JewelLoop · Interactive explainer

From sketch to ring: why it takes weeks, not days

Follow a ring through the fifteen steps of lost-wax casting, see what fills the time, and build a realistic timeline for your own piece.

A single diamond solitaire in 18K gold

What many expect"Can it be ready by Friday?"
3 days
What it really takesTypical workshop, see the builder below

The journey, step by step

Hands-on work
Machine or chemistry
Waiting

What can go wrong

How designers can help

The kiln works overnight

Before metal can go in, the pattern has to leave the mould completely. The kiln climbs in stages: first to drive out water, then to melt and burn away the pattern, then up to about 732 °C to cure the investment, and finally down to the casting temperature.

A wax pattern in a medium flask takes about 8 hours of holds. Printed castable resin needs a gentler, longer programme: about 16½ hours. Workshops start it in the evening and cast the next morning.

Wax (Kerr Satin Cast 20, 3½ × 4 in flask)Castable resin (Formlabs Castable Wax 40)

Build your timeline

Choose the piece and how your workshop works. Starting values are typical; open "Your workshop" to match your own bench.

Piece
Metal
Pattern
Each round: the client reviews renders, then CAD changes are made.
Hallmarking at an assay office
Your workshop
Elapsed (working days)
Hands-on bench work
Share of time spent waiting
Hands-on workMachine or chemistryWaiting (client, queue, casting day, assay office)

Sources

  1. Ransom & Randolph, Ultra-Vest jewelry investment, application instructions (8.5 min maximum working time; leave undisturbed 2 hours before burnout).
  2. Kerr, Satin Cast 20 directions for use: 5, 8 and 12-hour burnout cycles by flask size (300 °F, 700 °F, 1350 °F holds).
  3. Formlabs, Castable Wax 40 technical data sheet (burnout schedule).
  4. Ganoksin, Wax Casting Burnout Cycles (stages; never exceed 1500 °F with gypsum investment).
  5. JewelLoop, How to brief a jewellery manufacturer and the casting weight calculator.