steaming wax from silica-plaster mold
Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 3:50 pm
I'm relatively new to casting glass, am investing a wax positive into a silica-plaster, open-face mold. I'm trying to steam the wax from the mold, have two steamers I've been using. One is a wallpaper steamer, the other a big pot of water on a hefty Bayou Classic propane burner. Both of my steamers work beautifully in removing about 95% of the wax quickly. However, it's been a bear to remove the last remnants of the wax that's "attached" to the mold face. The last of the wax is still there, even after four, five or six hours of steaming.The last of the wax becomes frothy [meringue-like], but won't let go of the mold face. Can I burn out this last 5% in my kiln before loading the mold with frit? Or will this last bit of wax burn out of my loaded mold while my kiln is on its way up as I fire my glass? I need to use frit for this particular project [billets not available]. I'm afraid that the frit will trap any wax remnants in my mold, create issues for me as the glass is casting. I'm hoping to remove 100% of wax from my mold. Is this even possible? I'd be grateful for any insights on this from the Warm Glass community. Thanks!
Steve
Steve