[Jewelry making - Article 00508] - Re: [Orchid] Casting update/How to eliminate cracking &striations

[MillsGem]

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    All, My experience with casting problems suggests that nothing is more
    important than to allow the invested wax to cure for a significant
    amount of time. I formerly would cast after about a half hour of
    setting time, post investment. Now I ALWAYS invest the day prior to
    burnout , cover the flask with an inverted plastic , and allow the
    investment to cure overnight. I never have spalling or cracking.
    SORRY...the old war horses of delicatlely balancing the ratio of of
    water to investment don't fly with me. I have been mixing investment
    by the seat of my pants for decades and I certainly don't get the
    viscosity exactly right each time. The important thing is the cure
    and that takes time. Now, shall we take time to fly in the face of
    convention and further suggest that elongated burnouts are totally
    unnecessary. I regularly burn out in a period of three to four hours
    and the results are excellent. ( Granted, some of you may have older
    ovens which have lesser burnout capacity) The moral of the story is
    that casting is really not such a demon ...that every procedure is
    routine when you have experienced success! Ron at 
    Mills Gem, Los Osos, Ca.

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