Frozen In Time

For my first attempt at investment casting I'll be casting a wax candle.

Starting of by burning down candles to create a very unique outcome as every candle burns differently.

Building a little mould for the R.T.V and mixing it up.

(R.T.V ratio; 10:1)

24 hours later the R.T.V is set and the mould is made!

Jewellers wax was melted down on a hot plate...

The wax was poured into the mould...

Once set the piece to be invested was ready!

The final piece was tidied up using a warm piece of cotton and finished off with a wipe with paraffin; It was sprued onto the investment cast tree (by Jill)  and sent away for the magic to happen. A few days later the metal piece came back

Neat little process; good amount of detail was picked up.

Investment casting

Fairly irrelevant at the end but conveys the concept of sprues well.

Notes from demonstration:

• Aluminium/Copper/Brass (/Silver - but expensive).
• Finish the wax model to the standard of the final metal piece to save time after casting.
• Make sure any silver you find is hallmarked - knives have stainless steel edges must be split/removed before casting.
• All pieces on spru tree must fit inside the flask we have.
• Take about 1/2 an hour for the molten metal to set - what we're working with.
• Use jewellers wax for carving.
• Complex intricate shapes can be cast.
• Use a 45 degree angles on the spru tree.
• Metal wont back flow - think about where the sprus will have to go.