I've been collecting porcelain insulators for the last four years. The first swap meet I attended was at the home of John and Carol McDougald while they were still living in St. Charles, Illinois. After that meet, I was immediately bitten by the collecting bug, and since then I've wondered about how difficult it would be to produce a commemorative of my own. How much would it cost? Where would I go to have a mold produced? How long would it take to manufacture once I had the molds? So many questions with too few answers!

After speaking with Jim Crandall about my idea, I was encouraged to the point where I decided to pursue my idea, and get this process rolling. I spoke with Dudley Ellis at the Mid-Ohio show last November, and he saw no problem with what I wanted to do. After speaking with the other board members of the NIA, I was informed that my idea would be OK'd by the NIA if I were to clearly mark the pieces in such a way that everyone would know they were commemoratives.

I looked on the Internet, and finally found a company in the Chicago area that could produce the molds for me at a reasonable cost, and with a fast turnaround time. My next step was in locating all of the supplies that I needed to produce the pieces. My initial investment was climbing swiftly! Between the molds (four of them), the cleaning screen, tools, pa sent to the kiln to be fired for up to 12 hours. Once fired, each piece is hand painted three times, and sent back for final firing in the kiln for up to 8 hours. Paying to kiln dry them, shipment to the kiln operator, paint, brushes, and other miscellaneous items, the price adds up very quickly! Not to mention the nearly 5 hours of time that it takes to produce each individual piece!

After much trial and error, I believe I have this process down to a science. They will be available for sale at the show in Wheaton, IL on April 2, 2005. Each piece will cost $25.

A special thanks to people who have helped me over the years: John and Carol McDougald, Tom Nugent, Denley Bryson, Jim Crandall, Ken Willick, arid too many others to mention here.

The molds are filled with the slip, and they need to stand for 30 minutes before dumping the slip from the mold. Then, it stands for 3 - 4 hours before opening the mold. Once the mold is open, each piece needs to dry for up to three days, depending on humidity levels.

At this point, each piece needs to be individually cleaned, sanded, sponged smooth and bases leveled with the screen (in the foreground). Then, they are sent to the kiln to be fired for up to 12 hours. Once fired, each piece is hand painted three times, and sent back for final firing in the kiln for up to 8 hours.

Shown above are the colors available -- Cobalt blue, Pink, Yellow and Firecracker red. 
The yellow is shown next to an actual U 395 for size comparison.

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