How to Cast Jewelry

Jewelry casting is a process to make jewelry that takes specialized tools and training. You can do your own jewelry casting at home in the design stages, but unless you want to invest in specialized tools, you may want to contract out the actual metal working. Here are some tips to design jewelry for casting using the lost wax method.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wax divider
• Wax ring blank
• Wax tool
• Craft knife
• ½ round wax file
• Wax saw

1. Mark the wax ring blank into the desired width with the wax divider. You can choose any width you want. Use the wax saw to cut the excess wax away from the blank.

2. Measure your ring size. Mark the corresponding size in the middle of the ring blank.

3. File away the middle of the wax blank with the ½ round wax file. The ring should fit smoothly and comfortably on your finger.

4. Smooth away any rough edges or excess wax with the flat side of the file. Now is the time to either make the jewelry band flat or domed. This all depends on how much you file. You do want the band to be thick enough to withstand everyday usage.

5. Carve any designs you want in the outside of the wax ring. Whatever marks are there do show up in the final casting. Use the craft knife to clean up any wax shavings that remain.

6. Take the wax ring to a jewelry caster. The caster makes a metal mold of your wax ring. When the mold is set, the caster melts the wax and allows it to flow out of the casting from a small hole. The caster then fills the mold with the metal of your choice and makes a ring.