MORE interesting patterns => 18 photos

 Preparing wax forms before casting presents many obstacles. The following instances might sway you from proceeding further.

 This one wax in particular shows how the wax overshadows the sides of the pendant.

 The only solution is to add an extra line of wax to accommodate the circle of the claw setting.

 This odd-shaped pendant is my favourite, offering numerous opportunities for setting gemstones.

 

 The basic loop for the chain is just too ordinary to be used. By adding an extra wire of wax, it now becomes a loop blending into the pendant. You can easily adjust the new loop to accommodate your necklace chain.

This "Queen of Diamonds" designed pendant was created with the assistance of my CAD designer. With this, I can place the loop on either end, and it is still usable.

 When my wife and I took a "Princess" cruise, I was anxious to create a pendant using the "Princess" logo. The CAD designer was a great help in creating the pattern WITH ME.

 This basic bezel ring can only accommodate one size of gemstones. But the simplicity makes the ring attractive. The sprue wax injection site is sufficient for casting.

 My off-site caster attached a sprue of the correct width, and no need for any extra modifications.

 This ring that I altered had to be adjusted to make the flow of hot metal during casting satisfactory. I always circumvent any further problems by adding a thicker sprue. The shank of the ring was really too thin for any flowing of any metal.

 This 'collection of circles' is named "Azure" as this will fit inside the hollow ring and will also fit against the finger.

  This photo explains how this wax ring will eventually look.  Every fine detail took much planning, even thinking why I should put a small Blue Sapphire on the side? I decided on a two-colour casting.

 This 3-piece ring had much planning between my CAD designer & I, as it culminated in many days of designing.

 

 This horse's ring was a two-piece construction. The only problem was that the ring needed much piercing before casting.

 The horseshoe was easier set with stones, then it can be soldered to the main section of the ring.

 If there is a definite build-up of wax residue on the tip of the heating pen, how can it be cleaned? 

All it takes is a few moments at a high temperature and let the wax just burn itself off!

 This heart-shaped pendant needed 10 stones to be set, which can be quite easy. On the reverse, or top side, I 'inked' where the stones will be placed and melted some extra wax to those delicate spots.

 I increased the waxsprue width to accommodate the extra wax for the metal casting.

 This is the final step in modifying this unusual pendant. 

The wax sprue MUST NEVER BE PLACED WHERE THE POINT OF THE PENDANT IS TO BE DESIGNED. This 'point' must always be a point and not need any re-shaping.

  WHAT IS YOUR CHOSEN NUMBER? You will notice where each of the sprues is attached; these sprues must not interfere with the 'number' design.

  I have been doing these wax modifications and observing where the sprues should be located. Watching other jewellers and casters can be a 'great teacher'.
 

WONDERFUL Wax shapes before casting => 19 photos

  During our workdays, we will encounter the need to cast an unusual design. I will explain where the wax sprues should be placed in this essay. You might have your own thoughts on this topic, but let's keep this essay running smoothly and without any difficulties.

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 This one wax sprue wasn't thick enough for the flow of metal, so what I did was to allow 'more freedom' for the hot metal. I created additional 'junction spots,' and there they are.

  More 'junction points' will allow the hot flowing metal to reach further into the 'bow'. What I did was to flatten the sprue, enabling a more precise joining of the waxes.

 I mentally planned where each of these sprues would be best located. How did the first junction appear and work from there?

 

 For this curved bracelet, I wanted every spot to have a chance to receive an adequate amount of flowing metal.

 After the metal has reached the desired areas, the many sprues can be easily removed.

 It is imperative that every 'tube setting' receive the correct amount of metal.

 I wanted to show why I cut off the long sprue. The answer was that when the flow of metal has entered the flask, the hot metal could very well start to cool down before reaching its 'destination'. 

 In retrospect, I could even shorten the sprue further.

 This disk has one problem, what is that? The disk does not have enough chance to get its full amount of flowing metal. WE HAVE TO CORRECT THIS PROBLEM.

 The width of this particular sprue must be made wider than normal. I always have extra thicknesses on hand.

  When joining of sprue to the disk, I will melt more wax around the contacting spot.

 Just 'touching wax to wax' isn't the correct method; there must be much planning and a realisation of how the hot wax will flow.

 The 'junction spot' must be thought of, and an understanding of how and where the hot metal will flow is required.

 This 'bow' MUST HAVE MULTIPLE contacts for the hot flowing metal. One spot is just not enough. If there were only one spot, there could be a problem in not having all of the flowing metal reach its desired areas.

 On the reverse side is the epitome of having a correct sprue layout.

