May. 27, 2024
Lost wax casting, also known as &#;investment casting,&#; is the process by which a single metal object is cast from a wax model. It is a highly versatile process that achieves exceptionally detailed results. This guide will cover how to start lost wax casting and what you can create with the process.
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Lost wax casting builds a mold around a sacrificial wax model. After the mold investment is set, the wax is melted out and forms a cavity where the metal or glass flows in. Using this method of casting captures fine details in both metal and glass. This ancient method has been used since B.C. to visually capture the stories of ancient cultures and religions throughout history.
Lost wax casting is a 6,000-year-old process still used in both manufacturing and fine art. The precision and accuracy of the process have made it an ideal method for producing objects with thin walls, intricate details, and close tolerances. The process is used to create parts for transportation, agricultural, and medical industries, to name just a few. It can be used to create objects from simple to complex in various metals by casting an original wax model or pattern. The wax model makes an expendable mold that can only be used once in casting. This guide focuses on the lost wax casting process with metallic alloys. You can also use lost wax casting techniques to create cast glass objects. To learn more, head to our glass casting guide.
The basic lost wax casting process involves creating a pattern and a mold, then pouring molten metal into the mold. You will then extract the solid metal casting and finish your piece. This process is customizable for different types of metal casting, along with shapes, sizes, and more. The description below is based on smaller-scale casting processes, often used for jewelry. While essentially the same, in larger castings the mold material is made of Ceramic Shell (colloidal silica and various grades of silica), rather than plaster.
Create your desired design in wax before building a mold around it. This wax model can only be used once. After that, shape it with texturing tools, a soldering iron, and a heat gun. Many experienced wax sculptors swear by repurposing dental tools to sculpt and carve unique designs in wax effectively. Hollow out your wax model if possible.
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Related links:When shaping your pattern, make sure you account for any anticipated shrinkage when the metal cools. Patterns may also be gated with sprues to allow the molten metal to flow into the mold. This is especially important if your design contains small intricate elements that may not fill with metal during the casting process.
You can make a mold using a combination of plaster and silica. Use a gram scale to measure each ingredient and mix equal parts by weight of plaster, silica, and water until the investment has the consistency of heavy cream. Plaster gives the mold support and silica has a high refractory, so it can withstand a lot of heat.
&#; When working with dry materials, make sure that your work area is well ventilated, and wear a respirator when working with dry investment.
The easiest way to melt the wax out of a small mold is in a microwave. First, remove any metal clamps you might have added to your mold, then prop it up on clay supports over a small container underneath to collect the wax. Heat in short bursts in the microwave until all of the wax has dripped into the small container. You can also burn out the wax in a kiln.
All metal castings are produced from either ferrous or non-ferrous alloys. Alloys are a mixture of elements that provide the best mechanical properties for the final cast&#;s use. Ferrous alloys include steel, malleable iron, and gray iron. Non-ferrous alloys most commonly used in casting are aluminum, bronze, and copper. If you are working with precious metals in a jewelry studio, you may work with silver, copper, gold, and platinum. Less common, but especially spectacular, are metal castings with iron, which casts molten iron into a ceramic shell or resin-bonded sand mold.
Melting processes vary between alloys because each alloy will have a different melting temperature. Essentially, melting consists of placing the solid alloy in a crucible and heating it over an open flame for smaller projects or inside of a furnace for larger amounts.
Pour the molten metal into the mold cavity. If it is a small casting, you may simply pour from the crucible where the metal was heated directly into the mold. However, a larger casting may require a small team to support heating the metal inside a furnace and transferring the metal into a larger crucible or ladle before being poured into the mold.
&#; Make sure to follow all recommended safety guidance when pouring molten metal. Wear protective clothing, including natural fiber clothing, long pants and sleeves, insulated gloves, and safety goggles. Work in a well-ventilated space to avoid any risks from dangerous fumes. Ensure you have a chemical fire extinguisher nearby and keep your walkway between the furnace and the mold clear. Allow the mold to solidify before moving on to the next step.
