Wax modelling

With a matter of weeks till hand in of practical work I have been impatient and anxious to get into the jewellery workshop at Gray's for my investment casting project.

The studios and workshops are at present uber busy with the undergrads manically making and preparing for their end of year exhibition. I decided therefore that it would be wise to wait till after the Degree Show

My main worry though in waiting to get started is that I may fail at this new untried process. Head technician Phil Chaplain assured me that he would allocate me two sessions so that if the first attempt was unsuccessful I would have a second opportunity to succeed.

For my casting project I will be employing the lost wax technique. There are different grades of wax that you can buy which vary in pliability. To sculpt the wax I used dentistry tools and a mentholated spirit burner. The burner allows you to cleanly melt the wax and heat the tools thus preventing a contaminating sooty residue.

It is important to note that the resulting cast will be an exact replica of the wax model.