Metal Casting Zone Info Blog

Archive for October, 2009

I have been sand casting with Pewter for a few years now and I really would like to know the history on it.

For coin collectors seeking the Silver Buffalo Coin, getting a coin in excellent condition is of the utmost importance. A commemorative Silver Buffalo Coin was created in 2001 which consists of approximately 90 percent pure silver. The commemorative coin is a replica of the original Buffalo Nickel first created by James Earle Fraser and cast between 1913 and 1938. On the front of the Buffalo nickel appeared the profile of a Native American and on the back a standing buffalo is visible. The same design appears on the commemorative coins created in 2001.

The commemorative Silver Buffalo Coin is fully endorsed and backed by the United States Mint. It is possible for buyers come across counterfeits of 2001 Silver Buffalo Coin in the market. One will find on genuine coins that the backside of the coin is inscribed with the words “IN GOD WE TRUST,” just beneath the words “United States of America.” The latter text is arched above the buffalo on the back of the coin. Just beneath the buffalo’s head on the coin, the words “E Plubribus Unum,” the Latin phrase meaning “Out of Many, One” appears. The latter words are indicative of genuine commemorative coins as such an inscription is not inscribed on replications.

On a genuine Silver Buffalo Coin, coin collectors can also easily spot the specific denomination just below the buffalo on the obverse side of the coin which should clearly read “One Dollar.” Replications may display the words “giant buffalo proof” where the denomination amount appears on genuine coins. In addition, just below the denomination indicator on the obverse side of the coin, one will find the letter “P” which is an indicator of what mint cast the Silver Buffalo coin as well as the letter “F” which is indicative of the coin’s original designer. The uncirculated version of silver Buffalo coin is minted in Denver, CO, with a “D” Mint Mark inscribed on the coin instead. Another clear clue that the coin is genuine is the fact that on the front side of the coin on the lower left is the engraved year: “2001.”

Careful examination of the Silver Buffalo Coin will give a coin collector a solid idea about what he or she is buying. It is easy to separate all of the replicas from the originals when one knows what to look for. Understanding the identifying markers will help the coin collector ensure he or she is getting a genuine coin in every instance. You can also subject it to the magnet test. A silver coin won’t be attracted to the magnet, but a fake steel coin would.

For more tips of collecting Silver Buffalo Coin, I recommend you checking out Buffalo coin for Sale. It is a specialized Buffalo Gold Coin for Sale site, offering a great selection of American gold Buffalo coins, silver Buffalo and Buffalo Nickels for sale. This website makes finding your dream American Buffalo Coin a million times easier. Be sure to try this website before you buy.

When I was younger the issue of boredom always seemed to come up. I long for those days now that my work week is 80+ hours but creativity was so important while growing up poor. One of my favorite things to do was pretend I was pitching in the major leagues and managed to situate a table on its side so that the tennis ball would either pop up or ground out to me. I spent days playing solo Monopoly and weeks creating a fully stocked video store mockup. I think the poorer a person is the more interesting their hobbies are.

Some very common hobbies include collecting things such as dolls, die cast cars, real cars, or weapons. Coin and stamp collecting have long been a hobby for many, especially of commemorative mints (www.coin-usa.com). Coin and paper money from around the world is collected by Trader Joes if you haven’t noticed. A lot of gold and silver coins are worth something because of the amount of the particular metal contained in it.

The collecting of action figures (www.herofigure.com) used to be isolated to the very young and has crept its way into the hands of middle aged men. Comic book popularity has enjoyed the same fate and has created multiple movie trilogy empires in Hollywood. I don’t know if this popularity is due to the growing infancy of adult men or the impressive quality of modern movies. Either way it looks as if the comic book genre will continue to impress.

A lot of collectors base their hobby on an addiction such as alcoholism. Wine collectors invest in storage units, large quantities of aging bottles, and some even build entire rooms customized with climate controlled environments for the storage and display of their wine. In college I remember seeing fraternity bedrooms outlined by old bottles of consumed Vodka as if they were little league trophies. One of the most popular social hobbies men have is a combination of beer and poker (www.queenplay.com). These events are usually shared on a regular basis with more than two people where food is consumed. This hobby can be extended to Las Vegas if the player needs a more stimulating environment.

