The other day I was preparing to do a rush casting which involved
pushing a wax from a mold in my wax library. It was a large, albeit
realtively simple pattern. I heated up my little cheapie pot ( the
kind that has a topside plunger and spout ) and proceeded to push
the wax. The result was a very incomplete pattern. I did it several
more times with unsuccessful results. Since the job had an immediate
deadline, I pondered whether I should order a a new extruder. I
decided that there wasn’t sufficient time and started racking my
brain to come up with an alternative solution…Eureka !..a
turkey baster. I bought one at the local hardware store and used it
to push a perfect wax on the first attempt. Any port in a
storm…Ron at Mills Gem, Los Osos, CA.
Ron, Necessity is the mother of invention. A baster is good. I also
have used the plastic syringes that are available in drug stores for
measuring various liquid medications. They don’t have a needle on
the end but rather a plastic tip that is a bit wider. Sometimes cut
them off to shorten and thicken the end to better fit the sprue hole.
Just suck the heated wax up, insert into the sprue hole and inject.
Works great. Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL
where simple elegance IS fine jewelry! @coralnut1
Another option is a glass syringe, which can be used over and over
and heated to remove wax or for better injection characteristics.
Many years ago when I was young and broke and looking for something
that worked better than the turkey baster, I put such a syringe to
use and it served me well for a couple of years. Did anyone ever say
poverty is the mother of invention?
Hey Ron, isn’t the human resourceful mind a wonderful thing? I’ve
always used that turkey baster to fill a temporary one part mold
using the impression-taking silicon putty. Super fast and neat, and
no end to the possibilities. Then you take the bulb off and clean it
in that home-made pressure cooker de-waxer. Happiness is…
Pat