I’m new to working with wax, have just done my first few carvings /
castings, and am thinking about purchasing a wax injector, so I
thought I’d ask you a few questions. The primarily use would be to
make waxes from green or purple carving wax so that I can further
work the designs, modify settings easily - things like that, for
limited casting runs.
1 - Can I get the same results using carveable injection wax, for
example, Kerr’s Carveable purple Accu injection wax, or similar?
2 - Do hand powered injectors give equal quality results as those
powered by compressed air?
3 - Is is possible and is is a good idea to convert a hand injector
to working with compressed air?
4 - What are your recommendations for the best wax injector and why
5 - Do the less expensive models of air powered injectors give
acceptable results?
6 - Do you have any recommendations for the best air compressor to
use?
OK - that’s a lot of questions, and thanks in advance for all your
good answers!
To answer some of your questions, in some sort of order. I haven’t
messed with the carveable injection waxes lately, but didn’t like the
ones I did use. Not hard enough, and a right PITA to inject. I swear
by Sierra Red, personally. It injects well, and sets hard if you
leave it alone for a day or two after shooting it. I haven’t had much
luck with the hand pump injectors, but I haven’t used them much
either.
Mine is a standard compressor driven model, with a few tweaks,
naturally. The biggest one is the compressor: used medical suction/
compressor unit. Basically a little teeny diaphragm pump, (like an
airbrush compressor), rigged to an on/off foot pedal. I set the air
line so it’s got a slight bleed in it. To use it, you just stomp on
the pedal, pump the unit up to whatever you want, motor off, and then
shoot the wax. The pressure will drop back down 5 Psi or so in 10-15
seconds, so it’s likely below where I need it before I’ve got the
next mold queued up. It lets me vary the pressure for every mold, on
the fly, without tying up one of my hands. Right quick, and little
compressors like that are cheap.
Yep, lots of questions, but good ones and worth asking. Personally, I
don’t believe there are any injection waxes that behave exactly like
carving waxes. They are only somewhat carve-able, as opposed to
standard injection waxes which are lousy for carving. I’ve used all
kinds of wax injectors, but I have a small hand pressured injector
that I love. With the compressed air models, you have to get the
pressure just right, and it takes some trial and error. But with the
hand injector, after a little practice, you can actually feel how
the mold is filling and adjust your hand pressure accordingly. One
caveat, with a hand injector, it’s a lot easier if you’ve got one of
those mold clamps that hold the two mold halves together for you
rather than holding them between two metal plates, which takes two
hands to do easily and properly (leaving you no free hand to operate
the pump). As for compressors, you don’t need a very big one for an
injector, so if that’s all you’re going to do with it, get a little
inexpensive one from Wal Mart or someplace, or even one for use with
an air brush. They’re all pretty noisy (except the air brush
variety), but the quiet ones are quite pricey.
We have a couple of air pressure type wax injectors for for regular
injection wax. I also have a hand pump type I keep loaded with hard
green carving wax, same stuff you buy in a block to cut up. It needs
to be a little hotter, but it injects well into the type of things
you would later carve or modify. It is easy to get too much
pressure, so I just use the tip of one finger to press the plunger.
Many years ago, I taught a craft class in a high school. The students
found that they could hit the plunger hard enough to get wax on the
ceiling, when I wasn’t looking. As was mentioned in a previous post,
it is hard to hold the mold without a clamp. I put two post office
type fat rubber bands over the plates, one at each end. wrapped
around 2 or 3 times. This holds the mold together so that you only
need 1 hand on it.
It is possible to inject blue carving wax with moderate success. A
commercial air injector with the nozzle drilled out as large as
possible, and the high pressure limit stop on the regulator removed.
(I know, a first class ticket to Hades for that trick) Now a shop
built very small one which has a crude vacuum assist.
Pressures high (up to ~30 PSI) and some experimenting with the
temperature. A mold clamp is a good idea as are gloves, that wax is
seriously hot. Not generally good for everyday production work, too
many bad shoots but for re-carving usually good enough. I did use it
as my only injector for quite a few years… one day I just snapped
and the plastic came out
I second David’s post, pressure injectors can be a PITA having to
reset the pressure for different molds. I have had quite a few
employees that could hold two plates with one hand and inject the
wax. One of my employees could shoot 60 waxes an hour, about 2-3
times faster than anyone else, including me… I have a pressure wax
injector for sale, Rio model # 700-103. List is $395, I need $240
and actual shipping charge. E-mail off-line please. Early spring
cleaning!!!
I have a wax injector with ruby red for production and one with
Castaldo Super Cera for carving. I think if you call Castaldo and
ask for a sample they might oblige. It carves cleanly, is a really
good carving wax, depending on your tools,your skill, and your
method. It comes in a gold color, so that is an advantage for showing
the model to the client.
I use a pressurised wax injector but I dont use a compressor, I use
a foot pump for car tyres. As you are only using around 5-8 psi it
doesnt take much effort to apply the pressure by hand and on my
injector the nozzle easily takes the nose of the pump without
further adaption.
Thanks to everyone who answered my wax injector questions and told
about their experiences!
Seems like the best injectors are both the hand powered and the air
compressor powered, about split evenly ( ).
So my friend and I (the 2 of us live up here in the NM mountains and
don’t want to have to drive to Santa Fe all the time for our working
waxes) will first try the hand powered one she got used, then maybe
with a foot pump to free up the hands for mold holding,
catching,etc. Then maybe on to the air compressor versions if we find
we need more mold filling power, but for now, simple and less
expensive is better.
).