Casting Grain & Computers

Casting time! This is the most exciting and scariest part of making cast jewelry imo. I first took the flask and prepped it for casting, the print was not left in the flask for the casting process, but instead was used to make an impression in the sand. The metal was then melted down and poured into the flask.

After I had the design settled on for the ring, it was time to flatten it so that it could be cast. Not all methods of casting require this flattening, if I was casting this ring via the lost wax casting method for example, my print would have been good to go as far as the design itself went, but I was sand casting this one, so it had to be flat. Due to the fact that I tend to make rings using the Loft function in Fusion 360, it wasn't all too difficult to flatten it out and took me 90 minutes at most. Side note, full disclosure, I got the math wrong for the circumference of my finger, so the finished product has an additional bit of copper soldered onto it, its not terribly visible, and honestly kind of fits in with its aged look, so I decided not to redo and recast the whole thing.

I started making jewelry a little under a year ago, but I've been making 3D printed designs since 2016 (I'm a big fan of Fusion 360, despite all of the hate I see about it lmao) The first time I mashed the two together though, I made a signet ring with a butterfly impression. Why a butterfly? I think they're quite amazing, from the delicate nature of their wings to the fact that they change from a caterpillar which cannot fly to butterflies which can. Anyways, the goal was to create a design which could be sand cast, meaning no overhangs and a flat back, and it would preferably be able to make an actual impression in wax. The first part in achieving this goal was to make a 3d printed ring, and make sure that it had the shape, dimensions, and general feel that I wanted. There were a few iterations before I settled on one, some too big, some too small, some too thick but I finally settled on this. (Please excuse my fat, crooked fingers lol)

Hello! I'm Ant! I figured that I should start some sort of blog/portfolio thing with the dumb stuff I make so, here we are! I am a computer science student with a great interest in information security and jewelry making/ costuming. I'm going to try to post new stuff on a weekly basis. So I hope that I haven't rambled on too much and that you have an amazing day/night! :D