Metal Casting Zone Info Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Custom’

On-line? To match custom designer pieces? I am versitle with materials and live near wholesalers and know where to get items. I also have a huge inventory of supplies at home and tools. I do not do silver work or casting, but do findings and wirewrap and handknottting. I learn new techniques frequently and keep up with trends. My trun around time can be 24 hours or less.

How should I market this? I will do whatever is demanded by fashion. I am versitle.
I will use from plastic to coral and gemstones. Not material is off limits. I use all mentals. I use stainless, sterling, vermielli, brass and copper.
If someone can tell me how to list properly on ebay that would be fine. This is not junk, so people are not going to get it for $1.00. This is art stuff.
Family and friends are already wearing my designs custom made for their specific style. They get complements constantly. Perhaps they should carry cards with a web site.

Profit demands are reducing the sources for quality wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry manufacturers daily. Some now prefer to produce the more lucrative gold jewelry and most of the others will only accept very large orders. Samsoneinc.com is one of the few quality

wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry manufacturers that will produce small quantities of custom designs at a reasonable price.

Quality wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry manufacturing starts with good craftsmanship and materials. The basic information needed to create wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry are the designs, the volume of the order, the metal weight and, for the manufacturer to properly calculate silver weight and cost, the dimension of the jewelry and gemstones required must be given. Of these, the order volume will have the greatest impact on the final cost.

Once we receive this information and a sample of the design at Samsoneinc.com, there is an $80 charge for making the mold of the design and a minimum order quantity of 50 pieces per style with a required 50% deposit. Usually it takes us 4-6 weeks to manufacture custom sterling silver jewelry.

In cases where the order volume is very large, the charge for the mold can be waived.

If you are using gemstones and/or diamonds in your designs, take care to discuss the selection process beforehand. Be aware when you are choosing a manufacturer for your wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry that very often you will find manufacturers who use extremely low grade diamonds and gemstones, which can be effected by poor color, inclusions, cracks and other flaws to cut costs.

To produce quality wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry you need a certain metal weight. When you use a light weight of silver, the costs may be cheaper, but the result is jewelry that will bend or twist at the slightest impact. It will prevent your gemstones or diamonds from being firmly mounted, resulting in frequent repairs which is not the ideal for sterling silver jewelry.

Bear in mind that wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry manufacturing is a labour intensive process that requires skilled craftsmen, which are not easy to find and whose fees are quite substantial.

Although your wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry will be made by a mechanical casting process, it requires hand finishing by skilled craftsmen to be complete. Time is a factor in this process, but this is the best way to ensure good quality wholesale silver jewelry.

The good news is that re-orders of the same design will cost less than the initial one, because the mold is already made. Outside of this factor, remember that the cost of the silver and gemstones can vary and this will affect the total cost.

Samsoneinc.com can provide you with exquisite wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry pieces, which are perfect accessories for any occasion.

Jewelers who specialize in custom designing often use the lost wax casting method to create one-of-a-kind rings, charms, pendants, or other specialized items out of precious metals.

First the jeweler may sketch an idea on paper, especially if he or she is working with a client.  When the diagrammed sketch is approved, the jeweler then fashions an exact replica of the finished item in a soft, pliable wax.  The wax pattern, or maquette, is fitted with a stem called a sprue, which will create an exit for the wax when it is burned out.

This wax form is weighed to determine the amount of metal that will be needed.  It is then attached to a base and fitted with a tumbler that holds the mold material, which is plaster mixed with water to a cake batter consistency, called investment.  It must be free of bubbles before pouring into the tumbler, so it is placed in a vacuum to remove all the air.  The investment is poured into the tumbler and then taken to a kiln to have the wax burned out.

A jeweler’s centrifuge machine is the tool that injects the liquid metal into the mold.  The mold is taken from the kiln and placed in a holder that has a hollow arm attached to a cup that lines up with the hole in the mold. The pre-measured metal is placed in this small crucible, and then heated with a torch until it is liquid. 

The pin is then released on the centrifuge, and it spins rapidly around while the liquid metal is forced into the tumbler and mold. Once the spinning stops, the tumbler is removed from the centrifuge with tongs (it is extremely hot), dipped into cold water, and the plaster cracks and falls off of the metal inside.

At this point, the beautifully designed object created on paper does not even slightly resemble the blob of metal in the jeweler’s tongs.  This is because the base (or button) and the sprue are now metal like the rest of the design, and must be sawed and ground off with a jewelers’ Dremel tool, which is an instrument much like a dentist’s drill.

