casting mold materials

[tengew]

 i would like to try casting copper ,silver and some of there alloys
what mold making materials can i use

[Russ Nobbs]

Hello Tengew,  Welcome to our forums!!!!

What a short sweet question that opens up huge discussions.  It's more than I can answer in one short forum reply.

The most common method is lost wax casting for silver. Basically, (super basically) make a wax model, invest it in a plaster filled flask, burn out the wax leaving a mold, pour silver into the mold, break the mold apart and you have a silver item.
You can take a metal original and use a rubber mold making process to create a rubber mold. Inject wax into that mold and you have a wax that can be used in the above lost was casting process. Google lost wax casting for a more detailed look at the process.

Art Clay silver and related products can be used to create originals or can be pushed into molds to create copies that are fired in a kiln (or with a torch) to create fine silver products.

In the Art Clay Silver part of our forum and in our on line store is a lot of information on this product.

Does this open some windows into your question?

[tengew]

lost wax i have done ..just dont have the space or place to do it in my apartment

i was looking for what kind of clay, sand or other   have a space at work were i can do some work but not every thing

[Russ Nobbs]

Ah, Sorry, I thought you were asking a much more basic question.

Do you have room to melt silver in a crucible? If so, consider carving cuttlefish bone to make 2 part molds. Or carving wet sand to do sand casting like early Navajo jewelry.

Otherwise, I suggest looking at the Art Clay Silver or the competing product, Precious Metal Clay. It is kitchen table level work and can be fired with a micro torch or even the creme brule torch if the object is small enough. Metal clay is a great medium in an apartment environment.

[tengew]

this sounds good .. went on line and picked up a few books on different casting materials

[Russ Nobbs]

One last thought, If you like lost wax work, you could always send your waxes out to have a shop do the actual casting. That is the part that takes up the most space.

[tengew]

the shop i bought the silver from gave me a name of a shop she uses so i just might go that rout