I recently purchased used wax injector from Rio Grande. So far
they have not been able to provide me with any as to
the operation and maintainence of the unit. I have no experience
with wax injectors or making molds. I don’t what kind of wax is
good, What pressure to operate at, What kind of mold compounds
are good for a beginner, and so on. Any would be very
helpful I am very anxious to play with my new toy.
Thanks - Steve Wiser
Steve wrote:
I recently purchased used wax injector from Rio Grande. So far they have not been able to provide me with any as to the operation and maintainence of the unit. I have no experience with wax injectors or making molds. I don't what kind of wax is good, What pressure to operate at, What kind of mold compounds are good for a beginner, and so on. Any would be very helpful I am very anxious to play with my new toy.
Thanks - Steve Wiser
Steve:
I guess alot of what wax and mold material to use depends on
what you want to make. For wax I have recently started to use
Kerr’s Magnaject. It flows at a low pressure about 5 or 6 pounds
and releases well. I use vulcanized rubber molds for economy,
many jewelers use RTV mold compounds. I bought a used injector
about 11 years ago and have not had to do any maintenance other
than cleaning out the chamber to change waxes.
Don’t be afraid to get your feet wet, that is really the only
way to learn. Many jewelry manuals outline the process of making
rubber molds. When you make a mold you can then ask specific
questions as to any problems you might have injecting.
I am sure there are many mold makers in this group that can add
further insights.
Kenneth Gastineau
@Kenneth_Gastineau1
I recently purchased used wax injector from Rio Grande. So far
they have not been able to provide me with any as to
the operation and maintainence of the unit. I have no experience
with wax injectors or making molds. I don’t what kind of wax is
good, What pressure to operate at, What kind of mold compounds
are good for a beginner, and so on. Any would be very
helpful I am very anxious to play with my new toy.
Steve,
I assume this injector is a pressure pot (air). Pressure for us
varies as to type of mold, vulcnized needing/taking more pressure
(15-20 psi) vs silicon rtv molds which work at about 8-15 lbs as
they are softer and can be “blown out” easier that the
vulcanized. I like the RTV better for mold making and the lower
pressure waxes are great. Wax is up to you and what you like.
There are hundreds of types of wax out ther (don’t go by the
color as one red or blue wax is NOT like another brand of the
same color). Use Mfgrs recomendations for pot temp. experiment,
try all sorts of ways and come up with what works for you.
Good luck,
John
John Dach and Cynthia Thomas
Maiden Metals
a div. of The relative weight of difficulties
MidLife Crisis Enterprises is largely a function of our own perceptions!
PO BX 44
Philo, CA 95466
707-895-2635(phone/fax)
@John_Cynthia_MidLife
I think in the vast expanse of orchiddom that someone out there
could help me. I bought out newspaper a bunch of jewelry tools
which included a wax injector and about 1000 molds. I have
never used a wax injector, and this is where you come in. I
have a pro-craft wax injector (I looked for a model # and
couldn’t find one) I will describe it so you know what I’m
talking about. It has a pressure gage the top with a spout for
an air tank (compressor) , an on/off switch and a temp. gage on
the front. If anyone out there has this and can e-mail me the
instructions on how to use it very grateful. You can do this
off list.
God Bless,
Tom
Gemoriah
jestre2u@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/Gemoriah/gemoriah.index.html
Tom, Really no instructions needed… Simply hook up an air
compressor to the valve… ( I use a 3/4 horse power compressor,
works just fine) Make sure there is wax in the tank, plug it in,
turn it on the wax temp should be around 250F give or take for
the type of wax you are using. The wax in the pot is going to
take a good hour or two to melt thouroughly… When it does, turn
up the air pressure to about 10 psi, Now with your rubber mold in
hand, take two metal (aluminum usually) plates about the size of
the mold, put one on the top of the mold and one on the bottom.
Your mold now looks like a sandwich between two injecting
plates… Once you do this apply just enough pressure on the
plates, squeesing them while pushing the opening of the mold onto
the outlet for the wax… (the outlet should be at the bottom
front of the wax injector) this is going to shoot wax under
pressure into your mold. Hold it in for about 5 seconds, this
should be enough time to fill your mold. Leave the mold sit for
about 2 or 3 minutes to let the wax cool and solidify inside the
mold… Then very carefully peel the mold apart. This is going to
take some practice, don’t get frustrated… You will figure out
the proper way to get a wax out of the mold if it is a tricky
mold… Using mold release spray will help in getting the wax
out… Just shoot some release spray onto both parts of your mold
before injecting… Also, air pressur will vary depending on what
kind of mold it is… you will be able to figure that out with
time as well… Good luck , If you need any more help you can
email direct… Marc Williams MarcCo. Mfg.
Marc,
250 seems too hot to me . The manufacturers of injection waxs
reccomend between 150 and 170. We set our pots to 150 or 160
depending on the wax type. I would also suggest a filter and
drier on the air line to keep water, rust and oil from the
compressor out of your pot.
