Hi everyone I am looking to get back into making lost wax rings. I’m looking for a lab that I can mail one or two pieces to for silver casting and polishing. I’m having difficulty finding a lab that has example photos. Sometimes I see lab casting and polish results that look really rough so I don’t want to accidentally send my piece somewhere that I don’t know how it will turn out like. Thank you!

My goal was a really aged hand hammered look on the front and to practice getting cooling lines in the back.

This was a first using wood to create the mold/pattern and looking for any feedback on the aesthetics...

Hello All! I have been doing a ton of 1 oz pours, open mold in a graphite mold. For more of them than I'd like, I'm getting these spots in the center of the cooling seam.

Any advice on how to prevent this and how to remove it if it does happen?
Thank you!

So recently when trying to cast an ingot out of silver I put a little too much borax in and it’s stuck to the silver. What is the best way of removing this slag/borax from the silver? Cheers!

Some custom orders I’ve recently done thought you guys would like.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask! 👍

I would appreciate your support

https://marcinkwidzinski.substack.com/p/what-is-casting-in-precious-metals?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=95d0ni

I have been building this with my son for awhile and we have just been messing around on ai and making this for him. I think we are ready to have it cast in silver. Any advice

What could be causing my casting to not come out as intended? Its supposed to be a ring

Hey everyone, hoping to get some advice on a casting issue that’s driving me nuts.

​To the naked eye, my sterling silver pieces look totally fine and smooth. But under a 10x loupe, the flat surfaces have a weird, "flaky skin" texture—almost like little tiny flakes that won't go away no matter how much I sand or polish.

I tried using a burnisher/ram roller, which helps smooth it down a bit, but the texture doesn't go away completely. On top of that, I’m getting tiny pepper-like specks of copper/purple deep in the metal.

​At first, I thought it was just polishing compound stuck in surface pores. But after running them through the ultrasonic, sanding deeper, and trying to buff it out, the specks are still there. It seems stuck deep inside the metal.

​For reference, the pieces are flat-surfaced pendants (under 20mm, about 1.8mm thick) with a bail attached at the top.

​I called my casting house and they said the metal or flasks were probably cast too hot, and they offered to lower the temp on the next batch.

​A few questions for anyone who’s dealt with this:

​1. Will dropping the casting temp actually fix both the pepper specks and that weird skin texture for future batches?

​2. If most of my finished pieces from this run have this problem, is it safe to assume the unfinished ones from the same batch are bad too? I have a pile left, but I really don't want to waste hours filing and sanding if they're just going to turn up flawed at the very end.

​3. What should a properly cast piece look like under a loupe after sanding on a flat surface? Is having to use a ram roller to compress this kind of surface texture normal, or should a clean casting sand down flat without it?

​Thanks so much for any insight!

I've been really into refining silver and Sand casting lately for some reason I've landed on food items gummy bears, Oreos, teddy grahams, and lifesavers.

However, these 2 specific castings came out with incredible detail and cooling lines. I've been playing with super heating and this was the result.

Thought this group may appreciate the cooling patterns as much as I do. They really make me feel like a proud parent.

How do i avoid this porosity problem? I often get porosity over the sprue placements. Is my sprue design wrong or could it be the temperature of the silver or the cast? I casted this ring yesterday hoping i would avoid the porosity but sure enough i still got it on all tree sprue connections to the ring, both the small feeding sprues and the main sprue. How can i prevent this issue in the future?

I am vacuum casting Argentium silver pro casting grains and am having some issues with cracking.

Sirayatech Royal Blue in Plasticast

metal at 1970F in a graphite crucible in an electric kiln (I am pretty sure I just poured it way too hot and it had bad thermal properties at that temp)

vacuum flask at 610 C (in my setup I have to move it a few feet so I just overheat it a little bit for traveling)

What do you think is the culprit?

I made my whole setup, so there are bound to be some issues with it, but I am able to pull a good enough vacuum, and I did a quick 8 hr burnout of the resin (the surface seems decent)

I’ve been running into severe pitting and a rough, "fried" surface texture when casting pieces in sterling silver. For reference, the object is about 6 x 8 mm in size.

• Resin: Siraya Tech Cast Purple
• Sprues: Normal jeweler's wax
• Investment: Goldstar Omega+
• Metal Casting Temp: Sterling Silver (melt temp: 990°C / 1814°F)
• Flask Casting Temp: 566°C / 1050°F

Current Burnout Schedule:

• Ramp to 300°F over 60 min
• Hold at 300°F for 60 min
• Ramp to 700°F over 45 min
• Hold at 700°F for 60 min
• Ramp to 1350°F over 120 min
• Hold at 1350°F for 60 min
• Drop to 1050°F over 60 min
• Cast

I use normal jeweler's wax for the sprues. The wax sprue casts almost perfectly smooth but still has some minor pitting, while the actual resin section comes out heavily pitted.

Has anyone experienced this before? Or any tips on how to fix this?