Hey guys,
Folks keep asking me to design and build a wax injector for lost wax casting and I keep
saying I’ve already done one back in early 2018. I have refined it a little but I’ve
kept it simple.
And you don’t get much simpler than this… A saucepan and an empty food can.
Now stick with me here. This looks idiotic, but it really works well.
The can is fixed centrally with string – not chord as that could melt. I could have made
something more permanent with bolts and brackets, but this way I can reuse the saucepan by cutting
away the string.
What you do need is proper injection wax. I can’t emphasise that enough. It’s made
for this purpose guys and it works.
Previously I demonstrated using a plastic syringe and whilst this works, it’s not
ideal. But this is… a metal syringe. It’s actually a basting syringe and I got this
one on Amazon for just a few quid. I’ll leave a link in the description so you can
see what you’re looking for.
This uses silicone seals rather than rubber, so it’s better suited for heat, and being
metal it conducts heat well, which we need.
The needle is much too long, but that’s easily trimmed with an angle grinder and any
burrs removed with a file.
Place the syringe inside the can and leave it there.
The can is then surrounded by water and that’s why we need the string. It stops the can floating.
I’m using a small hot plate but you could use your kitchen hob, but if you make a mess
don’t blame me.
Now you just need to set the heat nice and low and walk away for half an hour. And when
I say low, I mean low. This hot plate control goes up to 6 but I have it on just 1.5. That’s
enough. You do NOT want to boil the water. It just needs to hot enough to melt the wax.
Sure enough the hot water does the job and a pull on the syringe sucks some molten wax
inside. The syringe is the same temperature as the wax and the needle end might burn you,
but the handles are nice and cool – but feel free to use gloves for safety.
It’s then just a case of infecting the silicone mould. When you design the mould, make sure
the opening is the same size as the needle for a snug fit. Then just gently squeeze and
pull out slowly. But I’m not showing you the results of this one… you’ll have to
wait for my next video for that.
This is an old mould and it is flawed, but you’ll get the idea. Just let things cool
for five to ten minutes then open up the mould.
And it works beautifully. Like I said, this mould is flawed, but look at the wax pattern.
There’s bags of detail and no missing wax sections. It’s as good as it gets. I will
be demonstrating a better wax result next time. But no spoilers…
So there you go guys. A simple homemade wax injector for the cost of a syringe. Everything
else I already had. It beats paying a few hundred quid for a dedicated machine.
Give it a try. Use the proper wax and don’t overheat it. It really is that simple.
I hope you enjoyed this one guys. Take care and thanks for watching.