Hobbies seem to differ between people depending on the geographic location. Shooting ranges are more popular here outside of Seattle and are even more popular if one visits the eastern portion of this state as opposed to the limits of the city. Hobbies differ between genders—shopping for clothes is more popular among women while playing basketball is more popular among men. Another demographic where hobbies tend to differ is in the different age groups. Gardening is very popular among the older folks while radio controlled racing is more popular amongst the young. Children spend more time swimming than they do cooking. Adults spend more time cooking than they do swimming. The same thing applies to paintball, snowboarding, skateboarding, and Saturday morning cartoons. Now that I have money I can actually buy things to entertain myself. Rather than pretending to ride a dirt bike I can actually get one.

Casting is one of the earliest known forms of metal working. In its most simple form, it involves heating metal until it is molten and then pouring it into a mold. As the metal cools it takes the shape of the mold. Early castings were crude in finish with a large amount of surface anomalies that required a great deal of machine work to get the required quality of surface texture. Modern casting techniques produce awfully fine tolerations and the casting requires little finishing work.

The artist who creates metal art castings should be both a foundry man and an artist. Bronze is one of the earliest alloys known to occupy and is formed up of tin and copper. Being malleable, it becomes a liquid of low viscosity when liquified and thus has the power to fill even tiny crevices in a mold, permitting for the production of castings with fine detail. Though bronze castings are the most typical, nearly any metal can be cast. The artist wishes to grasp what kind of mold to use with what metal. And he must know the way to melt metal.

The casting process starts with the creation of the mold. The most typical type is known as the Lost Wax Casting technique. Being straightforward to create and with the facility to create molds with fine detail, it’s the artists’ favorite. First the artist creates a wax sculpture. This sculpture is then used to form a mold. Molds can be made of a selection of materials from sand to latex, depending on the quantity of detail needed. Latex is employed when highly fine detailing is concerned since it forms a skin like coating on the sculpture and picks up even the minutest detail. The sculpture is then removed from the mold.

Come visit us right here for more Metal Casting Info and get two Metal Casting Ebooks Casting Metal White.

http://www.metalcastingzone.com/

Molten wax is then poured in the mold till the necessary thickness is achieved and the wax copy is then removed and any defects on the surface removed. A shell is then built round the copy using a mixture of sand and liquid silica. The shell is heated until the wax softens and runs out thru a drain hole left in the shell.

The final mold is then ready and the molten metal is poured into it. After it has cooled and taken the shape of the mold, the shell is removed and the completed casting is available.

The artist then removes and imperfections which will remain on the casting after which it is either painted of coated to give it the desired finish.

Metal art castings may be of any size, from the tiniest piece of gold jewelry to a huge cast statue to big to even fit inside. The good thing about this kind of metal art is the fine detail that can be produced. Modern metal softening techniques make sure that the molten metal that enters the mold is without imperfections and strong enough to safely hold a diamond ( in the case of jewelry ) or withstand the rigors of nature ( in the case of garden sculptures ).

Additionally, once the mold is created, many copies of the art work may be produced.

Come visit us right here for more Metal Casting Info and get two Metal Casting Ebooks Casting Metal White.

http://www.metalcastingzone.com/

Where can I fina a brass or bronze sand casting foundry or lost wax foundry near Dallas Tx? If you are one or know of one, please list your name and phone number, address and web page. Thank you.

It takes many years of experience in trading sterling silver jewelry to tell whether a piece of jewelry is of high quality or not. Especially when you are buying wholesale silver jewelry, a minor difference in the quality might affect your business reputation in the long run. This article summarizes the basic metrics for anyone who is beginning to trade silver jewelry to gauge the quality of silver jewelry.

Finishing

Most of the sterling silver jewelry has some sort of plating because silver itself turns yellow over time. There are several ways of finishing a piece of silver jewelry and they will affect the cost of the jewelry substantially.

High polished sterling silver jewelry has no plating on the jewelry at all and is particularly popular with engravable items or for people who are allergic to certain metals such as nickel. The jewelry is polished by machine without additional raw material cost.

Some silver jewelry has a black antique look to cater to certain consumers. These items are processed by putting the jewelry into chemical solution to oxide the silver before polishing and the pricing is similar to that of high polished ones.

