Lost Wax Casting In a Small Shop by TomDart
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Description
This is posted not for photo quality but because some may find it interesting. The top image is the jeweler heating the crucible to red heat. The crucible will reveive the metal pieces to be cast into a mold. Preheating allows the metal to melt quickly with more control over time required. The lower image is the casting machine, a spring loaded centrifugal device which spins the crucible and the "flask" containing the mold. The flask is the small steel tube seen at the right.
When the metal is ready, the machine is let loose and the rapid spin slings the molten metal from the crucible into the flask, filling the mold in the plaster material in the flask.
When all cools the right amount, the flask is cooled in water and the plaster breaks away, revealing the newly "lost wax" casting. Lost wax comes from the fact that a wax model is in the plaster to start with then is burned away in an oven, leaving an exact mold in the plaster. Metal forced into the mold duiplicates the form.
First shot is hand held, about 1/2 sec. The second image is about 1 sec, rear curtain flash to show the machinery and components needed. The red trail is from the spinning crucible.
Comments (15)
magnus073
I for one find it very interesting Tom, thanks also for the detailed description for this. In all honesty I could look at photos and read about things like this all day.
babuci
Excelent sample collage what a jewellery maker doing. Most of us just put a beautiful ring up and don't know the story behind it. Thanks for this Tom.
beachzz
A friend of mine works in this art, and it's something I'd love to learn. You've just whet my appetite a bit more with these fotos, great shots!!
auntietk
Fascinating! I used to work for a foundry supply company about 20 years ago, and I've seen all kinds of pours, but I've never seen anything this small, and I've never seen a centrifugal system! Very cool - thanks for the pictures and the story!
gizmo563
A very neat process, thanks for sharing!
LovelyPoetess
You make me appreciate my glitteriers more, thanks for the peek into your world : )
MrsLubner
I am clueless. I feel sort of dumb even after the explanation since I can't make it work in my mind. But, I worked closely with Vietnamese refugees some years ago and one family were jewelers. They opened a shop and I spent a lot of time watching them create jewelery. They would heat small crumbles of gold and silver and with delicate tools they would make lacy designs with the molten metal to create the most amazing items under a magnifier. I never saw this sort of operation but then, it may have been I only saw the work done on at the worktable in the front area. Still, I'm intrigued by your images and your narative.
flavia49
Well done and interesting explanation.
zoren
interesting process, nice shots
paully52
The lighting and color is terrific...very dramatic.
Digimon
How cool is that? Reminds me of glass blowing!
DennisTheArtist
nice lighting.
jocko500
I like shots like this. make me learn more of what opeople do in life. very good photos to show and words to go with it too
DukeNukem2005
The very beautiful and very interesting image of engineering! I too like to represent engineering!
swazi
nice to see someone else with an eye for metal casting/ lost wax... i myself built a metal furnace for casting just outside of my garage, and worked in a foundry for a few years (where i got the know how to do it at home)lost wax is an art form thats for sure. thanks for the photos rodger