# Sand Casting



## partsman (Feb 26, 2008)

A little something I cooked up as I was starting my new entry way for this years haunt. I need a lot of skulls that look like they're made of stone, so I went looking on casting and forging websites and came across sand casting. What they describe there is making something called green sand. The long and short of home made green sand is go to you local home depot and buy a bag of play sand, sift it through window screen and set aside the fine sifted sand, then buy a bag of self clumping cat litter(this is made of Bentonite), and pulverize it, I used an old blender and ran it till it was a fine powder, combine 30% powdered cat litter and 70% sand. Add water a little at a time and mix thoroughly until the mixture holds together when you squeeze it in your hand. This mix will give you a very smooth clean casting, in other words not what I needed for stone skulls, so I started over, this time omitting the cat litter, and just moistened the sifted sand, this worked great, as you can see below. I use Great Stuff spray foam. This method can be used for casting just about anything you can think of from skulls to small architectural pieces, to really big architectural pieces, to Tombstones. Have fun with it!

I started with a cheap foam skull and cut the face off of it ( I have both with and without the jaw-bone)










I use play sand from Home Depot for the mold:










next I press it firmly into the sand carefully packing the sand all around the foam skull










and remove it from the sand










Add spray foam and let dry:










It comes out looking like a skull carved in sandstone


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## partsman (Feb 26, 2008)

That's the long and short of it. I posted this on the other forum, but thought you all over here might like this too.


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## Aquayne (Sep 1, 2008)

That is fantastic! Thanks for the demo.


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## partsman (Feb 26, 2008)

You're welcome, I always need skulls, the nice part of this method is after painting and tea staining it a bit, it looks like an old weathered skull. I love the texture and feel of them.


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## Wildcat (Nov 3, 2007)

That's awesome. Thanks for the pics.


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## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

Nice job!


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Thanks for sharing this. I can see lots of uses for this quick and dirty method.

What other forum ?


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## partsman (Feb 26, 2008)

Bone Dancer said:


> Thanks for sharing this. I can see lots of uses for this quick and dirty method.
> 
> What other forum ?


Halloween Forum.....shhh....don't tell anyone I told you. :winkin:


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## Blackrose1978 (Aug 13, 2011)

Great I get paid Thursday!!! I am sooo trying this!!! I needed a bunch of half skulls for entry way


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## partsman (Feb 26, 2008)

Bone Dancer said:


> Thanks for sharing this. I can see lots of uses for this quick and dirty method.
> 
> What other forum ?


"Quick and dirty! I like that. I was thinking that this could also be used to copy fancy trim for mausoleums and such.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

This turned out really nicely. Does a layer of sand stick to the Great Stuff when you unmold it?


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

That came out well. Thanks for the post. We'll have to give this a try soon.


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

With a bit of tinkering I bet you could make hands with this method too. Just a bit of carving on the top side. A perfect match for decoration on tombstones. 

I wonder if you mixed some white glue (elmers) into the sand if it would make the mold more stable or maybe even perminit . It might also make the mold to tight for a good release . Just a thought.


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## BadMonkey (Sep 7, 2011)

What a great idea! I was looking for a way to make inexpensive plackards and details for my tombstones! This is perfect!! Thanks!


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## partsman (Feb 26, 2008)

RoxyBlue said:


> This turned out really nicely. Does a layer of sand stick to the Great Stuff when you unmold it?


Yes it does, but if you choose to use the kitty litter mixed into the sand method, you get a much cleaner finish (IE: Smoother) with much less stuck to the surface. Since I was looking for "stone" skulls, I chose the non-bentonite method ans used straight sand for my castings.

BadMonkey, I think this would suit your project just perfectly, especially if you're sealing your stones with sand paint or something like that. It would make your plaques blend right in. If you all are going to be trying this let's post some pics up here and see how many different things we can make with sand casting.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

If enough folks are interested in posting pictures of sand-cast items using partsman's method, it will be worthwhile to start a separate thread so as not to hijack the how-to thread


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## ScreamingScarecrow (Oct 1, 2008)

Thanks for the Halloween How to!
Moon Sand from TV works good too for props.


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## partsman (Feb 26, 2008)

madmax said:


> I used this for years and you can also just use damp sand. The dampness in the sand helps the greatstuff to cure. You don't get perfect cast but most of the time who needs perfect.
> 
> Here's a few I made from sand casting...heads and arms my own arms and a head I got on ebay. I use the arms on zombies so I never let them set up all the way. Take them out and work them with your hands to get a bony look .
> 
> ...


I don't consider this hijacking the thread, I consider this collaboration between colleagues we're all working together to develop an idea to make it better for all of us.


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## Blackrose1978 (Aug 13, 2011)

This is a fun project! I am having trouble getting the skull pushed into the sand. it seems like it only wants to go so far so I tried building up around the skull


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## partsman (Feb 26, 2008)

Blackrose1978 said:


> This is a fun project! I am having trouble getting the skull pushed into the sand. it seems like it only wants to go so far so I tried building up around the skull


Yes, pushing it into the sand really doesn't work, I pack the sand into the nose and eyes, press it into the sand just a bit, then pour and pack the sand around the rest of the skull to get the level of sand I need. Then I pull the skull out carefully and spray the foam in.


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## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

Thanks for sharing. This is an easy and cheap way to cast some props.


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## Tortureklown (May 7, 2012)

This is a great idea guys I can't wait to give it a try.


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## dionicia (Aug 4, 2007)

Good idea and inexpensive if you live near a beach or desert.


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## DreadKnightswife (Oct 16, 2011)

dionicia said:


> Good idea and inexpensive if you live near a beach or desert.


 A bag of sand doesn't cost that much.


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

That's awesome partsman!
The technique works great!

Did you use the regular Great Stuff in the red can or the low expansion for doors and windows in the blue can?


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

dionicia said:


> Good idea and inexpensive if you live near a beach or desert.


Ah hell, just go to the beach and cast it there.


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## NickWaka7 (Aug 10, 2013)

what type of foam did you use? I noticed Great Stuff offers different types of foams


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## DreadKnightswife (Oct 16, 2011)

I had some art plaster laying around and did this with. I had some pretty good results! I would say that children's play sand would have probably worked better than the paver sand I bought, there is way too many small stones in it. Here is a link to the one I did...if you can see it on my counter LOL

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...40067860.44421.166617500068844&type=1&theater


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## Death's Door (Mar 22, 2006)

Great job sandcasting the skull. I like it because you can use the sand over and over again as long as you repack it and press again to get the impression like the first one.

I did a similar project using the 2 inch skulls (dollar store) and used hot glue to fill the space. I imprinted five at a time because you don't want to put them to close because the wet sands shift. I used them for my celtic tombstone. 

Again, thanx for sharing.


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## Lilly (Jun 13, 2006)

cool idea..you prob could mold about anything doing this .. 

dreadknightswife..your cast would look cool in an aquarium


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## spookymulder76 (Aug 9, 2011)

That is nifty!


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## typoagain (Feb 27, 2012)

So many neat ideas and so little time . . . .


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## Chops6965 (Jul 10, 2013)

It's been said before but what a great idea and technique! I can definitely put this to use in the future. Thanks for posting this!


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