Could any of you wax workers suggest good books involving the “wax
build up” method of wax working.
Thanks so much for your time,
Gary
Gary,
Your might find a little info on wax build up at this blog. Scroll
down until you find the info about build up.
http://leessilver.ganoksin.com/blogs/
Lee Epperson
Gary,
While many would prefer the “additive” process of wax model making,
the “subtractive” method, using hard carving waxes has many more
advantages. It is vital for a good casting to avoid heavy wall
thicknesses in your wax model. I recommend no more than a 1 mm
thickness, anywhere. Castings will come out well, with little if any
porosity, and substantial enough, but not heavy. You are going to
absolutely need to hollow out that wax model you’re making. A soft
build-up wax just doesn’t have the inherent structure needed to bur
out the wax to anything approaching 1 mm of thickness. Buring is
misery in soft wax, it sticks to burs as well as files, and the soft
model collapses as it gets thin enough. My advice would be to stay
with the hard waxes, as they will allow you to hollow out easily,
using a strong light source behind your wax. There will be plenty of
strength in the delicate hard wax model you’ll be making.
Good luck!
Hi Gary
I’ve never come across a book in all of my teaching years that can
accurately describe the ‘wax build up’ technique. I’ve demonstrated
this process hundreds of times to students but practicing is key. I
also use a very hard carving wax that gives an excellent finish and
the detail is amazing. Temperature control and the amount of wax
that you apply to your pen before setting it on the wax surface is
very critical. It must bond correctly. No air bubbles and no
overheating of the molten wax is also key. If you, or anyone else,
would like a sample of Deep Detail Carving Wax please let me know
offline and I’ll send a piece for you to experiment on. Most of my
master models are created with this wax.
Margie Mersky
www.mmwaxmodels.com
Gary,
Minoru Azama’s book “The Build-up technique,” is excellent. It is
written in Japanese, but comes with a complete translation. Minoru
Azama has two excellent articles on the technique in the Orchid
archives. The easiest way to access them is to Google his name, and
you will get to them.
His work is outstanding, some of it so very precise and geometric
that one would think it had been carved of hard wax. The book was
written for students at the Japan Jewelry Academy, and Mr. Azama has
been generous enough to write a complete English translation.
Alma
Jay, I disagree… there are many ways to skin a cat. I use build up
exclusively, and it works for what I want. It might not work for
you, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t valid. I do chunky sterling and
some gold castings- most are thicker than 1mm and they cast just
great.
Do we know what end result the original poster is going for?
amery
Amery Carriere Designs
www.amerycarriere.com
I also have worked exclusively with build up technique my mind works
better with the additive process than the subtractive, i have noticed
that you are either one or the other. I also feel that the finished
piece look s less stiff. I also use only hard green carving wax, that
way I can file and bur it out if needed.
just my thoughts but I love build up…
Frank
Margie, you use your deep detail for build up?