Dick Bonham Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 Hi Bart, I wouldn't try spinning the mold unless you have a centrifugal casting machine. Good chance for molten metal to float around. If you have large enough sprues and your piece isn't too intricate just do a gravity pour. Most sculpture is cast that way. You might want to add some vents. Here is a picture of a wax gated (sprues) and ready to invest. There is the pouring sprue and vents to let the air out of the mold. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunderlich Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Hi Bart, a centrifugal and vacuum casting systems are quite expensive , to sling the mould by hand needs some exercise.... What might be a fairly good alternative to these methods is "Steam Casting". I never tried this myself (I trust more or less a professionell founder), but I think if your items are not too big is could be well worth a try. It seems to be in use in asia today (I am not sure if this is a traditional asian method for casting small and complex items ) as well as in western workshops. I collected some links regarding this. Tibet-Steam Casting 1 Ganoksin Tibet-Steam Casting 2 Ganoksin Donn Norris - Steam Casting Tutorial and the fourth link leads to and article regarding the sprues, gates and vents in jewellery casting. I think this is something very important and might avoid some frustrating experiences. Ganoksin - Sprues, Gates.... If you should try this, let us know, I am really curious about this... regards, Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnus homestead Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Hi Bart, I think Dick and Karl are giving you some good advice here - I also thought of suggesting the steam casting method - I've got an old manual on it buried somewhere in outdated stuff in my shop. Dick's photo of his model all ready to invest shows the right way to sprue for a gravity casting - I have done this quite successfully with some ojects that were too big for my centrifuge. You really do need an oven to burn out the carving wax at a temperature of 1350 F. I will be redundant and repeat the advice I gave and Dick gave about Not Pouring Molten Metals into Cold Molds - the results can be truly dangerous! If you have an outside space where ventilation is not a problem, you could actually build a small oven with firebrick and use Propane or natural gas to fuel it - there are books for sculptors out there that detail the making of such furnaces. Best of luck with this - Hey, I just remembered that you could also set up a solar oven with the right fresnell lens and get that type of temperature. I have notes on this, but have never tried it yet. Magnus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Bonham Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Hi Bart, The Donn Norris - Steam Casting Tutorial that Karl put up is a great simple way for you to cast metal. Complete directions are given . Safe and easy. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_art79 Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 Hi Karl, that tutorial from Donn seems very good! Gonna try this one I think... Will have some time left this week so I'll let you guys know if it worked! Thanx again Bart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Meevis Posted January 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2008 Oh Boy, I think I fluffed this one I been so busy with work and my blog that I have not been here for a while Bear with me...I shall have a visual tutorial on my website concerning casting and moulds by the weekend. I have been working on one for some time and this has given me a klap to get it finished.... Promise. In the mean time, just for funs sake , I put a tutorial on how to make a titanium St Maarten map up. Check out http://www.meevis.com/jewelry-making-class-st-maarten.htm Cheers Hans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Meevis Posted January 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2008 Co incidentally, I was pointed to this site today . Some nice pictures of sand casting. Called Delft Clay process http://www.syberg.be/goldsmith/make_a_ring.htm and some more of this technique at http://www.enamelandtiffany.com/spectechn/delftcasting.htm It is good for on-off castings that are quite heavy. Models with thin sections need to be spin cast. Cheers Hans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Meevis Posted January 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 Hi all, I put up a tutorial on how I cast a simple ring. http://www.meevis.com/jewelry-making-class...pin-casting.htm Comments and crits most welcome. Cheers Hans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalvinDrews Posted November 23, 2008 Report Share Posted November 23, 2008 Ive always just used a blow torch. The hot air makes short work of wax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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