For those of you who are casters, I have a few questions…
Any other comments on this will be greatly appreciated.
Also I have never cast with an electromelt, any advice on that would
be great!
Thanks in advance.
LaVerne
I do not use a steam dewaxer, because it only works for injected wax.
Hard wax original models will not melt, as I understand, in the
temperatures of steam. I cast both, often in the same flask. There
should not be much in the way of fumes coming from melted wax. It is
burning wax that makes a cloud of smoke. But since I have never done
it, I’m just speculating here. Any appliance that makes steam would
have the same temperature inside it, wouldn’t it? I’ve considered
using the process, but since I have adequate ventilation and burn out
overnight in most cases, I haven’t made the effort to get into steam
dewaxing. I use a casting company for most of my production work
involving injected wax. But of course one could make more money
casting at home if work is scarce, in these lean times.
M’lou
How many of you use steam dewaxers?
I do on some pieces. If I have many parts in injection wax I’ll use
it, or if I want to do an accelerated burnout I’ll use it. At my
altitude, steam will only reach 200 degrees F, so it won’t melt out
any of the higher temp carving waxes.
How important is it to your operation?
Not huge. It does cut down on fumes during burnout and might give
you slightly cleaner investment art the end. If you do large
production runs and have a large enough dewaxer to handle the load,
cutting down on most of the fumes would make it worthwhile. Some
communities are a bit sticky about that sort of thing and it’s a lot
cheaper than a fume scrubber.
I heard that a rice steamer will work. What do you think?
Anything that is enclosed and will boil water will work. I use a
thrift store stockpot with a rack in it, sitting on a hotplate.
How bad are the fumes while the steamer is dewaxing?
Smells like hot wax, but no fumes really, never gets that warm.
Electromelts are great for the small shop if you vacuum cast, get an
automatic one. Accurate temps and will hold them nicely.
Harry
Steam dewaxers will only work on injection wax not carving wax. The
temperature of steam is not hot enough to melt the high temperature
waxes.
Steam dewaxers will not give off fumes other that the smell of melted
wax whick is like a candle.
I am told wax is corrosive therefore the more wax you remove from the
burnout cycle the better.
I strongly suggest using an Electromelt with a controller. The major
advantage of melting metal in an Electroment is the temperature will
be consistent between pours. You don’t have to read the color or
fluidity of torch melted metal. If the first casting of the day is a
problem you can adjust the oven or Electroment temperature to
correct.
You can melt enough metal for several pours depending on the weight
of each casting if you follow the rule below.
If you do used an Electromelt be sure to give the ring of the
graphite crucible time to heat up. That takes around 5 minutes more
heating after the desired melt temperature is reached. If you do not
allow the ring to heat up at the beginning and after each pour the
ring may chill the metal enough to produce a bad casting.
Lee Epperson
How many of you use steam dewaxers?
I use a steam dewaxer…it’s the fumes that matter…I can get
asthmatic reactions…mild, but still want to avoid them, so the lack
of major fumes is great.
How important is it to your operation?
It’s mostly a practical thing…cuts down about 90% of fumes, plus
wax cleanup is very easy…just let the chamber cool and pull off the
sheet of wax from on top of the water
Also I have never cast with an electromelt, any advice on that would
I love my electromelt. just don’t make the mistake I did when I was
starting to use it and use the same tongs for a small flask! I ended
up stretching my tongs and dropped my crucible while trying to pour!
Getting the automatic one is worth it
Jeanne
How many of you use steam dewaxers?
In India where we donot carry out in situ wax setting of diamonds we
use steam dewaxing for carrying out the dewaxing operation.
How important is it to your operation?
Steam dewaxing results clean removal of wax from the flasks without
any fumes being released in the air needing scrubbing.The wax
removal is complete which results in cleaner casting.
I heard that a rice steamer will work. What do you think?
We have built a steam dewaxer for carrying out this operation we
have never used the cooker.
How bad are the fumes while the steamer is dewaxing?
They are very bad
Any other comments on this will be greatly appreciated.
The quality of the casting improve of course time frame increases.
Best regards
Umesh
there was some mention of a rice steamer in the form of a question
for a time i ws using a double boiler sauce pan which i modified by
drilling holes in the scondary or passive heat pot of the double
boiler.
i had some mixed results during the burnout cycle which may have
been my error.
i experienced an increase in investment failure, i may have had too
much water in the pot or i could have left the flasks in the pot too
long in any event i did not have the money or time to risk with
experimentation, the only other factor that my experience could
include is that iv’e not worked with an actuall professionally
designed & built steam dewaxer
goo