The not so lost wax casting.

Discussion in 'Investment casting Ceramic shell method' started by Jason, Jun 9, 2018.

  1. Jason

    Jason Gold

    SOB! The wax coated rope won the removal test.
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    Followed by Nail Polish with glue falling far behind with damage to the silicone.

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    Nail polish actually produced the best copy.
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    Last edited: Jun 15, 2018
  2. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    I was gonna point out that clear nail polish would make it harder to see what you've already painted than coloured... Looks like you figured that part out already. Looking forward forward to more lost rope!

    Jeff
     
    Jason likes this.
  3. Jason

    Jason Gold

    thanks bud, I picked a color I knew you'd like.:p
     
  4. I'd be looking at getting some fine wire, enamelled copper or steel and twisting it with a cordless drill to make a pseudo rope. Even some stainless steel cable from the hardware store and making the model from that before taking a silicone cast.

    Twisting the wire with a drill would let you make a close facsimile of the hemp rope and it wouldn't need a proper twisting like real rope as you could glue or solder the ends to prevent unravelling.
     
  5. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Thanks Mark. I'm not outta the woods yet on this thing. I may have to go down the copper wire road still. :(
    I'm going to pick up a clay extruder today and see if that's not a mega PITA first.
     
  6. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Alright.... No one better friggen laugh at me for this one! I bought a polymer clay extruder (think playdoh) and started remaking this thing AGAIN.
    http://www.michaels.com/10138047.html#q=extruder&start=11
    Here is some shots of me screwing with this goofyness. It shows promise but man is it embarrassing buying this crap at the craft store. The girl at the checkout
    went into this 5minute conversation how she was taking a ceramics class in college.:rolleyes: I don't think she was smart enough to notice I was old enough to be her DAD!:oops:
    Please do not revoke my man card, I will still cast this in bronze so don't F with me. :p

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  7. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Hey better than buying panty hose for straining wax. You should see the looks at the register. I just tell them "It's nearly the weekend" and walk out.
     
  8. Jason

    Jason Gold

    lol... I get those from wife. Trouble is she's petite and the legs are really tight on my silicone pans. I need some fat lady panty hose.

    She says go to good will. 25cents a pair, all you can haul away.
     
  9. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Yeah I buy the big ones which is probably why the looks from everyone at the register lol. I try not to buy anything else just straight panty hose so they know I'm not messing around.
     
  10. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Glutton for punishment. Richard suggested booty butter. SO to use up the rest of 35bucks worth of silicone, I remade the top section for the 3rd time minus the detail rope. I soaked the top and sides with wax and removed the excess. Hot glued to a board and lubed her up good and proper ready for action. :oops:

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  11. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Looks like it's going to be a good copy. That's quite some dedication to the gift.

    Post pics of the finished wax rope I wanna see how it came out.
     
  12. Jason

    Jason Gold

    It obviously lost some detail, which I expected, but I can sharpen that stuff up during the chasing.
    This silicone came right off the rope without a hint of trouble. Easy peasy.

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  13. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    The playdoh extruder is a pretty smart idea.....
    a couple years back I needed an over sized egg half to make a mold for a gauge pod. Leggs pantyhose used to come in these big eggs so I went to the store looking. Embarrassing to say the least, and to make it worse I was asked if i needed some help by the sales chick.....:confused::confused:
    Long story short, leggs pantyhose dont come inside the big eggs anymore....... :mad:
     
  14. Jason

    Jason Gold

    David, I almost think the playdoh version of the rope looks more realistic. What says you?
    The jeweler in my family says the green version. I think he's right.

    Now if I could squeeze wax out that extruder, I'd be in tall cotton!

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    Last edited: Jun 16, 2018
  15. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    out of the two the green one does look better, but I think I need a 3rd option....
     
  16. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Making progress.... Pulled a few waxes today and it's all gravy train from here on out.
    Mold ease let the silicone come right off the hardened polymer clay.

