Metal Casting Zone Info Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Susana Gormen’

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.

If you are tossing around the idea of having a piece of custom jewelry created, there are a few things that you need to know first. One thing that you will want to know is that there are jewelers out there that will work with you but it will cost you if they have to do all of the design work.

The design work is first done in wax, because jewelry is cast using the “lost wax” casting method. This means that you will want to present your wax sculpture to the jeweler “ready to go” that is that all that has to be done is to encase it in plaster, set it up for a pour and then pour it.

A jeweler that is going to do the casting for you will gladly give you some sculpting wax to work with. You can’t use bees wax, because it is too soft and paraffin wax is too hard and brittle. Sculpting wax is the same wax that dentists also use and it comes in solid chunks and in sheets.

Working with wax takes time and practice and you will find it rather hard to work with. Pieces don’t stick together easily like clay, so you have to “work” two pieces of wax together carefully. Use fine dental type sculpting tools to work on your wax piece and handle it very carefully.

One thing that you will find is that the warmth of your fingers will cause your wax piece to bend out of shape when you handle it. The solution to this is to keep your piece in the refrigerator and periodically dip your hands in ice cold water when you are working on it. Make sure that nothing gets into the wax when you are working on it, because dirt won’t melt out and will end up being stuck in your piece of jewelry.

The design work is first done in wax, because jewelry is cast using the “lost wax” casting method. This means that you will want to present your wax sculpture to the jeweler “ready to go” that is that all that has to be done is to encase it in plaster, set it up for a pour and then pour it.

A jeweler that is going to do the casting for you will gladly give you some sculpting wax to work with. You can’t use bees wax, because it is too soft and paraffin wax is too hard and brittle. Sculpting wax is the same wax that dentists also use and it comes in solid chunks and in sheets.

Working with wax takes time and practice and you will find it rather hard to work with. Pieces don’t stick together easily like clay, so you have to “work” two pieces of wax together carefully. Use fine dental type sculpting tools to work on your wax piece and handle it very carefully.

One thing that you will find is that the warmth of your fingers will cause your wax piece to bend out of shape when you handle it. The solution to this is to keep your piece in the refrigerator and periodically dip your hands in ice cold water when you are working on it. Make sure that nothing gets into the wax when you are working on it, because dirt won’t melt out and will end up being stuck in your piece of jewelry.