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Happy New Year - what's your new year casting resolutions?
Happy New Year - what's your new year casting resolutions?

PTownSubbie’s 10th Anniversary Reflections by Fred & Tina Wissen

If you are new to casting, you may not know or remember the struggles we also endured when first pen blank casting with molds in June of 2009.  Fred Wissen (PTownSubbie) often shared his initial molding attempts and results on IAP – Penturners.org for feedback and advice from other pen makers.  As with most hobby casters, Fred explored all the popular beginner designs of blank molds as he developed his own vision of tube-in casting. You name it, we’ve tried it - silicone caulk, PVC pipes, vertical tubes etc.  Fred methodically eliminated each beginner trial before moving to the better quality silicone we use today – doing everything he could to improve his molds each time he came up with a new idea.

October 17, 2009 – MOLD MATERIAL
I have been experimenting with casting over the last month.  I have some molds made from silicone caulk but want to make some better molds to fit my needs / desires.  What material does everyone use to make their molds? Links to products would be very helpful! Thanks! Fred

 After a year of his personal trials, Fred started selling his molds to other casters.

September 10, 2011 – PTownSubbie Molds

I am offering 4 types of molds and have been for almost a year now. Ask around, you will find plenty of supporters of my molds and they can give you the advantages over others. I make the following mold styles:
1. “Tube-In” casting molds: Allows you to cast objects on your tubes such as labels or snakeskin and anything else you can imagine. These molds use stoppers that go through the side of the mold to plug the tube. The stoppers are reusable for multiple casts and provide a good seal of the tube. The molds can be used under pressure without fear of leakage past the stoppers. I have used them up to 50# of pressure with no leakage. These molds are also somewhat universal in that if the tube size is “close” in size for what the mold is made for, it may fit. An example is the $20 + shipping for the two tube style and $40 + shipping for the four tube styles....(please visit penturners.org for this complete post text)

History of PTownSubbie Mold Making by Fred Wissen

We thank all those who have purchased and/or offered feedback on our products!

Here are some of the earliest documented mold ideas to show how our current designs evolved from Fred’s past experiences.  As PTownSubbie’s 10th anniversary of mold making approaches, this has been a fun project to celebrate our business progress and achievements over the last decade.  Our success is based on a foundation of professional conduct, timely shipping, and community support of many great friends and casting customers! 

December 9, 2009: Fred’s first attempt at tube-in casting molds featured the old style silicone extensions to hold the brass pen tubes in place while clear casting. As it goes with most inventions, there were some great failures first starting out (no laughing guys)!  Fred quickly discovered from his own clear casting experiences these extensions easily broke off after a few uses. This design flaw encouraged him to find a better solution for casting, not realizing how much of an impact the results of his years of research would have on the future generations of mold casters.  So the story of PTownSubbie began…

2010: Though Fred first introduced tube-in molds through friends he met from IAP where he was nicknamed PTownSubbie, we also established a business reputation - Fred Wissen Designs LLC, using our first pen website - luv2turn.com.  As he tinkered with other mold ideas to cast pen blanks in silicone, Fred continued to add various block/blank designs.

2013-2017:  We continued to expand our pen making supplies through our second brand domain - PTownSubbie.com.  We also purchased our first CNC machine to add the name of the pink mold series.  As casting trends evolved for tube-in, blank, and block molds, we phased out most four blank molds and focused on two blank molds for the tube-in designs during this period. 

2017:  We upgraded the pink mold series to a more epoxy friendly blue silicone design. We also started publicly selling our HDPE molds, in both custom and standard mold block / blank sizes.

2018:  We most recently changed our business name to Wissen Design Inc. but continue to use the PTownSubbie’s brand trade name and website. We sincerely appreciate all our customers’ support we continue to receive and create many custom molds in both silicone and HDPE designs. Our molds are available through Chad Schimmel at Turner’s Warehouse in Gilbert, Arizona, and online from our business headquarters in Chesapeake, Virginia.

PTownSubbie.com – Casting Molds & Supplies
Casting Molds - Resins - Mica  Powders - Mold Release –
Mold Racks - Rolling Jigs - Templates - Tubes

 

Why PTownSubbie?  Fred’s trade name is based on his prior service as a US Navy Submariner for 28 years prior to starting this business and we lived in Portsmouth, Virginia, (known as PTown locally) at the time.