Kevin. I use File-A-Wax for most of my projects. I have turned and
cast it into bowels 3-1/2" in diameter and 4 inches tall. I have
created rings, buckles, pendants and earrings with File-A-Wax. I
have never had any casting problems that could be attributed to the
wax. I normally have a very full burn out oven and maintain a
temperature of about 1330 degrees for 8 hours. File-A-Wax might need
a longer burn out cycle as it is very thick when molten and probably
does not leave the mold as readily as injection waxes. File-A-Wax
will not melt in a steam de-waxer. It is not as easy to join two
pieces of wax together as it is with other waxes. Both pieces must
be melted at the joint. It is more of a welding process rather than
a soldering process. I sure would like to know what
problems with File-A-wax your friend is talking about. Lee Epperson
I prefer to use file-a-wax whenever possible. Hand and machine
carving of course, injecting, and I haven’t had a wax float to the
top of a flask since I started using it for sprues and trees. The
only casting problem I’ve encountered with file-a-wax was that my
local bronze foundry absolutely refused to cast it with their shell
process. I would have had to do a silicone mold and pour a softer
wax. Seems that file-a-wax’s expansion destroys the shell’s
integrity. There are machinable waxes (softer and with a lower melt
point) which are designed for shell casting though I’ve not yet tried
them.
Jeff Demand
CadCam Modeling Solutions
http://www.aztec-net.com/~jdemand