Casters and Molds

And do casters send molds back to the jeweler, or do they keep them?
I’d like molds made of the twigs and other waxes, but I’d like to
have the molds myself.

Thank you,
susannah

Depends on the arangment you make with the caster. If you are able to
shoot the wax yourself then there is no reason not to have the molds,
but if you are relying on the caster to produce the wax and then cast
it, it would make sense to let the caster keep the molds in the
interest of time and shipping cost’s. Morally though, if you create
the model, it is your design and your mold.

And do casters send molds back to the jeweler, or do they keep
them? I'd like molds made of the twigs and other waxes, but I'd
like to have the molds myself. 

Suzannah, there are many answers to your question. Most will send
them back to you if you request that they do so. Often they will
offer to keep them on file for you, so your subsequent ordering is
faster and involves less shipping back & forth. And possibly to keep
you as a customer! One caster that I used, however, refused to do
this. They didn’t want the hassle of keeping track of them. One other
caster did not ever send me my molds; they said they were not my
property (though they would not use them for anyone else but me)
because they had a secret way of making them that they wanted to
protect. (I later actually did get my hands on these molds, and
found that they were powder-separated, with interesting keyed locks
cut in each corner, and made of the hard grey rubber. Just in case
you mold geeks want to know. This was from National Cast Products,
now closed. Their office manager sent all my molds to me COD in a
rush when they were closing, so they wouldn’t get dumped. Very, very
nice of her!!)

So just ask the casters that you are considering working with, and
find out how they will handle molds. Good luck with your castings!

M’lou Brubaker, Jeweler
Goodland, MN
www.craftswomen.com

Hi Susannah,

Casters and Molds And do casters send molds back to the jeweler,
or do they keep them? 

We do a lot of twig castings for Designers as well as cast wax
models and general production/soldering/finishing/ 2 part enamel
/Plating etc…

The method we us to track customers orders is all based on model #'s
we assign when the Model arrives and is ready to be molded. This
model number is permanently etched into the surface of the mold and
entered into our computer system for tracking. Any order that we
received from a customer is then easily tracked through out our
factory. Currently, all our customers leave their molds with us for a
number of reasons. First, the cost of shipping the molds back and
forth is a major concern to most people… the second is that molds
can be lost in shipping. The other part is that as a caster it adds a
lot of time to constantly track someones molds when they want molds
sent back and forth. Mistakes can easily be made by both parties that
require constant attention… Another is that we have to wait for
your molds to be sent back for us to start an order. So it is far
easier for us to track the molds in house. Give us a call if you want
to talk directly with someone.

Daniel Grandi Racecar Jewelry Co. Inc.
Tel: 401-461-7803
RCJC Inc.
52 Glen Rd.
Cranston, RI. 02920