hey guys

im trying to make my wedding ring from silver. i've made my family shield out of crystal and have some old silver jewellery that i am going to melt down to mold for the ring.

i have some air drying clay that i was going to make the mold out of. will the clay work? i know the ring will need a good clean up if i do use the clay, thats not a problem i just dont want the mold breaking on me or worse.

any help would be appreciated as im new to this type of metalworking

thanks

Edited May 21, 200917 yr by lanchie76

Jewlrey investment is what you need.

Get Tim McCreight's book "Practical Casting" It is available on the major on line book sellers about $20 with shipping. He covers that type of casting in real detail and gives various options.

Sharr Choate's "Creative Casting" is also very good. I agree that you should use the lost wax technique with investment. I'm not sure if Rich Waugh visits this site but he certainly helped me get started in the right direction with casting (except I'm doing bronze instead of silver).

Ditto to Charlotte & HW - The invested lost wax method will be the way to go. Do a search on the web for suppliers who carry the plaster investment material and basic equipment you'll need.

The books they've recommended are a good place to start and remember, even in small amounts, molten metal is dangerous. Study up on it before you start and always think: SAFETY-SAFETY-SAFETY

Jewelry is usually cast with a centrifuge to assure that the metal reaches into all parts of the mold. As you will be gravity casting (pouring straight from a crucible into the mold) your volume of metal is small and won't have a lot of force behind it so the chances of a failure are high.

As you haven't done this before, I'd suggest making several duplicate waxes. This will give you several shots at getting it right. Also think about making a simpler shape and try practice casting with that to get your process down.

Good luck - let us know how it goes!

Check out your community collage, see if they offer a jewlry making class. Casting Jewelry is time consuming and VERY complex. you WILL need a centrifuge or vacuum for casting just one ring. Consider melting the silver on a piece of clean charcoal block or small crucilble (no flux) and pounding it out. Like copper silver work hardens so anneal often and pickle the carbon deposits off each time you anneal so you don't work them into the silver... unless you like that demascus type look.

Hello,

Not to cause a flame war but you do not need a vacuum or cent setup for one ring. There is the old way of doing lost wax investment casting. Do a search for steam casting. You do need a burnout kiln to remove the wax. That is why it is called lost wax. I did this as a starving college student so the cost is not excessive if you are looking for a one off. Everyone's comment on hot metal is dead on.. Caution and patience are the watchwords here.


Good luck

Brian

This is a partial book I found on Google which has some info on steam casting but more sources are out there.

http://books.google.com/books?id=e_09Enaf4tIC&pg=PA112&lpg=PA112&dq=lost+wax+steam+casting&source=bl&ots=YpcRkvlM3I&sig=9hckgQXSgeLf6c4CXTmGBq64XOg&hl=en&ei=2fcWSuWzCoSItgfJ8tHjDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#PPR9,M1

Edited May 22, 200917 yr by brian.pierson

Steam Casting is covered as well as alternatives to wire spring centrifuge in Tim McCreight's "Practical Casting"

I didn't think lanchie was looking for a science project:) But I could be wrong:rolleyes:

thanks for all your input guys

i didn't think making a ring would be so difficult but as they say you learn some new everyday
i searched steam casting on this site and found My Heap it looks the way to go

if anyones done this some feedback would be great

thanks again

I was a Goldsmith before I blundered into Iron, and most of my grey hairs are from lost-wax casting. It's a day's worth of constant effort, not counting modeling time, and it might turn out to all be wasted until you literally have the finished piece in hand.

If you make a mistake, you can re-cast metal maybe 3 times before you must refine it again. I strongly urge you to just find a friendly casting house, the expense is minimal and nothing ever goes wrong. (See these stress wrinkles? Be warned.)

Otherwise, steam casting is the best option for low-tech one-offs, in my opinion - and a dry vodka martini the best medicine for the aftermath.

Bon Chance!

