You are diligently wearing the mask and goggles for investing, but I
would suggest what I do when you are putting the 1000 degree casting
in the water to loosen the investment…Wear a mask since there are
particles in the steam that rise from the water that are harmful and
can also harm your lungs.
Your article is so very specific and wonderful. I had done this kind
of work during the time I taught Lost Wax Casting in the Adult Ed
program for 15 years. I have also done Precious Metal Clay painted on
the back of flowers and leaves and have had great success firing
them.
I would suggest what I do when you are putting the 1000 degree
casting in the water to loosen the investment....Wear a mask since
there are particles in the steam that rise from the water that are
harmful and can also harm your lungs.
Yes, quenching a hot flask to boil it out is probably the MOST
dangerous part of working with silica investment. You can reduce the
hazard a little bit by keeping the flask completely under water the
whole time you are quenching, until it stops the boiling action. But
you must wear a good mask, and not let anyone else near until all
steaming is well over with. Having good, positive ventilation is
important too, unless you are quenching outdoors. HTH! - M’lou
M’lou- Tim and I have found over the years that quenching a flask is
not necessary. In fact we find that we get much better results if we
let the flasks air cool with out the risk of inhaling investment
that is breaking down and boiling away. The castings really come out
better. They really aren’t that hard to devest when cool either. A
little work, but not so much.
No scientific studies, just 40 some odd years of observing our
results. We do however quench rose gold castings.