Wax mold showing 2 different types of wax

When I say that they build waxes, I mean that they “grow” them. The machine “prints” layers of wax on top of each other in the shape of the piece of jewelry you are making. The machine actually uses two different kinds of wax. It uses a hard wax for the actual piece and a softer wax to fill in the negative spaces so that the piece does not collapse while it is being printed. After the piece is finished, the guys at Cadsmithing melt the softer wax out of the piece leaving behind only the harder wax in the shape of the piece of jewelry. Before these technologies existed, a jeweler had to carve the waxes by hand. This way is much more accurate and allows for very fine detail.

After they have a wax, they can cast your piece in metal. They use a process called “Lost Wax Casting.” They take the wax and put it in a special very fine plaster. Then they put the plaster with the wax in it in a kiln and they melt the wax leaving a space inside the plaster in the shape of the piece. The kiln also hardens the plaster material (called investment) so it can stand up to the heat of molten metal. After the investment is prepared and the wax is burnt out, there are two different ways to actually get the metal into the empty space. For the most basic way, you use centrifugal force to force the molten metal into the space. The other way, which is the way Cadsmithing uses, is to use a vacuum. They have a vacuum chamber and when they turn it on, the metal is forced into the space in the investment. After it cools, they break apart the investment and you are left with your piece of jewelry.

The best thing about Cadsmithing is their speed. If I send them a design before 3pm their time, I get that wax in the mail, 2 days later. If I ask them to cast for me, it takes them 1 more day.
These guys have been in the jewelry business for over 20 years so they really know what they are doing. They know if a design is too thin and won’t cast well. They know if you made a mistake and sent them a file with the stones still in it. And best of all, they will either fix it, or give you the chance to fix it before spending your money on something that won’t work.

Needless to say, I have been and will continue to work with Cadsmithing to get waxes and castings done.