When the metal has cooled and solidified, you can remove it from the mold. You will want to quench the plaster in water after the metal has solidified. The water will help break away the mold. If you cast it into a ceramic shell, you can break the mold and chip it away using the necessary equipment.
File and polish your solid metal cast! Finishing techniques include scrubbing away excess mold material in water, breaking off the casting gates with clippers for small objects, or even an angle grinder for large pieces. You can also choose to polish or patina your metalwork to give it color and dimension.
At The Crucible, you can learn to cast metals for small or large projects in different types of metallic alloys. The Crucible offers a wide variety of classes teaching lost wax casting and metalworking techniques. So whether you want to learn the fundamentals of casting or something more advanced, The Crucible has you covered.
In our Jewelry Department, you can cast small-scale silver and bronze objects from wax and organic objects. Our Foundry Department guides you in casting larger projects in bronze and aluminum using ceramic shell molds. Lost wax casting doesn&#;t stop at casting metals&#;you can even learn to cast glass into molds in our Glass Casting and Coldworking Department.
Learn the ancient process of lost wax casting sculptural jewelry. Experimenting with different types of wax, you will carve, cast, and finish at least one small fetish, pendant, or ring in silver or bronze. Students are encouraged to bring in personal sketches and ideas.
Ceramic shell is a mold material used in the lost wax casting method. Learn basic wax-working techniques and explore basic metal finishing in this fascinating course. You will create a wax sculpture and build ceramic shell molds, transforming your original wax piece into bronze or aluminum.
This class is for people with metal casting experience who have completed waxes to cast. We can also accommodate 3-D printed PLA (best unpigmented). Students will prepare their patterns, gate them, build the ceramic shell mold, cast in either bronze or aluminum, destroy the mold, and remove the gates.
Bell Casting introduces participants to bell design and the lost wax foundry technique. In this class, you can design, cast, and finish a bell approximately six inches in diameter. This entry-level class provides a foundation for further exploration in this versatile foundry approach.
In Iron Casting, you will explore mold construction and preparation while building a sand mold with resin-bonded sand to cast your own iron sculpture. Learn the steps required to prepare the cupola for an iron pour. At the spectacular iron pour event, students prepare iron and coke charges, operate the cupola, and pour molten iron into their new mold.
In our Foundry, you can make your own stovetop waffle iron with a waffle pattern of your own design. We will make sand molds and use a cupola furnace to melt the iron. At the spectacular iron pour event, students prepare iron and coke charges, operate the cupola, and pour molten iron into their new mold.
In our Glass Casting & Coldworking Department, you can create a glass sculpture using the ancient technique of lost wax. In this class, you will learn wax sculpting techniques to create wax positives that are invested in a refractory material to create a mold. The mold is de-waxed to create a void that is filled with glass melted in a kiln. When cooled the refractory is divested and the wax positive is now glass.
It is best to start lost wax casting in an established casting studio with a professional instructor. Lost wax casting can involve more advanced equipment that can be costly to set up. The safest and least expensive way to start lost wax casting is in a public class. Once you have experience and a strong understanding of the process and tools involved, you may explore setting up a lost wax casting studio at home.
Lost-wax casting is a highly versatile technique and can be used to cast objects in gold, silver, brass, copper, bronze, and aluminum.
The most significant difference between the die and lost wax casting process is the mold material. Die casting uses a metal mold, which is a nonexpendable mold. Lost wax casting uses a mold made out of plaster or ceramic shell, an expendable mold. In the die casting process, molten metal is forced into a mold cavity with high pressure.
Microcrystalline wax is best for modeling because it is pliable and slightly sticky. In addition, it&#;s medium-soft consistency makes it easy to work with. Paraffin wax can also be used for lost wax casting, but it is not ideal for modeling. Paraffin wax is best used as an additive to harden an already existing wax model. Different kinds of specialty wax can also be used. Each type of specialty wax has a specific purpose, such as carving, modeling, or patching, and requires knowledge of their different melting points.
