Lost Wax Casting, Step 2: Creating Ceramic Mold
After obtaining the wax pattern, the workers will proceed to create a ceramic mold for metal casting. This process ensures that the mold is strong, sturdy and durable enough to withstand the heat of the molten metal.
This process is also known as dipping with 5 layers of materials. In which it is important to note:
- Mud coating: The assembly is dipped in a layer of high-grade ceramic mortar to form a ceramic shell around the wax.
- Suspension layer: This layer helps thicken and strengthen the coating on the wax assembly surface.
We need to repeat the steps of dipping with mud and suspension until the ceramic mold reaches the desired shell thickness. After ensuring, these ceramic molds are put into drying.
Dewaxing
The wax layer inside the newly formed shell will be removed. De-waxing is done using a steam sterilization or a flame oven.
Once the ceramic shell has dried, it needs to be fired again so that it becomes hard enough and crack-free to hold the molten metal during the casting process.
