So sorry about your missing fish, Tim. You would have been able to
reel him in if you had cast the two metals in the opposite order -
the item that melts at the highest temperature should be cast first,
as it will withstand the heat of the second.
Better luck next time.
Pat
Greetings Jewelers: I love to cast hollow netsuke-like creatures for
jewelry, but silver is about to drive me out of business.
I’d like to know about bi-metal casting. Can you cast a silver
component first and then cast bronze or shibuichi around it later?
Silver hasa slightly lower melting point than bronze, but not by
much.
Sally Parker
Sally- You would have to cast the bronze first. Clean up the casting
and the re-invest and re- cast with the silver.
I think that you’d off set any savings in materials costs by
increased labor costs.
I wouldn’t worry too much about metals prices. A. What goes up will
come down. Like gold did yesterday by over 100 bucks. B. Always
keystone your materials costs. 2x40 bucks is a lot more than 2x10
bucks. You make more money. If your clients complain, find richer
ones that appreciate your work more.
Remember what we do is Magic. If it was easy everybody would do it.
Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com
A local caster has done some bi metal, 14K yellow and white
castings. She casts the higher melting temperature metal first,
prefinishes it, and then invests it with the wax for the lower
melting temp metal.
Sally, Where can we go to see some pictures of your work? Sounds
fascinating.
Gary S.