Jim
@jbin
James Binnion Metal Arts
4701 San Leandro St #18
Oakland, CA 94601
510-436-3552
Hi tom The procraft wax injector needs to be hooked up to any one
of the folowing pressure sources: an air tank…a nitrogen
tank… or an aircompressor … whatever you use, make sure
that the pressure is regulated ( i believe the gauge on the pot
is attached to a regulator) … on the nitrogen tank only, you
will need to buy a seperate regulator that fits the tank and
will bring the pressure down to around 15 PSI …attach this
to the waxpot regulator using a suitable hose and
fittings.Nitrogen is available from any welding house and if you
bring the waxpot to them, they can also select all the proper
fittings to hook it all up if you don’t know how to do it
yourself. if you use an airtank ( available from Grainger) you
can attach (with a proper hose and fittings)directly to your
waxpots regulator.ask them to supply you with a shut off valve
for the tank, so that when you are not using the wax pot, you
can shut off the airsupply.You can bring the pot there as well
and they will help you selct the proper materials. Compressors
can be bought new or used very inexpensively and don’t require
changing tanks or filling tanks.If you get a compressor… get a
water and particulate filter attached and all the hose and
connections as well.the compressor is the most expensive way to
go , but costs less in the Longrun.It is important to drain the
compressor of air and water which accumulates in the tank (i do
this at the end of each day and this will help reduce water
condensation which can cause waxing problems). Nitrogen does
not have this problem and is in my opinion a better way to go.
after getting your wax pot attached to a pressure source,plug
the pot in the wall and set the temperature for the recomended
temperature of the wax you are using. if you have no idea what
wax was used… set the temp to 155oF ( this is a fairly
standard temp)you should put a dial stem themometer that can
read no further than 250oF in the small hole made for this
purpose in the top of the pot. Realize that the temperature knob
on the side may not have temperature settings as this is a
bimetalic type controller(in other words… not to accurate)…
never turn the temp knob to full temp as it will not heat up any
faster… rather, set it at a little less than 1/2 way and check
the temperature on the thermometer periodically until the
desired temperature is achieved This may take a while to
achieve. After the temperature is regulated properly, set your
wax pot regulator pressure to approx. 6lbs…You may need to
adjust this slightly up if the item is thin and somewhat
filigreed… adjust downwards if the item is thick and heavy
looking. With the box of molds, you should have received some
aluminium plates aprox. the same size as the molds.Put an
Aluminium plate on the top and bottom of the mold… Hold the
mold and plates in the following manner. Using your right or
left hand, clamp the mold and plates firmly,but not REAL tight,
across the frontmost part of the mold… clamp the back part the
same way with the other hand. Make sure you hold the front part
of the mold tight enough so that when you press the opening of
the mold against the waxpot nozzle… wax does not leak out of
the mold or around the nozzle( any leaking around this area is
usualy what causes the wax to come out bad due to loss of
pressure) . The waxpot nozzle is spring powered and will retract
when you push the mold against the nozzle. If you press too hard
on the nozzle, wax will escape around the mold opening, causing
you to loose pressure on the inside of the mold and thereby get
a bad injection. Press only enough to allow the wax to enter the
mold. hold the mold against the depressed nozzle for a slow
count of 10 if the item is heavy or large(even longer counts are
used on really big items). if the item is small or thin , you
may get away with a count of 5 (more or less). once you get the
correct air pressure,wax temp and injection count, you may want
to record this in a book or a computer for future use.(I create
a card with a pic of the item on my computer and all the
relevant operations as mentioned above… all the way through
casting oven (flask) temperatures for the different metals you
may use to cast. Injection molds will give you lousy waxes if you
inject them a number of times in a row without allowing enough
time to cool in between. I put the molds on an ice pack that has
been wrapped in a towel to cool them quickly if i need more than
2 or 3 injections from the same mold. Most of the time , we
inject around 15 molds one after the other and in this manner,
do not require the use of ice packs. If the molds have areas
that do not fill properly, they may require vents made with a
scalpel , then insert a small amount of powder(talc, arrowroot
or flower) in the vents. this will help the air trapped in this
area to escape the mold and allow the area to fill properly. If
you get " flow lines" or patterns that should not be there…
this can be caused by the temperature being too low for that
particular piece an/or the pressure being too low … as well as
holding the mold too tightly. I hope this helps you out. If you
have any other questions, please feel free to ask.Visit my
workshop at http://racecarjewelry.com/page03.html Sincerely,
Daniel Grandi
James and everyone,
" 250 seems too hot to me . The manufacturers of injection waxs reccomend between 150 and 170. We set our pots to 150 or 160 depending on the wax type. "
You are correct I have no idea what I was thinking… The 250F is
the temp setting on my vulcanizer… Our wax injector is in fact
set at 160F… Sorry for the mix up Marc Williams MarcCo Mfg.
Sorry for butting in, but 250 shouldn’t be the temperature of
your vulcanizer either. It should be 310 F for our CASTALDO White
Label, Gold Label and No Shrink Pink rubber, 330-350 F for our
vulcanizing silicones.
Michael Knight
F.E. Knight, Inc., 120 Constitution Blvd., Franklin, MA 02038 |
508/520-1666 FEKnight@ziplink.net |