Would heating the crucible slowly in the oven to 500 first and then bringing the temperature up a lil at a time w torch help to prevent cracking in the much cheaper round crucibles?
And thank you for the info! Very useful as I did not know the crucible should be seasoned first. I thought you were just supposed to add borax first then your material and then more borax but now I know and it makes sense !!!
And thank you for the info! Very useful as I did not know the crucible should be seasoned first. I thought you were just supposed to add borax first then your material and then more borax but now I know and it makes sense !!!
I have a question ...could you technically heat the borax via another method in the beginning to save you from having to operate the torch as long? As in like bringing the borax to at least 500 via oven or microwave and then adding the torch to get the rest of the temp needed ? Or would this not work ?
Thank you so much for making this! I have the cast kit from Craig but have failed multiple times trying to make this exact ring. Your video was super helpful now I’m going to try again today!
I really enjoyed your tutorial. I haven’t even begun to do this yet, but seriously considering starting soon. Where are you located and do you do lessons?
Thanks for the great tutorial. I appreciate that you showed the first try and redo. I tried casting the shell today, first sand cast ever. FIrst pour, I underestimated amount of silver needed, didn;t completely form, so re did, and I'm satisfied with redo. ONe thing I learned is not to push down to hard on shells when trying to make it firm in sand, I broke the first two, but I had lots to practice with. Looking forward to doing some stone in ring casting soon.
Awesome tutorial. As an educator myself, I very much appreciate that you've asked for feedback. This step by step progressive skills video has been very helpful - I appreciate the economy of words; to the point, no fluff, easy to follow instructions with great explanations of the 'why' behind the 'what'.
Thanks for the info, i have been attempting to do 2-part pours, but failing to fail with my first ring. Came here, saw yiu back with sand to block the flow. Mind blown. Thanks for being so generous with your info x
Thank you for this very useful video...I noticed that when you pour the molten metal remains on the surface a small flame could be the one that continues to heat the stone and ruin it? it's just an idea I'm not an expert in this technique
Hello Kira! So happy I came across your video:) as a beginner with working with settings my self, How can I get info about what I can directly cast and what needs to be “after casting setting”? To not crack or break the stone/ glass/ quartz/ gem….etc Thank you for your videos !
Thanks for this video Kirra-lea! I am curious, if I screw up on casting in place a large solitaire diamond, can I put the torch directly on the stone to melt the gold to remove the diamond and start again or would that ruin the diamond? Thanks for your thoughts.
Hi! Thank you so much for these videos :) I have just started experimenting with sand casting and love it. I live in NZ so it's great to also be able to get most of the things needed in your videos easily. One thing I'm not sure on is where to source the metal from. I have bought some granules from Warburtons here, but is there another way to purchase metal? Do most jewellers purchase granules for sand casting? Thanks heaps!
Hi Kirra, great to see a real troubleshooting video, most are so perfected. The vacuum assist looks great something I’d be meaning to try. A technique I’ve used a few times is to dip my pattern into hot molten wax and then shake it off straight away. This seem to give a thin smooth surface to what was originally gripping the clay and not releasing well. Having a waxy surface to the pattern helps cut down on the amount of parting powder needed. Occasionally I feel I’ve used too much parting powder that gets embedded into the surface of the impression. very deceiving as the impression looks neat. however it’s structure is very weak as it is mostly made up of powder instead of clay. Love your relaxed natural style … Nick
Hi. I love watching your videos. If I might offer a couple of suggestions... when making a master pattern for casting, you normally incorporate a certain amount of 'draught' in the walls of the pattern. It might only be one or two degrees, but this allows for the pattern to separate from the sand cleanly. It also gives the edges in the formed sand some strength. From my (limited) experience and from what I have seen elsewhere, molten metal does not like right angles. The sand pattern at these sharp edges are quite weak and can 'break' from the pressure of the metal and could be causing the detail issue. Thank you for your videos. Keep them coming!🙂
I'm new to pouring. Every time I "pound" the clay into the mold, the clay "cracks" in certain places. It usually doesn't crack or split, where I was using the hammer. When I add more clay, it still happens. Is it possible I'm pounding too hard on the hammer? Thank you in advance.
For anyone wondering... your metal will expand. So even if its not perfectly set its still good. I didnt know this till a week ago.😊 This project gives me a chance to use my small CZs. Also re crisping wasnt in my process till i saw your videos. 👍
Hi everyone im a sand caster. And i am so glad i watched this today because i was missing two important things in this video. 1. I wasnt packing the male side upside down. Doing this gets a cleaner surface. 2. I wasnt gently packing around the object with my fingers. Thank you for this video!!😊
Beautiful shell! I have nothing but problems using a jewelers saw. The blades break very easily and they're a real pain in the butt to put them in the saw. It looked like you were pushing fairly hard when you were sawing. Did you use a jewelers saw? Thanks.
Here's some ideas Kirra-lea. Sifting the sand, and changing the pattern slightly. Let me explain. When I cast things with fine detail, I always sift the sand. Begin with pattern on the bench, details down. Then put the male on and pack the sand in. Now lightly starch, make sure nothing is left in the details. For the details you must use some sand with a very fine sieve, fine mesh strainer, or sift, first fill it with this very sifted sand a few mm's. then you can sift with a rougher sift till it overflows. First pack it hard with the palms of your hand while standing. Then beat it with the hammer. If the surface of the sand looks smooth like glass the casting will be cleaner. Also the pattern is very square, if the grooves or channels have a little slope/angle it easier to lift the pattern out without disturbing the details. Have fun
