Hello All,
Recently in my attempts I was using an older model Electro Furnace from Kerr that couldnt get my metals hot enough over the liquidous point. I recently invested in a newer furnace from Rio Grande and it seems to do the job well #BUT when I am pouring the metal (sterling silver with deox casting grains) into the investment after it has been burned out - its not filling up the channels where the wax was - any suggestions?
I have seen this done many time without the vacuum assist, and right now budget is tight to buy that unit. Any suggestions would be very helpful.
The melted metal needs something other than gravity to force it onto the mold. It can be centrifugal force, steam pressure, vacuum or some other force. If you want to cast using only gravity as the force that moves the melted metal into the mold, you need open molds or molds made of sand or clay such as Delft clay or petrobond. They are limited in the amount of detail that you can cast. There was a discussion that included a reference to a sand casting system on orchid within the last week. You have a way to melt the metal, a way to burn out the wax, now all you need is a way to force the melted metal into the burned out mold. Among others, look at Lucas Dental https://lucasdentalcompany.com to get an idea what centrifugal casting equipment looks like. Good luck…Rob
For gravity casting you often need to use risers. These are like sprues that start from the bottom of your model and go up to the top. They should open at the top outside of the pouring cone. When you pour, the air escapes through the risers. Some metal will also enter the risers. Just clip this off like sprues.
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I much prefer vacuum casting. Easy, doesn’t require another “tool” - you need a vacuum for investing anyway. I’m assuming you were using a static pour?
A casting table is easy to build inexpensively.