< WAXWORKING INDEX
WAX
LOST WAX [cire perdue Fr] – the central role of wax as a material in art bronze casting is reflected in the everyday terms used to describe the casting process.
Early written references to the use of wax in casting can be found in the clay cuniform tablets excavated from the Babylonian city of Sippar. These tablets date to 1789 BC, though there is evedence that wax was used for metal casting at least two thousand years before [ref].
Wax was also prominant in India and West African metal casting cultures, and the absence of any direct connection between these cultures indicates the universal appeal of wax for use in detailed casting processes. Wax is simply the best available material for the foundry process; and whatever the distant origins of wax as a founding material, it is no less important to today’s founder that it was to the metalsmiths of five thousand years ago.
Of course, wax is not the only product suitable for use in the casting process. Wood, paper, fat, various synthetic materials and a whole host of other alternatives can be used directly or indirectly in the casting process. Few these alternatives though, offer the exceptional working qualities of a good foundry or modelling wax. Wax is easily melted, it can be cast, moulded, modelled and blended to enhance the working properties demanded by the user.
WAX PRODUCTS
The wax products available to today’s founders can be divided into roughly four basic groups of origin – animal/insect, vegetable, mineral, and synthetic. Many foundry waxes are composed of more than just one type of wax, these products or BLENDS will usually include one or more non-wax additives as well. The process and purpose of wax blending is explained in more detail in later pages.
ANIMAL & INSECT WAXES > |
