Ferris Mould a Wax - using for casting?

[lottek]

Hi, I'm new on here and this is my first post :)

I do alot of work with PMC, mainly in silver, but I'm thinking of going down the casting route instead..

I do alot of handprint, footprint, fingerprint and artwork jewellery, so PMC is perfect for picking up all the tiny details and obviously getting the print onto the jewellery

My question is...does anyone use Ferris, mould a wax, soft grade, red? And if so, would this work do you think as ive read its like a clay when warm then hardens? Any advice on this would be great..

Thank you in advance.

Lotte

[Dennis]

Welcome to the forum lottek. I don't do finger prints, but you'll have to be patient for an answer at this time of the year, as those who do are busy er, taking finger prints. Dennis.

[Plasmeo]

- take a finger print on a white sheet of paper with black ink
- 3d modelize it (it s easy and quick)
- make the final shape of the jewel
- 3d print it in castable resin in high resolution (tiniest details are bigger than 0.1mm so it s possible)
- et voilà

[Dennis]

But as Mrs Beaton would have said: first catch your 3D printer. Dennis.

[ps_bond]

Or...

Superglue fuming will develop fingerprints, giving a low relief surface that can be used as a mould.
Or transfer the image and either hand engrave or laser engrave.
Bound to be others, that's just what came to mind immediately.

[lottek]

Thank you for your replies but I think in my haste to post the question I haven't explsined myself properly..

Here goes again... :)

I have a business where I already make jewellery from PMC, mainly using handprints, footprints and fingerprints, so I already know how to take fingerprints and the moulds etc. I'd like to stick with the way I do things in terms of taking the fingerprints in a moulding material then using the reverse mould for the impression. What I'm looking for advice on is if anyone has used the red grade mould a wax made by Ferris, as this is apparently like clay when warmed up, so I'd assumed that I could potentially use this material to make my jewellery from THEN have it cast (by a professional).


I'd not thought of 3d printing Plasmeo / Dennis, I will look into this in the future.


Thanks again.

[josef1]

Yes you can use the soft red wax I have done

[lottek]

Thank you Josef1! What I'm quite confused about that I can barely find any information on the red grade wax, Ive googled and googled but ll I can find is the product description (well two lines) everywhere. I've actually bought some since posting for advice but I've not dobe anything with as it didn't come with any instructions.maybe I'm being too cautious and should just get stuck in...

Can I ask, do you submerge the whole tub in warm water? Can I ask how you went about using it? Just get a lump and roll it out the press impression in, let it set then smooth it/ file it? (Or is it too soft for that?) sorry for my million questions lol.

Thank you in advance for your help x

[josef1]

If I get chance i will cast one next week and take photos Its been a while but basically I get a lump of it, its really soft compared to normal wax I just heated it with my fingers rolling it around then shape it on glass to get it smooth then place your finger in it, add a sprue and cast, I only did free form shapes but I would imagine you could pour it melted into a silicone mould then once it hardens push your finger into it maybe warm it a bit with a hair dryer first ? dont handel it to much after you have the print either just by the sprue

[lottek]

Thank you sooooo much Josef1!!

I use cutters to shape the PMC and a roller with spacers so they are pretty basic flat shapes really.

I've got quite a few silicon mould to make 3D shapes do you think I need to lubricate it before putting wax in ? Also, should any safety precautions be taken when using? Sorry I'm probably asking really stupid questions..

X

I will try and get a lump out of the pot and give it a go.:)

[josef1]

I had a little play at this today, I tried it 2 ways one by melting the wax into a form the other by rolling it into a ball until it was soft. The biggest problem I encountered been a jeweller around christmas time tends to leave you with not much in the way of fingerprints !! but I tried
http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq182/JosefOne/Mobile%20Uploads/DSC_0567_zpskinn9ciz.jpg

The wax its old but still ok

I have a little wax melter thing its american so probs in deg F not C but i just set it so the wax melted slowly
http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq182/JosefOne/Mobile%20Uploads/DSC_0571_zpsdkwkav5f.jpg


It also heated the spoon which I used to get the wax out of the tube thought it was quite apt as the new trainspotting movie is out soon !


http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq182/JosefOne/Mobile%20Uploads/DSC_0574_zps3isgsx5q.jpg



I then transfer the molten wax to a plastic lid to make a slab

I then popped this into the freezer to cool


http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq182/JosefOne/Mobile%20Uploads/DSC_0579_zpswuqpanvc.jpg

It popped straight out

[josef1]

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq182/JosefOne/Mobile%20Uploads/DSC_0581_zpsagfxozll.jpg



I worked on a plastic bag to stop the wax sticking to the bench


I could cut the slab with scissors to size

the left overs I rolled up into a ball Mary Berry making pastry style and used this to make the round shape

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq182/JosefOne/Mobile%20Uploads/DSC_0580_zpsvfahcgaz.jpg

I heated it slightly with a small hot air gun

then pressed my finger prints into each one

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq182/JosefOne/Mobile%20Uploads/DSC_0584_zpsx5ojrtcz.jpg


They do have prints on them but as I said my fingers dont have the most prominent ones at the moment !


http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq182/JosefOne/Mobile%20Uploads/DSC_0582_zpss0ldmqzk.jpg

I would imagine the wax will cut well with metal cutters , If I get chance I will cast them not sure if Im casting silver this week though.

[lottek]

Josef1 you are amazing!! Thank you so much for doing this! I'm going to get my mountain of christmas orders out the way then hopefully give it a go sunday. Will let you know how I get on. Do you do casting as a service yourself? Where abouts are you based?