If you're determined to do this yourself, Fe-Woods suggestion of taking up a jewelry course at a local college is probably going to be the best advice you've gotten so far (and heed Morlock's warning about the woes of things not going well.).

It may seem a bit overkill for a one-off but you'll get needed instruction and assistance (along with access to all the proper gear) and you may just discover something that you really have an affinity for!

It's how I got started in metal working and now I do 300 lb bronze pours on a regular basis. There's something about big metal coming out of that cruce that just can't be beat!

Good luck - let us know how it goes!

The one method that hasn't been suggested yet is cuttlebone casting.
Probably the oldest form of metal casting and by far the cheapest - jumbo sized cuttlebone from the pet store = somewhere between $2.00 - $5.00.

You could look up techniques on the internet, it doesn't require specialized tools, very basic gravity cast -
HOWEVER ...
Cuttlebone casting is a one-shot deal (like other types of casting) and if you do it, do it outside - the smell is pretty impressive. The good side is that if you mess up, doing it again is really cheap (see above). Also the texturing you get from cuttlebone is really funky (at least I think so). If you don't like it you can just file it off. Several people in my silversmithing/jewelry class are experimenting with cuttlebone casting and the results have been pretty cool.

Good luck and please post pictures of your ring when you're done - I'd love to see it.

As an aside - about checking out your community college courses - you may want to look into it anyway, and not neccessarily for this project. I did that 10 months ago with a basic introduction silver class. Three courses later, I'm having a blast - it is so interesting. If you like fire and steel, try fire and precious metal - IT'S FUN !!!

Sam

Find a local jeweler that makes his own jewelry, a local rockhound would be good too. often they will have some peices in process and be willing to add you ring to the bunch they are making. Also they might be willing to let you help, and give you enough training to have things come out right. I have met a couple of small scale jewelers that are thrilled to death to share their knowlegde and skill in a project like this, and bonus they have the equipment you need!!

Good luck and keep us posted!!

thanks for your replies guys

i've had a bit of exp with molten metal mainly lead but thanks for the warnings all the same, different metal do different things when heated

i going to try the steam casting and see how it goes something about putting your own blood sweat and tears in something like this seems the right thing to me (although there has been a bit of blood. dont try to carve wax and watch tv at the same time. i know, stupid). we have good safety equipment for the melt all i need is to get it close and i'll man handle it from there.

thanks again
ben

Here's a link to Viking casting. What you do with it is up to you but if this guy can produce this sutff you can make a silver ring. Viking Metal Casting

Tell us have you cast your wax yet? If you run into a problem let me know. I have spent maney an hour casting. If you would like i can do it for you...

hey guys


well its been a long time you wouldn't believe all the things that took my time away from me but it now done. here are the pictures for you

still needs more polising but you the idea

thanks again for all you help

Ben

what an interesting conversation - i love the ring - its really personal and unique - thanks for showing us! Do you both have a similar ring? What is the stone?

the stone is green fluorite, and im making a gold ring with lead crystal inlay for my fiance. i tried nature quartz but like all natural stone the mirco cracks got the better of me with the cuts im doing (basically a ring thats only about 1.5mm thick)

thats pretty tricky.. sounds really beautiful tho. probably one you wont be wearing in the workshop...?:)

beautiful job on the ring. How did the casting go? You said you were going to try steam, was that the way you went after all.

hey Brian

yes i did it with the steam method and if i can say it worked too well, found out how bad my wax cutting was took me about 3 hours of sanding and polishing with still a bit more to go. but all in all it was great, worked the first casting and i learned alot from it

ben

Ben,

Yes it is the interesting part of casting period is the wax model. I was taught by another hobbyist that had been doing it for years. He sagely told me that it is the tiny imperfections that tells everyone you did it yourself. Do the best you can and always improve but you will end up with the imperfections. Good luck with your next project.

Brian

lol Brian

its so true but thats what makes it so much fun, you never truly know how its going to turn out when you make it by hand.

Ben