[Jewelry making - Article 00000] - [Orchid] Casting at high altitudes

[dgsantafe]

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    Hello, I am a twenty four-year old student at GIA; studying
    comprehensive wax techniques and casting. My father has been a
    jeweler for somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty years and I have
    decided to follow in his footsteps and help out in the family
    business.  I am contacting you because I have been around the jewelry
    industry my entire life.  During my exposure to this industry I have
    been exposed to a phenomenon which exists in the geographic region
    where I live.  This phenomenon is that of the highly gaurded trade
    secret.  Jewelers in the area learn through trial and error.  There
    are certain techniques which just not shared in order to maintain
    competitive edge.  It is somewhat of a paranoia which may be
    understandable in some areas but in others it is plain absurdity.
    This leads me to discuss one very problematic area in the workshop:
    casting.  

    Through many years of trial and error we have tried and failed in
    the specific procedure of investing for casting.  We just seem to get
    all of the air bubbles out of the investment; ulitimately leaving
    bubbles of gold on the casted piece. What we have come to encounter a
    majority of the time during casting cleanup is that when you remove
    these bubbles you are left with a pit underneath which must then be
    filled.  This process of cleanup becomes quite time consuming and in
    turn quite costly.  It has always been this way sometimes you get
    lucky and get less bubbles sometimes more; but almost
    invaribly...bubbles.  This assures us that the process has something
    to with the investment process.  We have also been told that when we
    are vacuming the air bubbles out of our flasks that because we are at
    a high altitude(6,984ft) that our vacum can not physically pull
    enough pressure. The most pressure that the gauge on various
    machines we have used is 24. We are currently using a vic-9 which is
    manufactured by rio grande.  Is it possible to get a machine with a
    stronger vacuum or is it just not physically possible to achieve a
    stronger vacuum than 24lbs at an altitude of nearly 7,000ft? 

Please help
Sincerely,
Nicholas Griego 

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