Lost Wax Jewelry Casting Process - How silver jewelry is made

As many of you know, in making silver cow jewelry, I send it out to a small company in Maine to get the original model reproduced. I don't make the multiples myself because it's a labor intensive process and requires a lot of equipment. I've been on the search for a good video that explains the lost wax casting procedures and found this one is a good fit. It is from another jeweler showing how he reproduced a couple of wedding rings, but the process is still the same. It does lack, however, in some captions that I think would be helpful to explaining how it's done, so I will sum it up in a nutshell here:

1. You start with an original model (either out of wax or a metal model).
2. Make a mold of that model.
3. Inject that mold with hot wax to make replicas of the model.
4. Put all the models onto a 'tree'. The base of the tree is on raised circle called a button.
5. Surround the tree with a can and investment (plaster).
6. Heat the can and investment so the wax evaporates. Then you are left with a negative space.
7. Heat the appropriate amount of metal and fill the negatives space in the tree.
8. Dissolve the plaster in water and cut the metal pieces off the tree.
9. Finish and polish.

A charm bracelet boxed and ready to be a present

I've been selling agricultural themed charms for over a year now and know that people buy them both for themselves and as gifts. When I started making charms, I anticipated that ladies would start with a bracelet and a charm or two, eventually adding more to their collection. I was excited to have someone order a bracelet with five of my cow art jewelry charms the other day, and I just had to get a picture of them in the box before I shipped it out.

I was excited with how great they looked as an ensemble and hope someone is very surprised and happy come Christmas morning!











The box is finished with a raffia bow. A gift card can be added for those having me ship the gift directly to the recipient.