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Welcome to our studio, where you can find out
what makes your buckle set so
Special.
The master is made from carving wax. First, designs are drawn,
then the measurements are transferred to wax. The wax is then
shaped by sawing, filing, and carving.
Once the wax has been created, the sprues are attached.
Sprues are the channels the molten silver will flow through.
Replica wax is created by injecting wax into rubber molds.
Rubber molds are made by vulcanizing rubber around a solid object.
Then the rubber is cut open and the object is removed.
Its impression in the rubber provides the cavity into which wax can be injected.
The master wax or replica wax is attached to a main sprue, which is called a tree.
The tree is put inside a perforated metal casing. The perforations are taped over then a plaster like material is poured inside the casing. After the plaster hardens, the tape and rubber base are removed. At this point the wax is removed by heating the mold casings in the kiln at very high temperatures. This is an eighteen-hour process.
After the wax is completely removed, molten
silver is poured into the cavity where the wax was.
After the metal cools, the plaster material is removed
by quenching the hot mold casing in water.
The raw casting is retrieved.
The pieces are then cut from
the tree and tumbled to clean them.
For gold overlays, the gold and silver pieces
must be touched up so they fit together.
Once a tight fit is made, the pieces can be soldered.
Excess solder is removed.
As the final step, pieces are buffed to a high polish.
We hope you enjoyed your tour.
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Phone 888 206 3617
Fax 281 261 7873
gjensen@silverbuckles.com