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Ginko Gallery ... Oberlin, Ohio…Between Sandusky and Cleveland

 

 

 

how-to make a wax injector for jewelry casting patterns

You’ll you need is Rival crock pot that has a low heat setting and some sort of metal-syringe-like injection device (I use a small air cylinder) with enough mass and volume to keep the wax at flow temperature long enough to be able to pull your injector from the crock pot and make your pattern shot. The other requirement for the wax syringe is to size the injector opening to achieve flow at a low pressure (about 5 psi)…mine is about .062 diameter.  You may need to set your crock pot on the high heat setting if your wax has a higher flow temp…the wax I use flows at 155 F.

 

how-to make a pattern mold with cold molding silicone

Belicone Silicone, Belicold 2 Part Cold Molding Silicone Putty…If for whatever reason you are having difficulties reproducing intricate details in your pattern mold or the cold-mold process is new to you …this may help. My recommendation is based solely on performance, I don’t have any ties to the manufacturer.

I decided to try this material based on it’s usage in the dental industry and you’ll see in the video that it doesn’t require any specialized equipment to make a mold. As a matter of fact my process is very crude, but so far the results have been excellent. Key points to making this stuff work:…keep it clean…apply plenty of pressure (make sure you have enough material in your mold frame to do so)…weigh each part of the 50-50 mix on a scale…work fast because you only have a couple of minutes before it starts to set. Because the material is flexible, make sure you follow instructions concerning the mold-size to part-size ratio.

 

 

About

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Prior to becoming an independent artist I spent several years as an industrial designer in the lighting industry. During this period, my work was dedicated to creating conceptual models for architectural, display, exhibit, and other forms of specialized lighting fixtures. Designing and fabricating functional lighting concepts served as the foundation for the work that would follow in that it demanded excellent craftsmanship & detail be achieved through applying multiple fabrication and finishing techniques to a variety of metals and other raw materials.
Searching for new challenges that would also allow me to continue creating with metal eventually led me to making jewelry.

My one-of-a-kind jewelry (women’s, men’s & unisex) is made using silver, sterling silver, copper, bronze & brass or in many cases a combination of two or more metals. Items are primarily produced through metalworking using traditional cold-forming and fabricating techniques. If a higher level of detail is desired, investment casting and/or sintered metals (metal clay) may be used. Color objectives are met through the selection of metal(s) based on their respective oxidation and finishing ranges and in some cases the use of vitreous enamel. Using metalwork as my platform, unique native materials are sometimes included in a piece, e.g., found stones or fossils vitrified or otherwise finished. Offering uncommon pieces that are an appealing diversion from the mundane in the form of bracelets, necklaces, pendants and earrings is the focus of my work. I consider every piece a potential heirloom…quality, originality and longevity are very important to me. I hand make every component of the finished piece including all findings (ear hooks, ear posts, catches, small chains, settings, rivets, bails, jump rings, etc.) in my home-based studio.