Mad Neeco's Blog RSS



Stainless steel casting

I occasionally get questioned about the stainless steel rings. I can produce a steel ring, but it will cost more than a silver ring simply because steel is more tricky to work with.Here is a picture of the stainless steel rings I produced for my buddies at my DT school (the two in the middle). These were cast using the centrifuge casting machine, which is ideal for smaller castings, in CrNi or CoCrMo alloy.Also, there's an interesting video I found showing how stainless steel rings are mass produced and how different it is compared to casting precious metals.

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Toy Sculptor Scott Hensey

Ten years ago Make Magazine made a new series called "Make: Believe" there are two episodes with my favorite toy sculptor Scott Hensey."Scott Hensey, owner of Anaglyph Sculptures (www.toysculpt.com), has been sculpting action figures, toys and statues for over 30 years. In fact, chances are you have one of his toys in your home (or up in your parents attic). Scott has worked on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line, Happy Meal toys for McDonalds, Pixar, Star Wars, Disney and much much more."What I like the most about Scott's work besides his amazing style, is that he freehands his designs in wax. In the next video he shows his recipe for his carving wax (not casting wax) and how he...

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Flat, Triangular, Square - shaped burs

When I worked as a dental technician we used triangular-pyramid-shaped bur to release stuck dentures from plaster models after polymerization. Those were great for any soft material. The most important thing about them is that they don't clog up (even when they're hot), they remove material quickly and the cut after was fairly clean. which makes them great for almost any type of wax used for model making in jewelry.I have one that I bought back when I worked in the lab, but I couldn't find them later. I know that those can be found in wax carving sets I've seen at a Korean jewelry supplies store, here is the photo:Three from the left are triangular and the thinnest one on the...

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Filosophy-Use & Care of Files

Files are a jeweler's best friend and we should all know at least the basics about them. Rasp files are great for matt carving wax and a mill curved tooth file is useful when working with injecting wax, it doesn't clog as fast as a standard one.Here are videos that helped me with the knowledge about use & care.Photo of the book:https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/101884-1950--nicholson-file-company-booklet?in=all

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Sanshu Onigawara Crafts

I love watching short films about traditional crafts, especially sculpting and carving. This time I found a video about Sanshu Onigawara Crafts. It shows how an object is sculpted in clay which is helpful if you're using the wax-up technique to sculpt your models for jewelry. What is Sanshu Onigawara Crafts ? Sanshu Onigawara Crafts, called Sanshu Onigawara Kougeihin in Japanese, are a traditional craft mainly produced in Hekinan, Anjo and Takahama of Aichi Prefecture. The name "Sanshu" comes from the old name of this region in Aichi. The region had high quality clay suitable for roof tiles, and as blended clay, glaze for pottery and ceramics were also produced in this area, the roof tile industry developed.The raw material used for porcelain...

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