Disposal of used investment

Folks, I’m new to casting. After quenching flasks, how should one
safely and properly dispose of the investment gunk that now sits at
the bottom of the quenching bucket?

Thanks for your advice.
William

…when the bucket is too full, let the water evaporate till the
investment is dry, and then throw it out as a solid.

I line a bucket with a plastic wastepaper basket bag and then fill
it with water. After quenching, I let it settle, pour the water off
and toss the investment, bag and all. A few years back I started
breaking out the castings dry. I let it cool for a while and take it
outside with a metal bucket, a dust mask and a leather mallet. Smack
the flask smartly and repeatedly on the side (not the ends or the
button) while turning it. The investment will break up and fall out.
I would have to recommend that it is best to do this outside only. It
creates a lot more dust than quenching and can linger inside,
probably forever, like the glass from the light bulb that blew out in
your grandmother’s bathroom in 1967.

The investment residue from whichever method you choose can go in
the regular trash. It is non-toxic and presents no hazard other than
from breathing the dust. Seal the bag so the trash guys don’t have to
breathe it either.

I find it best to let investment spills harden untouched and to break
the hardened chunks loose from the counter top or floor rather than
to try to wipe up spills. Dry investment is just easier to handle
than mud.

Please use a dust mask whenever you’re working with investment or
anything else that produces dust. And the best of luck with that new
casting venture, William!

Dave Phelps

When it’s time to buy new investment you might think about using R&R
Bandust just to help reduce the health risk associated with
breathing in the dust. You should still wear a dust mask, something
I’m not sure most people do. Mark

http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep80zb

A tip for those buckets of wet investment, pour off the water on the
top and then roll up four ‘candles’ (British joke) of newspaper and
push them into the wet investment, leaving a few inches poking out.
Leave somewhere it won’t get rained on, the water will be evaporated
away in a surprisingly short time. Got this from Orchid some years
ago, it leaves you with damp plaster rather than sludge, much easier
to deal with.

keep on casting,
Tim Blades

Has anyone tried the new investment that has an additive, Bandust by
R&R that cuts down the dust 99%

Curious if there are any changes in the casting itself.

Charlie

A tip for those buckets of wet investment, pour off the water on
the top and then roll up four 'candles' (British joke) of newspaper 

What’s the joke?

Thanks,

Elaine
CreativeTextureTools.com

When it's time to buy new investment you might think about using
R&R Bandust just to help reduce the health risk associated with
breathing in the dust. You should still wear a dust mask,
something I'm not sure most people do. Mark 
http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep80zb 

I want to know more about this stuff! Which type would be best for
casting bronze and sterling silver?

Kathy Johnson

R&R Bandust investments are a good idea but one should be aware that
it changes nothing in regards to the dangerous particles released
when quenching investment. It only reduces particulate issues when
handling the investment while mixing and before quenching
housekeeping.

James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts

Qwik-set cement! Pour off the water, mix some into the into the
investment with a cheap paint mixer attached to a drill, then take
it to the dump. Techsupport at Rio mentioned this trick a long, long
time ago. Credit where credit is due.

Dana

What's the joke? 

Look on Youtube for ‘Two Ronnies’ four candles

Tim

Look on Youtube for 'Two Ronnies' four candles 

I also like the retread he did at the greengrocers, on his special
“The One Ronnie.”

Elliot Nesterman

I dump it in a newspaper lined plastic colander. That way the stuff
can drain and dry out for a week or two before I put it out with the
trash.

The larger sized colanders will set right in the top of a five
gallon bucket to catch the drips. I have two going most of the time.

Steve Walker

This is funny, although I couldn’t understand everything they said.

But, “My Blackberry is Not Working” is hilarious!!! Linda

My old, now departed, mentor would save used investment, and when
things were slow, would pan (as in prospecting) the investment for
fines. It was apparently worth his time, but I haven’t resorted to it
yet!

He also would recover his own metal from lemel, which lead to his
destroying his health in an accident. I haven’t resorted to that
either!

I do the same and pan all my sweeps too…prospecting my studio
is a goodthing!

Steve

Yes, but the mixture of lemel, hot nitric acid and cyanide is more
than I want to deal with! The mixture boiled over, releasing a lot of
cyanide gas into the shop. He the couldn’t find his keys. It took him
twenty years of suffering before he died. He still refined his own
lemel until a few days before he went into the hospital for the last
time.

I admit to keeping a bucket of used investment, which one day I will
pan!

Lot of gold and silver gets lost this way. Better to pan it or pour
it through a filter and then let it dry before bagging it and
disposing of it in the trash… Took a very nice trip to St. Thomas in
the Virgin Islands one year after panning my investment for a couple
of years…

Lot of gold and silver gets lost this way. Better to pan it or
pour it through a filter and then let it dry before bagging it and
disposing of it in the trash. Took a very nice trip to St. Thomas
in the Virgin Islands one year after panning my investment for a
couple of years...

Weigh your metal before you cast and after you cast.

That keeps you away from bad surprices and metal loss.

Straight forward, easy and no need for panning, as simple as that.

I am interested in getting some of the new Ransom & Randolph bandust
investment which is much safer to use than the regular investment.
However, the only source I found carries it in 50 lb size. Much too
much for me. I can use 25 lbs or 30 lbs. If it is only available in
the 50 lb size, what is the shelf life, as it would take me quite a
while to use thatmuch.

Hopefully other companies manufacturing investment will make the new
improved version. Alma