Casting at home

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi everybody!

Can anyone help me with casting silver/gold at home? I do not
have a casting machine yet, and I do not wish to buy one, since
they are very expensive for the hobby goldsmith, I was thinking
about making one home. Do you think it would be possible? How?

Thanks
Tibor

Tibor Kiss <@Kiss_Tibor>

2

Hi Tibor, welcome to the forum.

Can you give us a little more about the kind of
casting you want to i.e sand, lost wax and the size of pieces you
want to cast.

Richard
UK

3

Greetings: Look into the possibility of using an aluminum foil
lined flower pot over a standard hot-plate for burn-out, and for
casting use the time honoured steam-casting method. If you do
only occasional casting this combination works fine! You must
have a torch of a sort though! This combination is quite
inexpensive.

Regards,

Joe Bokor
@Joe_Bokor

4 
Can anyone help me with casting silver/gold at home? I do not
have a casting machine yet, and I do not wish to buy one, since
they are very expensive for the hobby goldsmith, I was thinking
about making one home. Do you think it would be possible? How?

I think your best bet is to call around to rock shops and find a
used setup, even a very used setup. You’ll need a centrifugal
machine (as you will find one more cheaply than vacuum), a burn
out oven, and some accessories (flasks, rubber bases, tongs to
remove the flask from the oven etc). You can build an inexpensive
vacuum pump from a refrigerator compressor, and using the hot
water investing technique get good castings.

I found a kerr standard casting machine, and loads of
accessories for $200. I think you could too, maybe even for less.
I bought a used burn out oven for $150, and a used vacuum pump
for $100, but it needed rebuilding. There you go.

Jeffrey

5 
Can you give us a little more about the kind of
casting you want to i.e sand, lost wax and the size of pieces
you want to cast.

I would like to cast lost wax, and smaller items, like rings,
earrings, various jewelry parts.

Tibor

Tibor Kiss <@Kiss_Tibor

6

I am looking for ways to do the lost wax casting process in my home.
I am in Denver Colorado and would like any that you can
send me as to how to get started, materials, etc… Please e-mail me.

7

Jay,

You should buy Tim McCrieght’s book “Practical Casting”. Among
other things it covers low tech casting: steam casting, sling
casting. The most expensive investment will be the kiln and the
torch or melting furnace. It you want to bypass the kiln then
you can try casting with Delf(sp) clay, it gives better detail
than cuttlebone, and is reusable. With the clay you make a
model out of plastic , hard wax or use an existing piece of
jewelry, and use it to make an impression.

Ed Colbeth wanderer@sprynet.com
Student, Metalsmith, Motorcycle Endurance Touring
Fairhaven, Ma

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