lost wax casting

Should I let it go?

lesliereilly — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:56:57 -0600

So I have this large sculpture that I have kept with me, moving around the country, that I made in college what feels like a hundred years ago.

it is a 3' x 5', aluminum, lost-wax casting. i remember EVERYthing it took to creating this piece.

missing sprues

rayj — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 08:03:45 -0600

Missing Sprues: I’m a newbie to lost wax casting. My biggest problem is “missing sprues”. As shown in the photo, one sprue was lost on this brass casting. I have had similar problems on several occasions, resulting in incomplete castings. This item was cast using vacuum assist. It was cast in a 2 ½ x 3 flask. I used Kerr Satin Cast for the investment material. The flask temperature was 1100 degrees F and the pouring temperature was 2000 degrees F. Other castings came out OK. Help will be appreciated. Thanks.

Missing Sprues

rayj — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 08:02:04 -0600

I’m a newbie to lost wax casting. My biggest problem is “missing sprues”. As shown in the photo, one sprue was lost on this brass casting. I have had similar problems on several occasions, resulting in incomplete castings. This item was cast using vacuum assist. It was cast in a 2 ½ x 3 flask. I used Kerr Satin Cast for the investment material. The flask temperature was 1100 degrees F and the pouring temperature was 2000 degrees F. Other castings came out OK. Help will be appreciated. Thanks.

4:00am Burnout Thoughts

lesliereilly — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:53:02 -0600

Up late again. In and out of the studio as I wait for the tumblers. Thinking about how happy I am that there is metal clay and PMC because it allows me to create in metal without having to wait to be able to afford all the accoutrements that go with lost wax casting, forging, etc., etc. as I continue to build my metalsmithing studio...

Help with bronze casting

ksquare — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:35:30 -0500

Hello everyone. A few years ago I built a small furnace and played with the metal casting process. I tried both aluminum and bronze. I have not work with any of it in a while. I now have some peaces that I have sculpted and want to make some bronze casting. There is so much information out about the process its easy to get confused. I will be making rubber molds of my work and casting wax into them. I will then attach the proper runner bars, gating, and pouring sprue.

Dog Sculpture Continues

Mantrid — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:26:11 -0500

Further progress on the dog sculpture. Its been raining here all week AGAIN. However, today I was off work and the rain stopped, so I got myself set up to do the casting this morning. Below are pics of the results, but first some pics of the shell application.

Anyone used fiberglass mold to cast their wax model?

ck — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:46:28 -0500

Is it possible to use a fiberglass mold to pour a wax? If not I suppose I'll have to pour a fiberglass model to make another mold from. Any suggestions or experience out there?

New bronze and steel sculpture

GeorgeMummert — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:10:45 -0600

Here is the latest in casting and fabrication for my own personal work. The base is fabricated plate weathering steel and the sculpture itself is cast and fabricated from silicon bronze.

Designs for a wax burnout kiln

Jason — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:50:46 -0500

I am wondering if anyone has plans or suggestions for a wax burnout kiln? Currently we are using a kiln which is constructed out of an oil drum, which work well, but it is loaded from the top making it difficult to get the molds in and out of the kiln. Majority or the bronze sculpture object which we are casting are within 6"-2.5' in height, so I was thinking of a front loading design might be a good approach.

Which casting technique to use?

Maddahorn — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 06:13:02 -0600

Hello,
I'm new to this stuff but have been pondering and reading about casting for some time now. I rebuild saxophones as a hobby. My desire is to fabricate brass levers for the neck octave of certain types of saxophones that would be very time intensive doing it by hand forming out of brass plate. My question is which method to use? I am presuming that those who read this don't know what the octave lever on a Sax neck looks like. The lever is bent in an arc, probably that of a 12" dia. circle, it has a loop in it, much like an elongated noose. It is hinged close to the center where it pivots to close and open a vent in the neck. It is only about 1/4 - 5/16" of an inch thick and has various degrees of shaping to the looped end. I can't really be more precise other than the shaping is contoured in an arcing fashion so instead of just square sides to the piece of brass it is shaped to an edge on the loop end. The other end is the "rope" part of the noose analogy and has a little cup at the end of it where a leather pad would be inserted and glued. If I were to flatten the arced original piece it would be approximately 8" long. I am assuming I'd have to make a flat copy out of some material to use as a form? I would like to get as close to the original confuguration as possible as the contouring at the noose end as described above would be quite difficult to match and make consistent by hand filing/sanding.