Another common way of finishing sterling silver jewelry is nickel plating. Although nickel plating is illegal in some countries, most of the Italian silver jewelry sold in the market today is plated with nickel. However, since nickel is not considered as precious metal, the price is usually not affected by the cost of plating.

The most expensive way of finishing sterling silver jewelry is using Rhodium. Rhodium is a precious metal that is even more expensive than silver. Therefore, silver jewelry with Rhodium plating is usually at least five cent more expensive per gram. Since Rhodium has the property of being highly tarnish resistant and very expensive at the same time, some manufacturers would coat the sterling silver jewelry with a thin layer of copper before plating the Rhodium to reduce the cost. It might be a good idea to ask the vendors if the Rhodium is plated directly or not because some people have skin type that would turn the copper underneath green.

Stone cutting

Sterling silver jewelry usually has natural or synthetic stones set on it. The cutting of the stones, even with the same size, might affect the cost. For instance, the synthetic diamond cubic zirconia stones would cost more if they are in princess cut as suppose to round brilliant cut. Furthermore, emerald cut and baguette cut stones are even more expensive than princess cut ones.

Stone setting

1. The way that stones are set on a piece of jewelry also affects the cost. Many pendant and bracelet styles employ an economical setting method called wax setting. The stones are not really set one by one on the jewelry. Rather, they are fixed on the mold before the jewelry is cast out from the melted silver and come out of the mold together with the silver. This lowers the cost of the silver jewelry significantly. However, the quality of the setting is not consistent and the heat of the silver in liquid form might affect the quality of the stones.

Besides wax setting, there are several hand-setting methods that are widely adopted. The most common one is prong setting, where the stones are held in place by three to eight prongs, depending on the style. More advanced settings include channel setting, bezel setting, pave setting and invisible setting. Understanding the labor costs involved in different kinds of settings is one of the keys to getting merchandize with the best prices.

Stamping and Casting

Another categorization for sterling silver jewelry is the way they manufacture the metal part. To save cost, some jewelry is made by stamping and cutting the needed shapes out from a large sheet of silver and than bend it into the desired shapes. On the other hand, a more traditional way of producing sterling silver jewelry is to cast the metal out of a mold, which is more labor intensive and hence more costly due to the polishing and filing required afterwards. The way the jewelry is made affects the durability a great deal and hence the success of your business.

For years custom designed jewelry has been created using old world techniques dating as far back as the 1800′s. Until recently, almost all-custom designed jewelry was created using these methods. The introduction of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) has changed all that and in it’s wake ushered in a whole new universe of possibilities. Designs that were never thought possible can be made to the highest quality standards.

How is Custom Designed Jewelry Made?

Before learning about the benefits of 3D-CAD you’ll need to know more about the custom jewelry design process. Most jewelry is made using a method called lost wax casting. A skilled artisan/jeweler hand carves a jewelry prototype out of jewelers wax using small scalpels and knives. This wax prototype also known as a “model” is placed in a flask and plaster called “investment” is poured all around the model. Once the investment hardens an exact impression of the model is formed inside of the flask. The wax model is burned out of the flask leaving a cavity of the jewelry design.

Next molten metal is injected in the flask mold using vacuum or centrifugal casting. When the metal cools and hardens the investment is broken away revealing the un-finished jewelry casting. This casting is filed, polished and prepped for assembly, which may include setting the gemstones or welding other precious metal parts to the casting.

The process of hand carving the wax prototype has always been the accepted process for creating custom jewelry. The problem with this process is that the human hand can’t be as precise as a computer-aided machine when carving the model. Precision equates to more design possibilities and much higher quality jewelry production. In the end you’ll have a product that looks crisper and won’t be prone to stone loss or breakage.

What is Computer Aided Design?

Computer Aided Design is a sophisticated modeling process using advanced software to plot coordinates for mechanical drawings. These drawings can be exported to various types of prototyping machines called CNC mills or growing machines. CNC mills cut-away material from a block of wax to make the jewelry model. The growing machines layer material from side to side much like a printer to build the model, samples of this process can be viewed at http://www.andrewsjewelers.com/ .The precision of these models exceeds what any human could do while hand carving the jewelry model. Design possibilities become limitless because the 3D-CAD software enables the designer to create parts and design elements that aren’t possible using outmoded tools and methods.

