Using this green soap for anti-bubble went badly

[RickPowell]

Hello everyone,

I was curious about using green soap tincture to reduce surface tension on wax models so I dipped my wax models just before filling the flask and it went pretty badly.

After casting there was a very black and crusty-distorted surface. After this disaster, I checked the bottle and it says "Green Soap, and Ethyl alcohol 30%... purified water, and my current suspect. lavender oil.

So was it the lavender oil that did not burn out and I assume there are green soap tinctures that are pure without the lavender oil? I didn't have much bubbles to begin with on my castings so far so I may just abandon this idea unless someone can share what brand they use. Or do people make their own?

I did a standard 5 hour burn out for a small flask.

The brand is called "Cosco" and it seemed to be very basic green soap for hospital cleaning. I wish they put the words "scented" on there so I would have known it was not pure green soap.



Thanks,
Rick

[scavengerqr]

Mix a little dish soap in some hydrogen peroxide and put it in a spray bottle.

[jhaemer52]

If you properly vacuum your investment both before and after pouring into the flask you shouldn't need green soap to keep bubbles from forming.

Sometimes we'll just give the wax a quick dip in the sonic to remove loose wax dust or finger grease, but we always rinse it off with water after before investing.

Have fun and make lots of jewelry.

Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com

[RickPowell]

Sorry,

Forgot to mention I don't use vacuum assisted casting or
debubblizing at this time, would love to build that next though. It's definitely worth it and relatively simple to build a debubblizing table. As soon as I have time off I will build one for the next project. I'm currently building a shop press and will put the debubblizer for the next task.

When I vibrate the investment before pouring and then vibrate the filled flask when using Satin Cast I'm getting only a few bubbles every now and then, just wanted to try the green soap method to see how close I can get my castings to near perfection with my current set up.

I will try the dishsoap method next since the purchased green soap I see has additives that don't burn out.

Thanks everyone,
Rick

[Kathy_Johnson1]

Sometimes we'll just give the wax a quick dip in the sonic to
remove loose wax dust or finger grease, but we always rinse it off
with water after before investing.

Would this work to get cornstarch off of waxes? I have some fussy molds that *must* be powered or I can't get the waxes out.

The cornstarch sometimes causes surface issues during casting if I don't get it all off the waxes, but it doesn't wash off easily.

Kathy Johnson

[hans_meevis1]

So was it the lavender oil that did not burn out and I assume
there are green soap tinctures that are pure without the lavender
oil?

I doubt it was the lavender oil, because I use it in vitreous enamel painting and it burns out cleanly.

A guess, from your picture, is that there was a residual soap left over with a investment mixture that has to much gloss over time.

This can result in water separation.

Also your piece is too black, suggesting to a low temp burnout or to a short time.

I should be white after casting.

A vacuum machine will solve all those problems.

meevis.com

[jhaemer52]

Kathy- Even if you sonic off the cornstarch you may still have a slightly textured surface. I find that if I use too much parting powder aka talc or cornstarch that the texture is imbedded in the wax surface. I find that if I chill my molds a little between injections that I don't need as much parting powder or silicone spray to get my waxes to come out. We have a small upright freezer in our basement studio that I use.

Use the sonic to get your excess cornstarch off but just be sure to rinse it with water after so that what ever is in your sonic doesn't react with the investment.

Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com

[nick1]

A few drops of washing up liquid in distilled water is all you need, dont use neat or you will get a carbon residue. Just dip your wax tree and let it dry before investing.

Debubling the investment is much better, you can vacuum deair it using a small hand pump used by garages for setting carburettors and a desiccator. Then pour carefully and tap the flask to remove any air you may have introduced by the pouring. Never pour the investment on to the wax, always into the bottom of the flask and let the level rise. Alternataively you will have to debubble after pouring by using a vibrating table or a lot of tapping on the flask. the latter is always the last choice as you may dislodge your waxes with disastrous results if centrifugal casting.

Nick Royall

[peterrowe]

Would this work to get cornstarch off of waxes? I have some fussy
molds that *must* be powered or I can't get the waxes out.

Have you tried silicone mold release spray? I find it leaves waxes with a much better surface than talc or cornstarch, and makes the molds release the waxes very nicely. One touch is to very rarely powder the molds, taking care to get a little of the powder into any vent cuts in the rubber. Then throw out the first couple waxes. This cleans the mold cavity of the powder, but leaves traces of the powder in the vents, allowing them to better aid in getting air out of the way of the incoming wax. then a light spray with silicone to help release the waxes from the mold. Doesn't need spraying before every wax, just when it starts to stick again (several waxes. how many depends on the mold and the type of wax, and the wax temp).

Peter

[scavengerqr]

The other issue could be that investment, if not mixed up near the time of gloss off (8minutes ish) will sperate back to solid and water. I didn't look at the pic before, it looks more like the water streaks I get if I rush the process and the flask sat too long before it sets up. Need to be mixed more near to time of pouring. Use some debubbleizer and you should be good. It is a bit dark as someone mentioned which is to short a time or insufficient temp. Good luck