WAX CARVING
W A X C A R V I N G – A N O V E R V I E W
As I have grown my skills and interests I wanted to be able to share with you helpful and informative information that hopefully resonates. If you are getting started and unsure of where to go for information, my hope is that you find this piece helpful for your work or simply learning something new.
So let’s start with what is wax carving? Well, Wax Carving is an ancient technique dating back 6,000 years used by jewellers and also silversmiths! Because of this, you can think of the jewellery created as mini sculptures…how much are you loving that?
The wax you start off with is essentially a block that is available in various colours depending on what your needs are. Once you have your sculpture created after carefully carving away and filing down your wax block into your piece it is then sent off to a caster to be cast in any metal you are wanting. This is known as the process of lost wax carving.
You’ve mentioned Lost Wax Carving, what is that? I got you - Lost Wax Carving is an ancient process where metal alloys are made into a design from a wax mould you have created. Once you have your wax piece you need to make it into wearable jewellery this is the stage when you visit the caster and they make the magic happen! A spruce is added to your wax piece and investment plaster is poured into the cylinder or the wax tree (which is a collection of wax pieces that looks like a tree) is then put into an investment plaster cast which hardens and sets a and over the wax mould. The wax is burnt out, leaving a cavity in the cast (this is why it is called lost wax casting because the wax is lost in the process).
The advantage of this technique is that the most common metals used for this process are silver, gold, brass and bronze meaning you are able to use any metal of your choice to create any piece you have been dreaming about.
You just need, to file and polish and remove the spruce and you have created a beautiful and unique piece of jewellery. Most casters will remove the spruce for you and also can file and polish for you - each place is different.
Now the amazing and helpful note of Wax Carving is that you are able to create a “master copy” meaning that instead of creating a new wax piece each time you can create a mould. A mould is essentially a silicone mould and uses vulcanised heat and pressure. Once it’s cooled down or they can make cold moulds it is cut in half and opens and closes which allows the wax to be injected inside that can be attached to the wax tree and the process starts all over again.
I had no idea what was involved - I had read about wax carving and the casting process but working through it was very eye-opening and took me a while to get the hang of things. In hindsight, i should have started getting my pieces created in brass to see what it would look like rather than the silver but you live and learn and I am so happy to have perceived with wax carving because what you can create with your hands is challenging yet rewarding! You feel like a real craftsman.
Hope you enjoyed this piece and look forward to hearing what you thought and if you thought it was helpful.
Many blessings to you,
Wax carving
A finished piece made from wax carving.
Assunta x