🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1024@proton.UUCP> radoias@charity.llumc.edu () writes:
>Does anyone know the secret to producing wax cubes (6 inches a side)
>without the wax cracking?
>
>Costin Radoias

One idea is to use the same methods as used in steel billet casting.
Use a long column of wax, say 12 inches tall, that has at its end
the 6" cube mould.  Pour wax into the mould so that there is a head
above the desired mould that provides a ready supply of liquid wax
to fill up the shrinkage caused on cooling. After the whole mass has
solidified, cut off the desired cube at the end.  This should have
a better integrity than pouring in stages. eg:

    ||      ||
    ||      ||
    ||      ||
    ||      ||
    ||      ||
    ||      ||
    ||      ||
    ||      ||___ Cut off at this point to make a cube.
     |      |
     |      |
     |      |
     |______|---- You also may want to trim off the end

Depending on the level of contamination of the used wax, you may want
to  cut off the very end to remove heavier-than-wax impurities as well
as throwing away the very top of the column to remove the floating
contaminants.

It would also help to know what type of cracks you were experiencing:
which way did they run, etc, as this may assist in determining the
origin of their cause.

If your mould is metal, the wax may be solidifying too fast, and not
allowing the column of liquid wax to feed the mould below.  Insulating the 
mould as shown above should enable it to provide the necessary reservoir.

A taper on the walls of the upper reservoir should assist in freeing the
solidified mass afterwards, as well assisting to prevent the wax freezing
in the reservior above. Wildly exaggerated:

     \\            //
      \\          //
       \\        //
        \\      //
         |      |
         |      |
         |      |
         |______|

Bill Lee