    Dark colors of polymer clay are hard on the eyes to work on. Lighter colors next time.
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    First wax pour. I laid on a little heat on the silicone from a heat gun and I think it does improve the waxes. Thanks to
    whoever said try that. (david I think) This is rebound 40. Not really the right stuff for this, it's what I had.
    No mother mold was needed on these. R40 is pretty firm stuff.
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    As pulled, doesn't need much chasing. Will make the small rope details in wax.
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  17. Jason

    Jason Gold

    It has been over 95 degrees in the garage lately with triple digits outside for a solid week. Working wax is not a good idea in those temps. I've figured out if I start wax work around midnight and call it quits at 6am I can press on. No calls please before the crack of 1pm. :p In all seriousness, the main folks I work for prefer to fly overnight so the back side of the clock is normal for me. After all these starts and stops, I'm not sure how in the hell I'll ever piece together a video on this one. The gopro battery died on me tonight and no warning. It just quits. :mad:What a POS. If ya look close on the tree, you will see 2 rope hoops. I used the rope die on the extruder and pooped those out with the brown wax. If they cast, I might use them to attach the circle to the arch. We'll see. Turns out I could have saved the steps of kiddie clay and 60bucks of silicone if I would have tried the rope extruder in the first place. Live and learn. :oops:

    I pooped out some thin wax and twisted them into something that looks like rope and added them to the brand. With some creative plumbing, I got all 4 pieces stuck on one tree. I was planning to boil out the wax on this one, but seeing I stuck so much crap on this thing, I don't really have a way to attach it to the lowering rig into the crawfish pot. :rolleyes: Maybe it will come to me in a dream around 10am. If anyone sees anything wrong, please speak up. I'll start shelling this dude this afternoon. Thanks! FWIW, all 4 pieces are individually attached to the fat trunk, I didn't let one piece try to fill the next. That's asking for trouble.


    The large sprues are 1/2" hollow. Not crazy about them being hollow, they like to break. :(
    The smaller ones are 3/16" solid and work nice.
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    I like how you can take this sticky red wax and patch up areas without much fuss.
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    Safe inside where it's 73 degrees. Glad my wife puts up with this goofyness! She hates the cold and dresses like it's winter.

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  18. Jason

    Jason Gold

    15304117296346030756734633435868.jpg Shelling is in the bag. I noticed on my second layer, it seemed like some of the 1st layer didn't stick too well, so something new, I did 3 layers of fine and then 5 layers of course silica.
    How I made it this far without this sucker breaking is beyond me. It's extremely heavy now and never would have survived if I tried hanging it by the handle. I've kept it at a nice cool 73degrees and same for the slurry. I'm kicking around a livestream, but probably won't happen on this one gang. I looked tonight and I have 100GIGS of video footage! No it's not 4k either! I need to sort out how to piece this disaster together into something watchable. Oh well.
     
  19. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Yeah its pretty delicate looking man. That was like costing the bird. Real pain in the ass to manipulate. Let me know if you come up with a better solution for costing without making a constant mixer...

    Will you cast tomorrow? I hope it lives through the boilout
     
  20. Jason

    Jason Gold

    I doubt I will get to pour it tomorrow. I just got tasked to work the next couple days. I would like to try to boil it out tomorrow night if I can get to it. I need to move up to larger containers to house my silicas as it's tough to maneuver over a small plastic tray. Barry had a really slick setup at his place. He had two big plastic barrels side by side with the 2 different mesh sizes. Over the top of the two he had a piece of plywood with holes cut out over the barrels. Did I mention he made the barrels into a pressurized fluid bed? Step on the pedal and just dip the piece and pull it out. DONE! Super slick rig. He greatly lowers the risk of breaking stuff with his easy to use setup. He also buys the big barrel of suspendaslurry. It has an easy to open/close lid. The only downside to that big blue barrel is it weighs 400lbs when it's new!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure how I would move that sucker in and out of my garage! A better plan for me to build a small temporary room INSIDE my garage to house the shell/wax operation, naturally it would have an HVAC system on it.
     

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