Much fine sanding and shaping is done with the Dremel and its attachments, and gradually the original design emerges.  Jewelers’ rouge puts a nice patina on the finish, and after much polishing, the piece is now ready for use.

Having a custom-made, jeweler-designed ring, pendant, charm, or other special item is something to be proud of, since it can define who you are, what your interests are, or what is important your life.

There are generally to ways to have your own piece of custom jewelry produced if you want to create one and the first way is to go to a jeweler that makes custom jewelry and have them produce it to your specifications. The other way to have it made is to create or sculpt it yourself in wax and then have a jeweler cast it in gold or silver for you.

This is basically the way that most all rings and bracelets are made, although there is finishing work that has to be done after it is cast, the basic form of the creation is determined in wax. Its called the “lost wax method” and it has been in use for thousands of years. Your idea is first created in wax by using sculpting or dental wax. Standard paraffin wax won’t do because it is too hard and stiff and bees wax is too soft.

The wax ring or bracelet is then given to the jeweler who then encases the wax sculpture in plaster. After the plaster that incases the wax ring or bracelet has cured and dried it is placed in a hot kiln so the wax piece inside of it can melt and burn out. What is removed from the kiln is a chunk of plaster that has the hollow shape of the ring or bracelet in it where the wax was.

Jewelers use a centrifugal caster that spins around as the molten gold or silver is forced in to the hollow place in the chunk of plaster by the centrifugal force. After the gold or silver inside of the chunk of plaster has been allowed to cool the plaster is chipped away to reveal the jewelry piece where the wax ring or bracelet once was.

Have you ever looked at a piece of your jewelry and wonderd just how the jeweler made it? How do they create the fine detail in a piece of jewelry and what about the smooth swirling shapes. The fact of the matter, is that every piece of fine jewelry starts out being made from wax. Its called the “lost wax” casting method and it is amazing to see from start top finish.

The first step is to create the piece out of sculpting wax, which is the same wax that dentists use to make crowns for peoples teeth with, because dentists use the lost wax method for casting gold crowns. Then the wax piece is then encased in a can that is filled with wet plaster and allowed to cure and dry. After the can of plaster with the wax piece in has dried it is then placed in a hot kiln so the wax “piece” in it can melt and burnout of it.

What is then removed from the kiln is a hunk of plaster with the hollow shape of the wax piece left in the middle of it. The jeweler will then place the hunk of plaster in a device that spins around and uses centrifugal force to push molten metal down into the hollow shape inside of the hunk of plaster. It will then be allowed to cool and then the plaster will be chipped away revealing the piece of jewelry where the wax piece once was.

It will be cleaned up and then any details will be carved into it or welded onto it using a jewelers delicate tools and a jewelers torch. If any stones or gems are to be added to it, that will be the last step that is taken. It is then given a final polish and it is done. This method of making jewelry has not changed in thousands of years.

There used to be a time when almost everybody acquired, or knew how to do a practical talent of some sort they were special talents, which most of the people used through life. They just became second nature.

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It points out how badly off the majority are when it boils down to knowing about old time survival talents, or the power to make things using old time hand tools & strategies.

The survival rate of some of the people on these shows has been quite poor, thanks to the fact that they haven’t ever been instructed on the simple way to exploit old-time pioneer talents in a practical kind of way.

Pioneer skills are not difficult to learn, but they do need a specific amount of study with masses of hands on practice.

Domestic abilities, farm talents, building talents, woodworking skills & metal working talents ; all these skills were mostly learnt thru simple instruction and much practice… Mostly the talents were passed on from ma to child, or from father to son.

Even in today’s super sophisticated, computerised world there is still a place for’old pioneer skills’. They all need to build or fabricate special parts, or to reproduce old damaged parts to reconstruct – restore all things old.
currently, the pioneer ability of metal casting is going thru an amazing world wide renaissance…. People want to know
They need to know the way to melt and pour aluminium & bronze into sand moulds. Is all this old age art metal casting stuff tough to learn?

there is a brilliant collection of metal casting ebooks which describe the age old art of metal casting in a way the standard handy man will fully understand & be able to learn about one the most traditional old world abilities known to man.

all that it takes is to have the ability to build the simple equipment & tools and then learn the special methods to create sand castings in Bronze & aluminum. It is a pleasurable & rewarding pastime, but off course it is hot soiled work and can also be unsafe, but then all old world skills and may be claimed as possibly dangerous, and that is where commonsense is used to stop any potential hazards. if you’re hunting for an old world challenge, then welcome aboard the world talents, old world abilities express.

