Steaming wax out of moulds

[jasperspry]

Does anyone know the name of a steamer brand for melting out wax? Is there a website that illustrates how to set this up best for smaller than a bread box wax sculpts?

[Tony Smith]

There are a bunch of units out there, but many are made for jewelry and fall into the smaller than a breadbox category.

Check out Gesswein. They are a distributor of tools for jewelers and jewelry manufacturing. They only show one unit, but there are others around and they shouldn't be that hard to find. Look up steam dewaxing.
http://www.gesswein.com/catalog/catalog ... N=34798035

also check out http://shorinternational.com/Dewax.htm

Tony

[Brad Walker]

Some wallpaper steamers work fine, look at the model to see if it has an attachment that will allow you to get up into your model. Steamers are inexpensive and available in many hardware stores. In a pinch, you can also use an old tea kettle on smaller molds. (But once you're used it for wax, retire it from tea-making.)

[ellen abbott]

We use a home-made set up of a fifth burner, a large pan with water in it covered with hardware cloth, set mold with open side down on hardware cloth and voila...a wax steamer. Cover the area of the hardware cloth that isn't covered by the mold for maximum benefit.

E

[jasperspry]

Thanks for lending me some ideas.

I checked out the Professional steamers. They look Great! But, alas, expensive.

Ellen, what is a 5th burner and what is hardware cloth? This sounds like a good way to preserve the wax and keep the mess down.

Brad, how would you suggest hooking up the teapot. I wish I could find a smaller steamer than a wall paper steamer, like the ones they use at Bullseye Resource center, but I haven't had any luck.

[Judi Charlson]

At Corning they have steamed wax out by placing smaller moulds in a pot of boiling water covered with foil. The mould steams out cleanly.
At anouther class at Corning a pressure cooker was used. Tubing was connected to the steasm value on top the lid. Wire was wrapped around the tubing so that it could be positioned were you want it and moved around. The mould was placed on top a rack, over a pan to collect wax. The mould was covered in foil or blackets to confine the steam. Both work/There is a picture on page 192 in Lucartha Kohler's book "Glass an Artist Medium"I am sorry, but I have not learned how to post Pictures on line.I have also not learned if there is a way to spell check when posting/
If anyone knows Pleasae please advise!!
Both methods need to be watchd carefully.
I have tried both/ I recently bought a wall paper remover that was on sale but have not tried it as of yet.
I received an email from Paragon:( arnoldhoward@att.net )explaing how to burn out wax in a kiln, but I would not want to try it.
When I have really big moulds, a friend takes them home and burns them out outdoors.I am not sure what he has rigged up.
Judi

[ellen abbott]

what is a 5th burner and what is hardware cloth?

A 5th burner is an electric burner like on your stove only it's separate. Just a burner all by itself. College kids, or anybody without a kitchen, use them to heat up water and cook food. Appliance stores or places like Target or K-mart ought to have them. Hardware cloth is like a heavy duty chicken wire only the mesh is much smaller (approx 1/4" x 1/2") and rectangular available at hardware stores.

E

[jerry flanary]

Yeah, hardware cloth. What is up with that name anyway? Anyone know? It's a weird name for wire mesh don't you think?

I use a ss 5qt pot w/ a little bit of water in the bottom. I use some aluminum scraps from around the shop to lift the mold above the water line so that the melted wax can go down on to the water. But any kind of no porous, temp resistant stilts will do.... check ever 20 minutes or so to make sure there is enopugh water in there.

I tried a wallpaper wahojitz and it didn't do much for me. I dont mind if it takes an hour or forty minutes to steam out but I don't want to sit there and screw with it while it happens.

[Valla E]

I use a pressure cooker set on an electric hotplate, with a hose connected to the top of pressure cooker, going to the mold. The mold set-up is as follows: large pot with a square of wire mesh- also called hardware cloth above - (holes in mesh large enough for steamer hose to be directed upward into the mold cavity); two blocks of 2x4 wood on either side of rim of pot, mold supported on those, electric heating pad placed on top of mold (learned that from Irene Frolic!) and the whole thing wrapped up in towels to keep the heat in. When finished, unwrap mold and remove to wherever you let it dry out. Let the wax in the pot cool til it has a skin on the top, then using a thin knife, go around the edge of the wax in the pot and loosen it so you can lift it out. All the junky stuff can easily be cleaned off the bottom of the chunk of wax, ready for re-use. Hope that helps!

[jasperspry]

Thank you Valla.
Do you also recommend any specific type of wax? And please mention where you buy it if possible.
what kind of Tube do you use that doesn't melt?

thanks again,
Jasper Spry and Sarah Hall

[Valla E]

Well there are as many wax recipes and combinations as there are glass casters! Everyone has their own preferences that work for them!

I think it depends on the type of work you are producing.

I just use pure beeswax mixed with some paraffin and a couple gobs of pure lanolin all heated up together. (Because I like the smell of beeswax! ) With more lanolin in it, you can work it by hand, as it gets nice and soft.

Sometimes I use a (wet) plaster batt and make 1/4" thick sheets of this wax that I cut into the shapes I want. As for tools, my fave is one that comes with a woodburning set, it has a wide flat tip, and screws into a low-temp soldering iron. When the wax model is done, I use very fine (plastic) mesh folded up and dipped in kerosene for smoothing.

I think hardware stores carry the heavy duty clear plastic tubing.

[Liam]

what kind of tubing are you attaching to the top of the pressure cooker?

Liam

[Valla E]

Hi Liam, I assume you were asking me? It's just a heavy duty, clear PVC tubing from a building supplies/hardware store. Plumbing section maybe? Sorry, it was a long time ago... it lasts forever!

Regards,

Valla

[jerry flanary]

Brown Microcrystaline wax. Axailable from foundrys, art suppliers ect. Red for sprueing or just make your own w/ brown. For most glass kilncasting, steaming is better than burning out: Wax is easily reusable and less stress on the mold.

[jasperspry]

Have any of you tried using Scupt-a-wax?

The company representatives say that its "wax", and melts out cleanly for lost wax moulds, but it is more oily than waxy and is opaque. It feels great in your hands for sculpting, unlike my experience with microcrystaline. I wouldn't want to use it unless I knew it would melt out without residue.

I would like to know where to order wax from in North America.

And here's a simpleton question: what is cheesewax made of? Sounds like parafin.

from,
Jasper Spry

[charlie holden]

Have any of you tried using Scupt-a-wax?

The company representatives say that its "wax", and melts out cleanly for lost wax moulds, but it is more oily than waxy and is opaque. It feels great in your hands for sculpting, unlike my experience with microcrystaline. I wouldn't want to use it unless I knew it would melt out without residue.

I would like to know where to order wax from in North America.

And here's a simpleton question: what is cheesewax made of? Sounds like parafin.

from,
Jasper Spry

Not much survives above 1000 F to leave any residue. By that point you may still have some ash which is just carbon, which will turn into carbon dioxide if you give it time. Just make sure the wax doesn't have any minerals in it. Still, it's best to get it all out with steam. Wet the plaster before steam out.

This site has lots on waxes:

http://www.kindt-collins.com/waxes/index.html

ch

[watershed]

I agree that not much will be left at 1000degF, BUT, if you charge the mold, with wax remaining in it, you can easily trap the carbon from the wax remaining.

Greg