Another benefit of 3D-CAD jewelry design is the ability to see a computer rendering before the final completion of the jewelry. In old methods the jeweler would create crude counter sketches of your concept and the rest would be left to your imagination. Now the designs that the jeweler creates in 3D-CAD can be rendered to photo-realistic images for you to view before making your final decisions.

Choosing a Jeweler for Custom Jewelry Design

Like any other occupation or trade there are good jewelry craftsmen and there are bad ones. It is important to pre-screen your jeweler to determine if he/she is skilled at making custom designed jewelry. Ask to see their portfolio and examine their designs to determine if the flair they have for jewelry design matches your style requirements. Also, pay close attention to their communication and interpretation skills because much can get lost in the translation of your ideas if you’re not careful. Once the jewelry is made its too late to make changes and the typical jeweler will not re-make it again without added fees.

At this point higher qualified and better skilled custom jewelry designers have moved to using 3D-CAD to create their designs. If you feel 2 jewelers are equally matched in aptitude and skills then you should choose the one that is using 3D-CAD design. You’ll pay a little more to have your jewelry created in 3D-CAD but the final results will be amazing. The jewelry will look 1000% better than if it were hand carved and it will last much longer because of the precision of the jewelry model.

Andy Moquin
President
Andrews Jewelers Inc.
andrew@andrewsjewelers.com
716-630-7091

The lost-wax method is a method of casting metal that has been in use for six thousand years. Virtually unchanged since used by the ancients, the method is used today to create such pieces as bronze sculptures, custom silver jewelry, dental work, or even auto parts.

“Cire perdue,” or lost-wax, is a method of casting metal that has been in use for over six thousand years. In essence, it involves the pouring of metal into a mold created from wax, resulting in complex forms otherwise impossible to create. The lost-wax method is used today to create such pieces as bronze sculptures, a silver pendant, a gold dental crown, or even an alloy auto part.

The lost-wax method is the best way to create intricate designs in metal, it is commonly used for making elaborate custom jewelry. Technology and tools have advanced of course, but the method is essentially the same as it was when used in Ancient Egypt.

The artist will first sculpt his masterpiece out of clay, wax, or another malleable material. Then, the model is encased in plaster or fiber-glass to create a mold. An inner mold will often be created at this time as well, by pouring liquid rubber around the model. This preserves the finest of details, important because when the plaster is broken apart, the original model is usually destroyed.

When the two halves are placed back together, the result is the master mold. Inside is empty space, a “negative” of the original. Hot wax is then poured into the space to coat the sides. Depending on how large the piece, a number of coatings may be needed. The hollow wax copy, an almost perfect replica of the original, is then removed (multiple copies can be created at this time).

The wax copy is then “chased” using heated tools to remove the seams where the mold came together. Each copy is carefully “dressed” to hide any remaining imperfections.

Next, “sprues” are attached to the piece, which are basically small wax rods that will ultimately result in tiny tubes for metal to flow in, and air to flow out.

The wax replica is then coated in ceramic material and fired. At this point, the wax melts out, thus the term “lost-wax.” Negative space now remains (as well as the small pathways left by the sprues). Finally, molten hot metal can be poured into the mold into the exact shape of the original model.

The metal piece is also chased to remove any marks left by casting, and detailed to perfection. If in fact a bronze sculpture, this is when the final act of adding the color occurs.

The lost-wax method can be used with any material that will disappear (melt or burn away) and leave an empty mold. For example, some automakers make engine-block models out of a synthetic foam which will vaporize when heated. This complex process allows for the most minute detail to be fashioned into the most delicate of metals. This makes it ideal for custom jewelry.

When working with small pieces like jewelry the process slightly differs in that metal cannot just be poured into a such a tiny mold. Instead, liquid metal is injected into the limited space by centrifugal casting (a machine that uses centrifugal force) or vacuum casting (uses atmospheric pressure).

Artisans like Jewelry John use the lost-wax method to etch inspiration into their heirloom jewelry. They specialize in hand-crafted silver bells and silver pendants, and with intricate detail they convey emotion in beautiful custom silver jewelry. Such complex designs would not be possible without this ancient casting method.

