Casting Process & Casting an engraved pendant

Hi Everyone,

I have a pendant I have made that I would like cast so I can have 5 or more exact copies. I have been looking at the pricing with JewelleryCastingScotland and I am having trouble working out what they mean, I was wondering if you could advise me please.

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He says - We will make a multi-sprue (excluding cost of mould)*for £4.20 per piece on sprue , but only if you ask us to.

CASTING 
Single casting – average size £1.70

MOULDS
 Rubber mould: standard size £12.00
Cold mould: standard size £13.40 
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How does the multi sprue at £4.30 per piece on sprue work, as he has said a single casting is £1.70 so as it's more expensive I'm presuming it works differently?

What is the mould for, is this to mould my initial pendant, to then inject with wax to make multiple wax copies of my pendant to sprue?

Does a mould at £12 have to be made every time I order more copies, or can this mould be used again months apart?

I am trying to gauge an average price of getting some pendants cast, including all 'extras' like mould making etc. Is this casting cost about average?

I am also thinking of having the pendants engraved or etched with a flowery pattern that has some fine lines, will casting, cast this engraved pattern, Should I ask the engravers or etchers to engrave deeper than regular so the pattern can be cast more easily? Or will this not work at all and I need to get each pendant engraved after casting?

Thanks so much for your help!
Hannah

Hi Hannah,
My take on this would be as follows.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hannah Jackson

Hi Everyone,

I have a pendant I have made that I would like cast so I can have 5 or more exact copies. I have been looking at the pricing with JewelleryCastingScotland and I am having trouble working out what they mean, I was wondering if you could advise me please.

--

He says - We will make a multi-sprue (excluding cost of mould)*for £4.20 per piece on sprue , but only if you ask us to.
so, if you would like more than 1 piece on the sprue to be cast at one time, i.e. 2 or more, then the spruing cost will be £4.20 for each piece, they will multi-sprue if you ask them to....if the are identical, why would you have more than a single sprue??

CASTING 
Single casting – average size £1.70

I don't know the size of your piece, but you would be looking at 5X this cost for 5 pieces on an identical sprue....

MOULDS
 Rubber mould: standard size £12.00
Cold mould: standard size £13.40 
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Not a bad price for either mould type, but if you multi sprue, it is unlikely to fit in a 'standard size', worth checking, this is a one off cost in the casting process...
How does the multi sprue at £4.30 per piece on sprue work, as he has said a single casting is £1.70 so as it's more expensive I'm presuming it works differently?
more complicated to sprue multiple pieces?????.....a bit of a liberty to be more than double???

What is the mould for, is this to mould my initial pendant, to then inject with wax to make multiple wax copies of my pendant to sprue?
The mould is made, to make multiple castings from, depending on your piece, will affect how long the mould lasts

Does a mould at £12 have to be made every time I order more copies, or can this mould be used again months apart?
potentially can be used for years.....depends on the design and sturdiness of your piece

I am trying to gauge an average price of getting some pendants cast, including all 'extras' like mould making etc. Is this casting cost about average?
Reasonable prices, I don't know if anyone else on here uses them?? If I have anything cast, it is by Nexgen (Birmingham), don't forget you will have metal cost plus VAT on the total price...

I am also thinking of having the pendants engraved or etched with a flowery pattern that has some fine lines, will casting, cast this engraved pattern, Should I ask the engravers or etchers to engrave deeper than regular so the pattern can be cast more easily? Or will this not work at all and I need to get each pendant engraved after casting?
You get shrinkage on castings, fine detail canbe lost, if you were only ever going to have 5 pieces cast, you might get aaa with it, but don't forget, castings need cleaning up, you could lose a lot of the detail in this process, it will never look as good as fresh engraving (IMO), others may have a different view...if it were me, I would definitely have the engraving done 'fresh' on each piece

I hope this helps Hannah, if you have a picture of the pendant and detail, that may help folk give you advice!!

Thanks so much for your help!
Hannah

Tabby xx

Thanks so much Tabby!! xx