Should I Pursue Lost Wax Investment Casting at Home?
If you are considering a casting setup at home, I've made a basic equipment and safety overview in a list below to compare your options.
Basic Equipment Overview:
- A Furnace, a way to power it
- A way to melt the metal, a way to pour it
- Investment powder, a bowl to mix it, scales to weigh it, deionised water to hydrate it
- A vacuum casting machine, seals, vacuum oil, flask tongs, bell for investment vacuuming
- PPE such as but not limited to, a respirator with suitable filters, welder's gloves, IR blocking eyewear, leather apron, leather shoes. Check out this pdf on managing the risks of casting https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/guide-managing-risks-associated-foundry-workl.pdf
Path of a Home Casting Setup:
- You understand there is a process and learning curve and recognise you can easily waste money by spilling metal
- You can handle long days running burnout, and understand the health and physical dangers of working with high temperatures and molten metal fumes, gasses, high temperature flames, furnaces, etc. You are committed to investing in adequate PPE (personal protective equipment)
- You have considered the storage of flammable gasses, powdered and liquid acids, and everyone in your house is ready to understand the relevant safety procedures involved in living near those chemicals (what to do in case of spills, fire of certain materials, what materials cannot be stored together, what needs to be stored in a chemical cupboard, etc)
- You have a powerful extraction fan ventilated space approximately the size of a bedroom
- You are okay with the potential for things not to go well sometimes and require troubleshooting
- You want to recycle your own scrap metal
- You're okay needing 125%-150% of extra metal, on top of the piece you intend to cast and its sprue setup. E.g. to cast 1g wax + 0.7g sprues, you'd need 22+ grams of sterling silver for a ring that's going to weigh ~11g, resulting in roughly 11g of recyclable scrap metal.
- You are comfortable maintaining the various machines, replacing the oil, ordering new consumables and equipment needed
- You understand the insurance necessary and fire risks associated
- You want to make a large volume / individual pieces often
- You are okay with strong smells that can accumulate and cause headaches and even become dangerous to your health if there is inadequate ventilation / isolation. (Burning plastic, the smell of 100 birthday candles all burning at once, the smell of acetylene gas)
- You have fine motor skills and can move quickly but smoothly at the same time.
You can see the process of lost wax investment casting in detail on our socials.
We're uploading reels on Instagram too.
