I missed most of this step, so here’s the Instructable version.
But first, a little bit of detail – I carved out the sides of the top where the gem would sit. The idea was to “break” the lines of metal so that the inward swoops would seem to stop. Also, this tapered cylinder is how we did the initial ring sizing – it has numbers on it corresponding to ring sizes.
The investment is another form of mold, but this kind can withstand the incredible temperatures required to cast silver. As you can see in the Instructable, Russ was downstairs every hour or so changing the temperature, as there is a very specific order to it.
I didn’t realize it until days later, but during this process my wax is burnt up. Which is why it’s called “lost wax” casting. This is funny, for reasons I’ll outline later when we get to the actual casting process.
I arrived at Russ’s house during step 13, and we discussed how to do steps 14 through 21 that night. Acetylene torches to come!
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