Metal ingots and casting grain
The starting metal for casting comes as ingots (bars or plates) or as grain, small pellets of alloy that melt quickly and are easy to weigh.
Casting grain #
Pellets of the chosen alloy (14 or 18 karat gold, sterling silver, bronze…). They melt quickly and let you adjust the amount precisely.
Ingots #
Bars or blocks of alloy. They are used for larger castings or to be rolled in a rolling mill into sheet or wire.
How to calculate the metal #
Weigh the wax model and multiply by a density factor for the metal. As a guide, the factor for sterling silver is about 10 times the weight of the wax, and for 18K gold about 15 or 16. Add a small margin for the sprue.
Recycling #
Casting scrap (sprues, cut-offs) is reused: melt it again with fresh metal to keep the alloy's quality.
Purity #
Check the alloy's hallmark (see hallmarks and stamps) and buy from trusted suppliers.
See also #
This entry was drafted with the help of AI and is pending review by the author.
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