Sand Casting

Burchtree

Burchtree

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I know it's been asked before, and I did some reading on some posts from the past. I'm looking for information on sand-casting silver for menukis. Where is a good place for information, and to buy equipment. Anyone have experience, and can give any tips?
 
Hey Michael,

Rio Grande has some stuff as far as supplies. Doing little stuff like menukis would be best done lost wax casting. Alan Folts knows his stuff. I have a small burnout oven that he graciously supplied me with. If you can carve it in wax you can cast it pretty easy. Ive seen where you can carve or mold the wax figure, paint on some rtv and then make several heavy coats of rtv on top of that to form a mold of the wax item. Cut in half and then you can pour many wax figures from this. Then do the lost wax method in an investment casting.

I could see where casting could become an adictive and time consuming monster if you let it. Could be a good money maker if you have time.

If you want to try one for an experiment. carve something and send it to me and I'll try to duplicate it.

Here's another place for supplies

http://www.budgetcastingsupply.com/Price_Sheet.html#ITC
 
Thanks, I think the lost wax method was actually what I had in mind when I was looking around (some reason I had "lost sand" stuck in my head though. :rolleyes: :D )
 
Micheal,Sand casting is generally used for large castings.I would suggest finding a local jeweler that uses the lost wax technique to cast,Once you get a rubber mold made.You can make as many pieces as you like,They use a very fine plaster slurry.You lose no details in the casting,Porosity(Holes & Surface imperfections can be a problem with sand casting,Porosity usually is not a issue with lost wax casting.I hope that helps you.If you can't find a local jeweler,There are several casting companies that would cast them,Masha Manufacturing.You should find them on a search for silver casting on the net.I've used them,They do good work.Rick. :D
 
MAsha Mfg website no worky. At least the one I tried was www.mashamfg.com and it no longer exists. I did a little pendant using lost wax casting when I was in high school and it was pretty cool. We just did the wax part of it, then sent it to a jeweler for the rest.
 
" lost sand" casting HAHAHAHA. The easiest way would be to make the wax model and bring it to a caster.
 
Disclaimer:

I''ve interest in this type of thing but NO practical experience.

Here's a few sites that I've found that seem to give all the practical info you might need:


http://www.incolor.com/bill_r/fun_with_molten_metal.htm

http://users.frii.com/dnorris/onlineclasses.html (A lot of pay for information as well as a lot of free information)

http://www.artwork-inform.com/process1.htm


EDIT TO ADD: There is a method of "green sand" casting that may be something you want to try, so you weren't totally off with the sand bit...if that makes you feel any better! :cool:

Hope it helps!


Jared
 
I might be able to help on this one.

IG was right about Rio Grande carrying sand casting materials for jewelry, actually it's clay casting materials. Page 104 of the 2004 Tools cat. It's called Delft clay casting system.

http://www.riogrande.com/

No online catalog

As for lost wax casting. I can point you in the right direction or maybe have a friend cast the pieces for you. He'll probally charge tho. I'll ask my guess would be $40 for burnout and casting, but it could be more or less. Or he might force me to do it. :)

If you need to make a rubber mold, I can do that too. Or Rio Grande carries a molding compound called Ditto that sets up at room temp, so no vulcanizing the rubber.

The lost wax process is fairly simple.

Create a pattern.
Make a rubber mold. (Reusable)
Inject wax into the rubber mold to make a wax pattern.
Wax pattern has spruce attached.
Make investment mold of wax pattern. Let dry.
Burnout wax from investment mold.
Pour molten silver in investment mold while hot.
Wait a few minutes and drop investment mold in water to crack investment and you get your casting.

Damn that doesn't look simple. :(
It's not as bad as it reads, but the process does take some time. Burnout and casting usually take about 4-6 hours. But it's mainly waiting on the burnout. Even using a vacuum casters or centrifugal casters, you still have a chance of porosity, but it can usually be corrected.

The designs you are wanting probally have a good amount of detail, but are one sided. I've never used the clay system so I can't say how it will work. I'd recommend lost wax casting to get the most detail.

If you have any other ques. or your interested in having some work done, let me know. I love having excuses to head to the jewelry shop and work.

Bryan

P.S. I've read about steam casting but never tried it, might be worth a shot. Check out the 2nd link in Jared's post above.
 
A book I always find helpful when researching a new decorative technique is "Jewelry Concepts and Technology" by Oppi Untracht. Here is a url for it on Amazon. Make sure you take a look "inside" the book and go to the table of contents.

It's a HUGE book (864 pages) that has sections on EVERYTHING related to jewelrymaking (casting, forging, engraving, soldering, etc, etc, etc). When I say HUGE, I mean really huge. If you read it in bed and fall asleep it might crush you. It's almost as big as the MSC catalog!

Many of the sections of the book describe how techniques were performed historically (or the way they are still done in parts of the world). I find these sections especially useful as the primitive way is also usually the cheap way and provide means to get started in something without significant financial outlay.

Good luck.
Rick
 
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