Method
The basic method of lost-wax casting has been widely practiced on the African continent for centuries. While it is difficult to establish how the method was developed or introduced to the region, it is clear that West African sculptors were casting brass with this method for several hundred years prior to the arrival of the first Portuguese explorers along the coast in . The technique requires a great deal of skill, involving extensive knowledge of both pottery and metalworking, and a careful attention to changing temperatures to prevent unwanted cracking or other damage to either the clay mold or to the metal sculpture during the casting process. Some of the earliest and most accomplished bronzeworks found in Africa date to the tenth century and are from a site called Igbo-Ukwu.
The process begins with beeswax, latex, or another material with a low melting point. It must be soft enough for carving fine details, but hard enough to retain its shape. After the wax object has been carved, increasingly coarse layers of clay are applied to the object and allowed to dry. The first and finest clay slips capture the wax details in the smooth mold, and the coarser clay layers provide strength. The entire assemblage is fired, causing the original wax carving to melt away, leaving only a baked clay shell. Liquid metal is poured into the empty mold and left to cool and harden. Later, the clay exterior is broken open, revealing the finished metal object beneath. In direct lost-wax casting, the object produced is always unique, as the mold is necessarily destroyed as part of the casting process.
West African sculptors have elaborated on this basic technique in a variety of ways. Many works were produced through multiple castings and by uniting different sections of a large vessel or figure. In addition, many of the brasses are actually a thin sculpture of hollow metal. In this case, the wax sculpture is formed over a clay core. The two clay parts are attached with spikes. Made from iron, the melting point of the spikes is hotter than either the wax or brass, holding the materials in place through the phases of heating and cooling. If reachable, the clay core is broken up and removed from the interior of the completed brass work.
Bronze, Copper, and Brass
The term bronze is deceptive. Because metallic content cannot be determined from appearance, cast sculptures made from a variety of metal alloys are often all referred to as bronzes. Copper, which is easily worked through smithing, is particularly difficult to cast without the addition of other metals that slow its oxidation rate and improve the flow of the molten metal. Different alloys of copper mixed with zinc, tin, and lead result in what are more accurately referred to as bronzes (copper and tin) and brasses (copper and zinc). The metals used in West African sculptures come from a variety of sources. Tin is plentiful in Nigeria, and in the s copper and lead sources that appear to have been mined were identified in southeast Nigeria. Certainly, however, the greatest periods of casting coincide with the influx of metals into the region from outside. The metals used in Ife bronzeworks were from brass brought across the Sahara by Arab caravans beginning in the twelfth century. In the fifteenth century, copper and brass were brought by Portuguese trading ships, contributing to another increase in metalwork.
The Tada Figure
Among the most well known of the works produced by Ife casters are a series of naturalistic heads. Despite the difficulties, Ife smiths cast many fine works in nearly pure copper. The seated Tada figure, dated to the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century and named for the village in which it was found, is one of the finest works in this tradition. It is hollow-cast and, at 54 centimeters tall, half-lifesize. The sculpture was cast in several separate pourings. Though found on the bank of the Niger River far north of Ife, the work shares the stylistic naturalism of other Ife metal and terracotta works. The naturalistic proportions of head and body and lifelike limbs, arms, and torso are some of the distinctive features of this style. Also characteristic of Ife culture, the figure wears a wrapper with a sash tied on the left hip.
By the time the art world first learned of this piece, it had been reintegrated into contemporary ritual practice. The sculpture of the seated man was scrubbed every Friday with gravel from the Niger&#;s riverbed by Tada villagers, who believed that this ritual would ensure their own fertility and that of the fish on which they subsist. The abraded surface of the Tada man is the result of this weekly ritual scrubbing.
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