Errors seen in this wax 'ring & pendant' set. - 18 photos

 There will be times when a 'wax-cluster' pattern might not be seen prior to metal-casting. In this essay, I will endeavor to explain the errors seen on these waxes. I'm not explaining the stone setting processes, but showing the many problems with each of them.

 I know from past experiences, the simplest wax-injection can be fraught with errors and these can lead to serious problems AFTER METAL CASTING.

 In this photo-essay, THERE ARE MANY ERRORS DURING THE RELEASE OF THE WAXES from the rubber mold.

 The main problems are that the outside prongs (or claws) are too short for any sort of basic stone setting. (Your time is too precious to sit and repair them all.)

 I counted 9 claws that are lacking any ability to hold a stone. Please discard this wax.

 There are 'two center claws' missing. If there are too many claws missing on this wax, don't waste your precious time, get rid of it and inject another wax.

   In this pendant-wax, there are 10 claws in dire need of being repaired. For this wax, is it worth your while in saving it?  Saving it for what purpose? If you have a rubber-mold use it again.

  The underneath holes are virtually plugged up with wax. These holes need to be opened  & cleaned prior to any metal casting.

   On this wax pendant, there are still more problems of 'short claws/prongs'. Thankfully, the wax sprues are thick enough for the flow of metal during the metal casting.

 On the 'front wire prong' there is a defect in the rubber mold and subsequent newer wax will have a little hole. Either you fix every wax or repair the rubber mold, which might be a frustrating process.

 

                           WHAT ARE THE ERRORS SEEN IN THESE WAXES?

  

   This wax has 6 wax-prongs missing and a partial stone setting seen on the mid-right side is also missing.

Two base claws have been damaged beyond repair. Just say 'good-bye' to this wax.

 I gingerly attempted to show how to melt a wax rod into where the main sprue is being attached.

 I used this fine wax rod that measures only 1.45mm's to add more wax to the joining of the sprue to wire basket.

 The underneath of the wire-basket has broken prongs. This is not good for the casting process. As you can see that the main wax rod measures 2.75 mm's I made it thinner in my (warm) finger tips. Now I can use it gently where needed. 

 The wax-pen is heated to only to melt the wax, not to make it 'boil' while being used.

 The collection of wax builds up on the wax-pen is being used and needs to be removed, how is this done? Just increase the temperature of the pen and the wax will clean itself in literally seconds.

  I put a 'smiley face' on the dial as to where the optimum heating should be used. The word "wax' signifies the highest operating temperature to work with. 

 You can still see the tip smoking, while I was wanting to clean any residual wax from the tip of the pen.

 For an extra flow of metal during metal casting, I wanted the metal to flow 'everywhere'. Sometimes metal might not reach all of the areas, that is why I created another opportunity for the metal to flow.

 Under 'normal' circumstances, metal might not always reach the areas that is farthest away from where the metal is starting to flow.

 You should give the metal a chance to flow into these hard to reach areas. If not, there will be claws missing and this will lead to problems galore.

 Underneath the wire basket are 'supporting claws' missing. It is imperative that all of the claws are joining the 'basket', it could be chaos in discovering that you have so many claws to fix.

 This photo shows that there are unnecessary bits of 'extra wax' remaining inside of the basket of wires.

 You have two serious choices; either make a new wax frame or very carefully remove those pieces of wax. Not to mention one section of the sprue hasn't attached itself to the wire basket.

 If you think that wax casting is an easy process, think again. What you neglect in fixing now could lead to many soldering and repair problems after your metal casting. "gerrylewy18@gmail.com"