Furnace burners most likely create more than needed problems for the hobby metal casting worker, it is not bizarre to read about people who are trying to build a furnace, only to be presented with Problems and disappointment with a complex burner?

Come visit us right here for more Metal Casting Info and get two Metal Casting Ebooks Backyard Foundry.
http://www.metalcastingzone.com/

It is quite straightforward to construct a crucible furnace, but the stumbling block looks to be : “The burner”. Why?

Problems seem to manifest themselves because :

For some reason, folk decide to fabricate complex burners from detailed drawings without the skills, tooling and machining facilities in which the original designer employed during the design & building process.

With the required workshop talents coupled with a fair choice of kit & tools, will have a marked effect on how well you, as a pastime foundry worker, will be ready to construct the hardware needed for the successful melting of metal.

There are no short cuts when it comes to building equipment for your pastime foundry, to cobble something together in a coarse fashion is only asking for trouble in the future, it is well to heed the old trade faculty teacher quote :
“If a job is worth doing, you may as well do it properly in the first place”
He’s right, you know.

You can learn how to build an effective straightforward furnace burner, which is well documented in the past-time foundry PDF “Metal Casting Made Easy” available at our internet site. But to explain everything in detail here would take up far too much time & space.

Following is a simplified description :

The burner is composed of a long plain black mild steel pipe. The burner end nozzle consists of an inverted cone. There is a mid section where a venturi is installed ; the gas jet is located close to the venturi.

The easy brass jet sticks out into the forced air stream, which travels through the burner tube. The gas jet orifice is quite large and operates under low pressure ; the air delivered by the blower to the burner tube is low pressure, but moves at a high volume.

The burner design is simple, yet effective, but there are some components incorporated in the design that only need basic lathe turning skills. But general workshop data is enough to build this item. There’s no difficult concerned.

The blower consists of a second hand household vacuum cleaner ( the type that has a 2nd outlet for the hose connection that blows ). The vac also has an electronic vari motor speed control, which enables a controlled low-volume airflow to be delivered during the burner start up phase.

This feature is most vital during the furnace start up.

Does this burner work? You bet it does, the burner is capable of melting a five Kg ( 11lbs ) charge of aluminum from a cold start in less than 40 minutes.

The gas supply is provided from a Liquid petrol ( LP ) cylinder ( Propane in the states ) It is essential the gas supply be controlled by an adjustable industrial diaphragm gas regulator gauge appropriate for LP gas, there’s no other SAFE way to regulate & deliver fuel gas to a furnace burner. A ball valve should be installed in line as an emergency shut off valve.

Come visit us right here for more Metal Casting Info and get two Metal Casting Ebooks Backyard Foundry.
http://www.metalcastingzone.com/

We offer our customer a satisfaction with reasonable and competitive price, with the great maintenance of quality and the prompt commitment of delivery. We manufacturing 18kt yellow & white gold Jewellery studded with diamond, Precious gemstones and semi precious gemstones .our silver Jewellery with a fine purity of 92.5% with color gemstones gives you a wide range of design and quality. A creation of our experience and fabricated by our skilled artisans at our workshop.

You are welcome to watch our latest collection in e-mail, which we can send you online without delay. Regarding your present requirement. Please inform us, so that we can send you the sample as per your specification for your valued order. Here we are to pay attention to an unparalleled relationship with our customers where all that glitters is not just GOLD but commitment. We hope to receive your early response.

Jewellery World is a reputed name in the world of wholesale sterling silver jewelry with precious and semi precious stones, Indian beaded jewelry. The organization has emerged as a leading manufacturer and exporter of handicraft items. We can provide our customers with cost-effective high quality products, punctual delivery and best service.

An Awesome range of fine quality wholesale 925 silver jewelry to just mesmerize anyone. Silver Casting Jewelry from India and Other Handmade Silver Jewelry is available now to supply all over the world in fascinating wholesale prices. Silver jewelry India is very famous and appraises all over world.

We have a Transparent and honest policies to develop a good long term business association. A full paradise for jewelry seekers in Sterling 925 silver jewelry india and that too with great prices for wholesale 925 silver jewelry.