[Jewelry making - Article 00044] - [Orchid] Intimidated by casting

[Vera]

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    I have been sending my models to a casting company for a few years,
    but after evaluating how much this is costing me per piece, I've
    decided I would like to bring my casting in house and simply have the
    molds made by the company (mold cutting is not one of my skills)but
    I'm intimidated. I was curious about how many of you on list do the
    whole production of your work yourself? If you do, do you view
    casting your own work as beneficial or a time waster? 

    Some of my fears are as follows: 

    -I get an order for an expensive gold piece. After measuring and
    ordering the exacting grams I need I somehow make a mistake and the
    cavity in the mold isn't completely filled. So I re-melt the metal
    and try again won't this eventually lead to porosity? 

    -How difficult is it to learn vacuum casting? I think the part that
    causes me anxiety is the proper measuring and melting of the metal.
    Would one of the cheap pocket gram scales easily purchased off of
    Ebay be sufficient/accurate enough for me to use? And how do I gauge
    the temperature of my metal as I'm melting it? 

    -Work space I've decided that I am just going to use my garage to
    cast in because of the fumes, silica and other dangerous air born
    particles involved in the process. 

    -A significant dent in my work time. But if it isn't too difficult to
    learn, I think I should get past this curve pretty quickly. 

Any opinions?

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