Daniel gets a lesson in wax from the Master.
I have been active in my workshop / studio getting my silver (yeah, the real solid metal Sterling stuff) casting system ready for operation. I am really excited as I can see the shiny silver at the end of the tunnel. Maybe that‘s a train headlight… oh well.
The process is much more complex than the average person can imagine. Although I have been studying the process for many years, and even took a class on how to do it, it’s not until now as I prepare for the first time on my own, have I realized how complex the entire process is from design concept to finished item. I love it!
There is so much to learn and master, it makes me feel alive by pushing my brain as well as my failing hands. I do struggle physically with the PN but I love even that challenge when it gets hard. If it was easy I probably wouldn’t want to do it. All the PN does is slow me down. I can still use the tools. Wax carving is not a strenuous activity.
The creative part is working in the wax.
I could spend all my time just making the wax masters. One of the instructors I had, the one teaching the wax carving, sells her wax masters to jewelry companies and does little casting for herself. So wax carving can be an end unto itself.
I am not a wax collector and I am not good or fast enough to sell my carvings, but I do enjoy the entire process. A surface finish detail I miss in wax I can still fix in the casting, but it is much harder to do…
Actually carving or milling the wax with CNC is not the only way to make an original wax master. Melting, joining, heating and bending can all come into a design. I haven’t event scratched the surface of wax forming. Well, I have… but I was intending a metaphor there.
I intend to play with non precious metals too, but the wax master work is all the same. So much to try, so little time.