Archive for January, 2005

Casting Metal in a Microwave

Tuesday, January 25th, 2005

This is so utterly cool. I expect that in less than a decade one will be able to buy specific kits through art suppliers.

The first part of this Foundry Note describes a technique for using a domestic microwave oven to melt and cast, to accurate shape, small quantities (up to a quarter of a kilo) of bronze, silver, white metal or iron. The technique has been used to cast pieces from ceramic shell moulds up to about 18cm high, and is an accessible alternative to other small-scale melting set-ups, for example the flask casting of jewellery.