovely execution. A real pleasure to watch what you come up with.

[@azizabdullah8993]

I enjoyed watching you make molds. I wish you would do practical courses and attend this course.

[@mrporridge2304]

Aye, agree with Andrew... I think the "pop" when that first plug came out is the most satisfying sound I've ever heard hahaaa! Great little project showing lots of techniques to achieve the same outcome. Your inventiveness when using everyday items is ace... well done! 😎👏👍

[@reaper060670]

Great skills on the lathe mate.. I really enjoyed this video.. The craftmanship u showing here is phenomenal bro.. Love to see this on YT

[@robertmanssen5261]

Bloody lot of work.

[@SwissplWatches]

That was epic, thank you for sharing!

[@campbellmorrison8540]

Love the foam cutter. Very nice finish. Im impressed that cardboard tube would stand the molten pewter, Im going to give that a go as I have no rod and it looks like fun. Cheers

[@rowandunn2403]

I don't comment all that often but seeing your foam cutter with the port to blow air in was beyond clever, keep up the great work!

[@oldcomps]

Really great video as always, your video's are really enjoyable and I love your perspective on the things you do, I only wished there were more.

[@artisanmakes]

Really going above and beyond. I really enjoyed the video and I'm looking forward to what's coming next.

[@chopper3lw]

I can't imagine this being done more exquisitely.

[@Jacksparrow4986]

I love that you discovered pewter. Being able to recycle failures at home feels like an awesome learning environment and making stuff from basically scraps, energy, tools and time must be awesome. More pewter (or other stuff that can be reused at home) content please, cheers from germany!

[@lumotroph]

Beautiful video!

[@stephanc7192]

Beautiful

[@IBWatchinUrVids]

Quite an interesting project. It also made me realize how little free time I really have >.>

[@sucreglass]

And yet another fantastic video, thank you so much for all the efforts you put in your projects, it's always a real pleasure to watch it.🙏

[@jimsvideos7201]

Lovely work! Thank you for all the ideas and the time you put into sharing them!

[@KazeshimaD]

Such a great channel you have here. I love the relaxed but detailed presentation style, reminds me of Clickspring.

[@mrrgstuff]

Really good video and lots of useful techniques demonstrated. Interesting to see how well the reclaimed pewter cast and machined. I had wondered if it was suitable for a project I have in mind, and it looks like it is. Thanks 😀 👍

[@TrPrecisionMachining]

good video

[@jkelectrical]

You are nutty! Great Video.

[@gregwmanning]

That was really interesting Merry Christmas

[@nefariousyawn]

I dig your style. Thanks for sharing!

[@CraigsWorkshop]

Excellent video, and excellent fridge magnets. I like the way you think, and all the smart ways of solving problems you came up with. Very enjoyable. Cheers! Craig

[@mikoro88]

All around very nice! I mean, the video as well as your craftsmanship is of pristine quality! Very enjoyable:)

[@MidEngineering]

A lot of interesting stuff going on in this very nicely produced video!

[@daveschroedersworkshop4479]

I was just watching Rustinox. He showed your sticker and mentioned your attention to detail. Hence, I searched for your channel, watched this video and have just subscribed. Very nicely done! Now I have to go through the older videos as well! Looking forward to more content.

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

Thanks for dropping by. You'll always be welcome!

[@joell439]

Your a very good man 👍😎👍

[@edpopelas2844]

Fantastic video!

[@howder1951]

Great video, loved it.

[@frvo]

Love your videos. 👏🏼❤️

[@AlHackel]

Thank you for the imperial measurements. While I work in metric almost as much as imperial my brain is still wired to default to imperial.

[@TheKnacklersWorkshop]

Hello Matt, A good video... got me thinking about a couple of things... Have a great new year and I look forward to watching more of your videos in 2022. Take care. Paul,,

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

Wishing you all the best Paul

[@JohnJones-oy3md]

I sure hope there's a card in each tin with a QR code link to this video. It would be a shame for the recipients to be unaware of what was involved in making these.

[@pakiw2]

This foam sands very well. I use that as fancy foam for sympathetic noise dampener underneath strings of headstock of a guitar. Still can't find its name to order bigger sheets of it I had to source it from shipping boxes, hard hats ))

[@Chucking]

That was a bit excessive! However I loved every minute of it

[@bilbo_gamers6417]

British Man tries not to build a factory challenge (impossible)

[@jayc6159]

For the last bit I would have used 10mm EVA foam and cut it with my glowforge, but there’s many ways to skin a cat 🐱

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

I had to Google Glowforge. Looks like a cool machine! Thanks for watching 👍 🇬🇧

[@TracyNorrell]

I would like to know more about how you reuse your cuttings, please

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

They just get melted down again, ready for re-use. Thanks for watching!

[@SeanBZA]

Yes if you make sure to keep the cuttings separate from other cuttings, simple enough to melt them down again. Lead alloys are low melting point, so easy to recycle using simple equipment, plus you can filter out the dross and slight impurities using some stainless steel mesh, held well above melting point of the alloy, as a filter to catch them. If the contaminant is brass it will simply dissolve in the alloy anyway, though you can make the allot a lot harder by putting in old battery plates that contain Antimony, which will make it a lot less ductile, but much easier to machine, and also improves the ability to withstand small dents.

[@deeedwards7572]

New guy question: so to "Reuse the swath" you'd simply melt it down?

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

That's right. Straight back in the pan to re-melt.

[@HanstheTraffer]

I was going to try and make refrigerator magnets...But now I see I need a advanced degree in engineering plus a full machine shop...sigh

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

There's more than one way to skin a cat 😉