  This belt buckle gave me some challenging moments. First of all, the main pattern was not in good shape. 

I had to correct many defects using a sharp blade and fix many spots that had signs of breaking.

  I decided to create 3 sprues for the metal to easily flow. Every new 'contact sprue' had to be given additional wax.

There are to be no shortcuts anywhere on any of these patterns.

 If a wax sprue was close to the main pattern, I gingerly bent the sprue further and made it permanently touch the pattern.

 This long sprue has one purpose, and that is to allow the hot flowing metal reach many critical areas.

 Here you can see the added wax around the sprue shaft. On the other end is where I will cut the sprue to fit against the disk. Being very cautious in this planning is #1 on how to prepare for metal casting.

 

 In preparing to cut any sprue, this is not 'cut and goodbye'. There has to be much planning in how the sprues will rest against the pattern. One error will put the whole casting into jeopardy. 

 (If you aren't fully trained in this process, I suggest contacting a person who can help you.)

How to prepare VERY LARGE WAX BRACELETS for casting => 27 photos

 These ongoing essays on 'wax casting' have been in my collection for many years. If I don't discuss them, all this important casting information will be gradually lost & forgotten.

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 All of these bracelets are made with multiple sections. Many of the sections should be individually cast, this is a time consuming ordeal but this what 'we' are dealing with in our profession.

 This bracelet has very large & bulky links for casting. I chose to drill the diamond holes AFTER STONE SETTING, if it was warranted.

 In this 'busy' looking bracelet, there were no holes drilled for stone setting. I decided to make this bracelet more interesting by placing one stone in each raised section.

 Instead of setting stones close together, I (carefully) inked for 6 stones per link. I didn't cast them as the cost would have been just prohibitive for my pocket.

 It is best to 'mark and drill' the diamond holes before casting, but this is your choice.

 Each link has to have a rivet joining each link to the other. After casting then the difficult work of polishing each link and then doing the stone setting.

 I would prefer if the joining and subsequent assembly be done AFTER STONE SETTING. 

 The reason is that there would be too much Onglette cutting if the diamond sections are too close together.

  Each link must be polished thoroughly before assembly, not afterwards!

 If there are any defects (as seen) that need to be attended to, PLEASE do them in the wax stages. The ongoing option is to set the stones at 'one link at a time' or in 'small groups'. Each of these links needs much metal cutting.

  I thought that Flush setting would work, but look at the problems. Polishing of the metal is nearly impossible with the stones already set. There are 'remnants of wax' around each stone. 

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  "WAX SPRUES FOR THESE BRACELET LINKS"

  Every link needs to have a process just to be cast, but how are these going to be accomplished?

 Each link needs to have an adjoining wax sprue attached. The purpose is that the hot flowing metal must be given a chance to move through the investment cavity.

  The wax sprue must be thin, but not too thin, so as not to allow the metal to flow easily.

  Once the casting has been completed, ensure that the metal has joined the many links.

 These wax sprues must always be joined to each link. Here you can see how this has been accomplished on each side of the links. For these thick links, I chose to use a (moderately) thick sprue. There is much metal to flow around these 4 links.

 With your heating pen, let the joining wax melt from the link to the sprue.

 In this photo, you can see the heating pen tip start to melt the wax where it's absolutely needed.

 I'll gently shape the sprue to conform to the curves of each link.

  Before any attachment of any wax sprue, I'll shape the soft wax to enable the round wax to easily join the link. This simple action will enable a more fully formed wax sprue.

 Here are three sizes of sprues. Why three? It all depends on where the links will be resting against the main wax shaft. BTW, the top link hasn't been well joined. WOOPS!

 The wax pen is again melting some wax just to ensure an even flow of metal during the metal casting.

 Always be prepared that every link is fully joined to the sprue. If it isn't, there won't be any flow of metal to going to that link.

 I'd attach a new sprue where the original was designed for.

 These joinings were not well made, scrap them and start again. This will lead to catastrophic problems for you. Plus, the holes were not sufficiently drilled, thus leading to a real YUK!

  I thought of this idea of joining these three kinks into one solid group.

 For these ultra-large-sized links, it's best to use many sprues to allow the metal to flow everywhere.

 You can see where I squeezed the wax sprue to enable the metal to flow from one side to the other. NEVER ASSUME THAT THE METAL WILL FLOW EVERYWHERE. It has to be made & created to flow everywhere.

 Here is another photo of how I hand-shaped the wax sprue to gently flow around the link.

 On this link is where I will insert a metal wire to attach the link when it's resting on the person's wrist.

  REMEMBER, not to set any 'pre-set' stones before any metal casting. You can easily see the slight curvature of the wax sprue.