No, it's due to the fact that it's hollow in the middle. It's a very simple design though, so I thought it would be OK. I'd show you if I was allowed to.
Injecting flat surfaces is not without problems.
The dents are normally caused when the wax cools and shrinks.
The injection should keep pressure on until the wax reaches solid temperatures.
They can also be because of incorrect casting temperatures.
The balls, as said, are air bubbles. These, when removed, can leave a tiny porosity mark, that requires added finishing off.
On simple shapes like that I would question the caster's methods.
Bubbles are simply not needed ever, and with the correct vacuuming method seldom occur.
I do sometimes wonder about why some avoid standard benchwork Chris, when I first saw the photos that Hannah posted and then that they were castings I thought there were hundreds involved, but then I read that she wanted only 12. I reckon that It would take me less than 4 hours to mark, pierce, file and polish 12 of those shapes from sheet.
James
Last edited by Goldsmith; 06-11-2014 at 06:17 PM.
It's probably a case of not having the time. I think Hannah sells with Notonthehighstreet.
but if you did you'd have to kill me?
It could be time as Carole says, but also back to what Chris said in a different thread, some people (and I'm afraid I include myself in this) seek the (usually non-existent) short cut. If it were me, the short cut I'd take would be to get a die made and stamp them out. I bet it would work out cheaper than casting although you would need to keep to under 1mm.
The shortcut is piercing them out. You can waste more time & money faffing about trying to be clever, rather than learn a simple fundamental task.
Sounds like some need to drop the "making" bit from their job description :what:
Going slightly off tack but saw work doesn't seem to be very high on the list of taught things though.I talk to lots of people at shows who all seem to have been on a jewellery course and when they see my display with saw,blades etc all have said the same thing.They only tried sawing for a couple of minutes,broke all the blades and that was that, not doing it again.To me the saw is the most important tool I have.
For a dozen, I think it'd be touch-and-go whether I thought it was worthwhile to saw out a die and do them. 2-3 dozen and I'd probably enjoy making the die more than the repetition. But - likewise, I think my saw is probably my most important tool on the bench (when I'm not setting); it's either that or the bench pin. I've got at least 4 small frames with different blades (ignoring the micro saws), then a couple of larger ones. The fact that you can cut pretty much anything with it is fantastic - 1/4" steel is no problem if you're patient.
I have quite a lot of tools, several gadgets, possibly one or two gimmicks - but it's the saw that gets used every day.
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