Come visit us right here for more Metal Casting Info and get two Metal Casting Ebooks Custom Investment Casting. http://www.metalcastingzone.com/
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Custom designed jewelry came into existence as far back as the 1800s. In some cases today, some of these old techniques have been modified and are still being used. However, after the introduction of computer technology, and along with a technique called Computer Aided Design, custom designed jewelry has a new standard or level. With the help of CAD and Computer Aided Manufacturing, designs that were not even imagined, can now be created with ease. Along with excellent designs, using these techniques has helped to provide customers with more choices of design and ultimately higher quality products.

Are you familiar with the process of making custom designed jewelry? This process is called lost wax casting. In this process, the experts use small knives and scalpels to make a cut out of the jewelry from the wax to give it its shape. After that, the replica or the model is poured in a flask, and it is filled with plaster that is known as investment. Then it is allowed to dry, and once the model hardens, it looks like the exact model inside the flask. Once this procedure is over the model is burned out of the flask, and all that remains is the crater of the design.

After the burning process is over, melted metal is inserted in the flask by using vacuum casting. Once the metal has hardened and is cool, the plaster itself is broken. It is done to bring out the un-finished jewelry casting, which is then filed, cultured, and prepped for the final stages. This assembling procedure includes the setting of gemstones or setting of other precious metal parts to make a complete jewelry piece. For the making of a custom jewelry design, the jewelers follow this process to give shape to the design.

In the CAD jewelry process, many of these steps are forgone because the software allows the user to create mockups before the item is even made. With the help of computer programming, you are able to produce unlimited designs, and the measurements are so accurate that you do not stand the risk of losing any stone later due to the metal’s weakness.

Now lets have some discussion on Computer Aided Design and it’s usages when making custom jewelry. Computer Aided Design is, basically, an upgraded process of making mechanical designs made with highly developed software.

After making these drawings, they are fed into different replica machines that are known as CNC mills. The work of these machines is to remove the material from the lump of wax to create the jewelry model. This is the main difference between man- made designs, and the design made by a machine. They are far more precise and accurate. With the help of 3D-CAD in custom jewelry designing the designers are able to make changes in a design any number of times. Ultimately, you are able to attain the exact custom-made design with the most efficiency and to the most exactness of detail.

Today, custom designed jewelry has become very popular. The most famous among all custom designed jewelry is the 3D-CAD design. It is Computer Aided Design, which has changed the whole facet and landscape of custom designed jewelry. Earlier, people could not comprehend or even see renditions of these kinds of designs. However, now with the help of CAD, people are able to create designs of much higher quality and of greater flexibility. Here we will talk about this new phenomenon but, before learning more about the CAD designs, we must learn and fully understand the custom jewelry design process.

A process called lost wax casting is used to make most custom made jewelry. A jeweler or an artisan carves a prototype of the jewelry out of the wax with the help of small knives and scalpels. Then he pours plaster all around the wax prototype, also known as the model. Once the plaster hardens, it forms an exact impression of the given model in the flask. After that, the wax model is burnt out of the flask, and it leaves a cavity of the jewelry design. Then, molten metal is slowly injected into the flask with the help of centrifugal or vacuum casting. When the metal cools down, it also hardens. Then the investment stands ready and reveals the jewelry casting. Finally, the casting is polished and filed, and if needed, any gems can be set into the jewelry. The custom jewelry can be an engagement ring, an anniversary ring, or virtually any other item.

Custom CAD design involves a different process of creating a jewelry item. It is a sophisticated modeling process with the help of advanced software. It enables the user to plot detailed coordinates for the mechanical drawing. 3D-CAD software has countless kinds of designs, which can easily outdo traditional tools and methods. One of the most important benefits is that the 3D-CAD jewelry design enables you to see the computer rendering before the completion of the jewelry. In the traditional methods, the jewelers would make crude sketches of your own concept, and leave the rest to your own imagination. However, in 3D-CAD, you can see the realistic images of the different designs that help the designer and ultimately you, make a final decision.

It is paramount to find a qualified jeweler to assist you with making your custom jewelry design come to life. Like different kinds of occupations and trades, there are also different kinds of skillful jewelers. If you want to buy a piece of custom jewelry, then you must pre-screen the jeweler to know whether he or she is capable of making custom designed jewelry. Try to look at their different designs, and determine their competence, design skills, and craftsmanship. You must be sure whether they are capable of making the exact design that you want. Once the jewelry is made, it is extremely difficult to make changes. The jeweler will not remake it without charging extra service fees. Custom designed jewelry is the best choice, if you can get it made by an authorized and qualified jeweler. Find one such jeweler, and your dream custom designed jewelry dreams will be fulfilled.

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.