I’m having a problem, and I’m hoping someone here might know of a
solution. My company manufactures a line of local-themed jewelry.
I am in charge of wax production (injection, manicuring…), and we
have one collection that’s giving me fits. There are three sizes of
pendants that are designed to be completely flat on both sides (with
a rectangular cross-section). The collection can be viewed at
http://www.mardonjewelers.com/html/traditional.html. Ideally, they
should come out of the mold perfect so there aren’t any marks to
clean up once these pieces are polished. The problem is that the
models are dipping in the middle on one side (the largest dips the
most, but the smallest dips enough that they have to be sanded
down). Shrinkage seems to be causing the problem. I have tried
numerous waxes (Kerr tuffy green, Rio pink buckle most recently). I
have tried keeping pressure on the molds until the wax is set. I
have refrigerated, frozen, and heated the molds before injection.
Pressure and temperature on the wax affect the dipping (using Kerr
Injectomatic II w/hand pump), but no combination of the two has
completely removed it.
If you have any suggestions, I would truly appreciate the help! My
bench jeweler, our wax carver, Rio Grande, and Kerr have all given
suggestions, but nothing has worked so far.
Thanks,
Jenny Sweaney
Mardon Jewelers
Riverside, CA 92501
www.mardonjewelers.com