Metal Casting Zone

has anyone tried it. I like to carve crayons and think they might make for cool castings. Do you think I could get sufficient burn out with a propane torch? For good detail i am tempted to use a mold on a rope and swing it.
I broke this little guys legs so i though it would be a good first one to try as it is useless as a crayon now.

http://www.metalcastingzone.com/metal-casting-forum/lost-wax-casting/lost-crayon-oomoo-silicone

already a thread. oops. anyway my other dream is to cast a set of crayons in a bunch of different metals and label them with little crayon paper that says the name of the metal

tried it, they dont burn out very well......

Give it a shot, but it may be better to just use a wax rod.
I think the color additive in the crayon will stay and mess up the casting.

Definitely had some trouble with the pigment but got an OK cast overall. lost detail for sure.


Here it is cast in what i think is pewter (from the bottom of a bowl i bought at a garage sale).

Looks like pewter to me. I doubt it was residue crayon that lost detail but the need of lubricant to aid the pewters flow. I wonder if puffing talc into the mold and blowing out the excess would help with detail. I have not worked with sand etc, only silicone.

Before I bought Italian Fine Talc, I was using the cheapest dollar store stuff I could find with almost no fragrance and a kind of tan in color. My molds are silicone and I get bubbled surface without a lubricant in gravity casting. Pressure casing I do best with naked silicone, but speed is a difficult thing as my pressure tank is CO2 and simply rather cool so getting it in the tank, tightening the lid and turning releasing the valve before the pewter solidifies can be a trick.

Your images are very small so I really can not see the details before and after. At least 640x480 images will fit on anybodies screen. Perhaps you could upload images double whatever resolution you already have in the future? The forum system accepts larger images. Also the macro switch on your camera for close ups is helpful if you are not already using it. The macro button is shaped like a flower. Between that and suppressing the flash (lightning button on my Cannon) and I can get in real close.

I dig you like working n crayon. There is a lot of fine work done in soap around the world by prisoners. When you get a few extra bucks you might try the following. I suspect that you would love Matt wax, perhaps their softest "Blue," grade as you can bend it more before it breaks. Some folks heat the sculpting tool, dental pick etc over an alcohol lamp and sculpt that way, I often use a Dremel like device with tiny metal burs to rough in the shape. You can drill it, hack saw it, chip carve etc. Just a thought. I do realize jewelers waxes can be terribly confusing at first as their are so many grades and brands. But you might be surprised just how much use and reuse you can get out of the stuff. Until you have exactly what you want to "lost wax," the final sculpt.

Matt Wax is very pure, bubble free and slightly translucent. This helps when sculpting a thin section. It can be made opaque with Mason Ceramic Stains and even change its color.
3-1/8" x 1-7/16" (79.38 x 36.5mm) slices; thickness varies; 1-lb. (2.2kg) box of blue wax
www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/ProductPage.aspx?assetName=700516&page=GRID&category|category_root|122=Casting+Equipment+and+Supplies&category|cat_122|362=Design+and+Model+Making&category|cat_362|4518=Wax+and+Wax+Working&category|cat_4518|4522=Carving+Wax&first_answer=31

Anyhow, I am glad your experiment worked out for the most part.

Blobber

Thanks for the info on Pewter. I have never used it before. I use plaster as the investment and then bury the plaster in sand. Not looking for new wax at this point. mostly do crayon for the novelty. I have some various microcrystaline waxes from art stores that I am just starting to play with for lost wax casting. Here are the images bigger:




All my other crayons are posted here:
My Crayon Carvings

Thanks mike that is much better. It does look like some of the crayon didn't burn out, as well as bubbles forming on the surface. Somebody else here would better answer if a lubricant such as talc would also of helped in your plaster mold prior to pouring. I am often too much of a media tinkerer. In the end it seems to me, purpose built media is worth the coin.

Mike I took a look at your site and you have some really good carvings in crayon. Fun stuff and cheap material.

I noted you have a brewing section too. I don't do the booze as I drink like a fish, and didn't dare try it. But I do make my own soda pop. Pretty easy really and cuts the cost about in half. In fact I am about to go into the kitchen and make six bottles.

Blobber

Another Item, it seems you could of widened the sprue. The thicker the better so the lower contracting metal could suck in the still molten metal above. You kind of choked it off there.

sounds fun. I do make ginger ale from time to time which I enjoy. I think that is the one where I can really get something I like more then the commercial product.

I agree very much that it is really best to use the proper material. I have started with very primative methods and am wishing I was using the right things as I have lost so many cool castings to poor materials and methods.