# Bees Wax Jewelry Casting



## Black Creek (May 19, 2006)

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj98/theBigM_photos/rings8.jpg 
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj98/theBigM_photos/rings7.jpg http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj98/theBigM_photos/rings6.jpg 
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj98/theBigM_photos/rings5.jpg 
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj98/theBigM_photos/rings4.jpg 
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj98/theBigM_photos/rings3.jpg 
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj98/theBigM_photos/rings2.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj98/theBigM_photos/rings1.jpg

I used my bees wax for a lost wax jewelry casting for my wedding rings. 
you can see the gold before it
was melted. there is a large 14kt broken necklace, some 18kt
broken earings and small chains, a couple of small natural nuggets 
and some 24kt gold ingots. worked
out to be all 18kt when melted together. then you can see the wax
casting i made from my original carvings.... then my wife left with the camera
so there are no pics of over a ounce of melted gold in the
crucible. that was wild looking. and no pics of the pouring of the
gold. but there are pics of the casting after they came out of the mold and then
what they looked like finished. i tought myself jewlry casting in
3 months and just finished them 2 days before we left for key west to get married.
bought books and supplies online. my ring has a small casting flaw,
but her's has 2 and one is pretty bad, so i'm gonna melt her's and recast it in a few months
once she will let me have it back for a few days. i'll prolly just
leave mine as is. hope the pics work. i'm not that computer savvy.


----------



## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

Very Nice! Pictures loaded fine.


----------



## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

very interesting them are some special rings destine to become family heirlooms. I personaly dont know that I would fix the flaws in the ring I think they add character to the ring and being the original ring you placed on you wifes finger makes it more special than the recast one. what did you use to melt the gold with great job


----------



## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

Nice. And as rr suggested, they are special just the way they are.


----------



## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

I'm with rat too. Don't change a thing, move on and make some more neat things.

How about a picture of the casting equipment?


----------



## Black Creek (May 19, 2006)

*thank you*

the flaws.... her's has one hole in it. on the inside of the ring you can see it easily, but on the outside its just a pin hole. so, it goes all the way through. i may just take it to a real jeweler and have them fill it with gold solder. I dont know how to do that at all with out damaging the ring in the process. It's definitely a weak point in the ring. 

I'll take a look for pics of the casting equipment. I built a little propane smithing forge out of some insulative fire brick to use while i build a more permanent forge set up. Was planning on building a small melt furnace too to try some small scale brass castings for fun. that's when i got the idea that i may actually be able to make the rings. Definitly not the best set up for melting precious metals, but it worked.


----------



## Black Creek (May 19, 2006)

*forgery*

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj98/theBigM_photos/scrollwork.jpg
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj98/theBigM_photos/forge2.jpg

here is a couple pics of the forge


----------



## Ann (Feb 18, 2006)

Those rings are beautiful, what a nice project! I think I would take it to a jewelers, too, to have them fix it, rather than re-melt it down. And what a great use of broken gold jewelry!


----------



## kc in wv (Feb 1, 2006)

Those are nice. I have been interested in casting some of the silver and gold I have found metal detecting, but I haven't the nerve to try it


----------



## Black Creek (May 19, 2006)

*jazz hands*

believe me, i was more than a bit nervous melting all that gold for the 1st time in that simple set up. And knowing how clumsy i am, i was really sweating when i had to pick up the hot crucible with gloves and tongs and try to pour it all out steadily. I tried a small silver casting before, but it came out very pourous. the gold worked much easier, i'm guessing because gold doesnt oxidize very easily. I'm still learning about it all, but i think that my propane forge is a very oxidizing environment.


----------



## taipantoo (Nov 9, 2007)

kc in wv said:


> Those are nice. I have been interested in casting some of the silver and gold I have found metal detecting, but I haven't the nerve to try it


Gold in its' natural state carries a 2X premium over 'spot'.
'Spot' being the current price.
3X if it's unique and 4X if it is a nugget that somebody specifically wants.

You may want to consider this before melting down any nuggets that you have found.


----------



## kc in wv (Feb 1, 2006)

taipantoo said:


> Gold in its' natural state carries a 2X premium over 'spot'.
> 'Spot' being the current price.
> 3X if it's unique and 4X if it is a nugget that somebody specifically wants.
> 
> You may want to consider this before melting down any nuggets that you have found.


I haven't had the opportunity to do any nugget hunting yet. What I have found is lost jewelry. I found what had been a beautiful gold ring but it was well worn. It had an emerald set in it and the ring was broke. Jeweler friend said it was too worn to try and repair so I saved the emerald and put the gold in the scrap bottle.

My brother in the California gold country finds nuggets pretty often. He sells the dust for expenses and keeps the nuggets for his retirement.


----------

