What is lost wax casting?
Lost wax carving is a traditional technique used in jewellery making and sculpture. A model is carved or shaped in wax and is then cast. To do this the wax model is ‘sprued’ to a wax tree, put into a special container and then filled with investment plaster. Once dry the investment plaster containing the wax model is put in a kiln, and the waxes are ‘burnt out’, leaving the space in the plaster where the model used to be. Molten metal is then injected into the space at high pressure and then allowed to cool. The plaster is then broken up to reveal the metal piece, which will then be cleaned and finished.