Greetings;
I had some molds made and casting done by The Casting House in
Chicago. The products were fabulous, but I am curious if others could
recommend other firms who DO NOT charge a $5.00-per-item fee to
sprue. Trying to make an affordable product, building in $5.00 per
item for a piece that I was hoping to sell for $30.00 seems a bit
excessive.
You would be saving me several hours of calling every casting
company listed in Ganoksin’s resources.
Thanks;
Carolyn Tillie
Carolyn,
I have experienced both the small home casting and commercial
environments. Spruing is about 75% of the trick. (temperature the
other 50% 
Get them to sprue a piece. Add a copy of their sprue to your model
and get a new mold cut. They can still blame bad castings on your
sprue placement etc, but at least you have discovered a caster to
avoid.
Jeff
Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modelling & Goldsmithing
http://www.gmavt.net/~jdemand
I am curious if others could recommend other firms who DO NOT charge a $5.00-per-item fee to sprue.
If anyone needs moldmaking and casting, please contact me for quotes
and turn around time. I did wholesale casting for 12 years. My
business was doing so well with custom and retail that I stopped. I
need to start wholesale casting to survive this economy so I would
appreciate anyone contacting me offline. I never charged a spruing
fee, it was always per gram for gold and sterling. I have done
casting specifically for jewelry artists and my prices and quality
were never an issue for them.
Richard Hart G.G.
Jewelers Gallery
Denver, Co.