Casting original wax models and other materials:

We cast a lot of models for people who hand carve wax, CAD/CAM/CNC or RP their own designs. Another popular way of making models is to use PMC or Art Clay. The most important part of casting is to make sure you have a model that can be used more than once… hence a metal model is better than a wax model. A finished Metal Model is preferred for mold making as this model will last.  If you want your wax models molded directly, we don’t recommend it as the wax can be broken in the cutting / molding process …also, the wax can be broken later on and the model may be unusable. Wax models are never as perfect as they look. When you cast them you can then see every file mark and problem area. If the model does not clean up perfectly, then it won’t be easy to clean and finish castings from that model. We suggest all wax models to be cast into metal first then cleaned up as best as possible. We prefer all metal models to be cleaned of antique and any other contaminants. If glue has been used on a model, we need to know what kind of glue and where it is. If glue must be used, plumbers epoxy or any epoxy is best. Using No glue at all is recommended.

PMC is one of many model materials we work with and have not had any problems with.  An important part of the model is the thickness of the model on a horizontal plane. It should be no less than 1 mm thick… the longer and wider the model, the thicker it needs to be.   The vertical plane can be thinner in many applications.  Small bezels are a prime example. The side wall specifically at the top of the bezel can be thinner for ease of stone setting.  If it’s a very large bezel, the wall should stay at 1mm.

The finish of the model is important. If you have pits and defects in the model, the castings won’t be any better. Make us aware of the issues in your models that we may be able to fix. Mark them with a black magic marker.

Making Ring models is a bit more complex as you usually have to deal with multiple sizes… contact us before making ring models so we can explain the best way to do it for production efficiency.

Cast models are usually sent back to the customer for cleanup before a mold is made. It is always less costly if the customer cleans up their own models. We also have model makers who can clean up models and even make models to customer’s designs if necessary. We do Cad Cam /CNC model making for our customers from their supplied artwork or you can speak with our CAD/CAM person and a design can be created for you on computer and emailed for approval. 

Usually, we cast models separately in a flask by themselves so that the temperatures can be as close to perfect as possible. This results in a flask charge of $30 -$40 depending on how complex the sprueing must be to get a good casting.  This price covers up to 4 small models that can cast at the same temperature in the same flask. Determining temperature is based on size and thickness. If the items are of various thicknesses and differences in length and width, then casting them together may result in porosity problems. We avoid these things by carefully separating into correct casting temperatures.   The same can be said for regular production… pieces of a similar nature can be cast together…
Those that are drastically different will have problems if cast together.

If one model is thicker, heavier etc, it will probably go in a $35 flask by itself.
Very large model castings cost much more to cast as the sprueing is usually more difficult and time consuming. The flasks are larger and cost more in materials and oven space as well.

Production castings are not priced this way… only model castings.

If there is no rush for the model and it can be cast with our regular castings  we may be able to cast it for much less
 
Confidentiality Info for New customers
We have no problems with confidentiality or your designs... All we do is casting and finishing for designers. We do not copy or sell your designs to anyone. If you have a legal confidentiality agreement, we would have no problem signing it.

Quotations / pricing

It is difficult to quote casting prices on items site unseen. We literally don’t know what you would want done until we see the model and have the ability to weigh it and analyze it. Sometimes, models come in and they are not done right.  The most accurate method to get a quote is to send your design /model to us and we can call you with information and a quote. The other recent problem is that the Silver and gold market has been highly un-stable so, what we quote today may not be good next week.  We always use the market price of the day we are shipping/invoicing. Pricing of castings is always done when the model arrives. At that time we can enter the model into our costing system which then allows us to adjust pricing according to the silver or gold market. It also allows us to give you a cost based on a higher estimated price ...  perhaps silver is at $17 market and has been fluctuating a lot... we may be able to tell you that the price of your item at a $19.00 would be X.        Now, if the $19 market is becoming a reality, we can easily send you an updated price on a higher market so that you can recalculate your pricing.

 We don't have any quantity minimum, we simply ask that if you order the same small quantity every 2 weeks it would be best to order more at one time.

Manufacturing and Production Processes:
Casting in many metals,
Magnetic cleaning, vibratory finishing,
Sand blasting, satin finishing,
Antiquing and hand polishing.
Soldering, fusion, laser welding,
2 part colored enameling. Minimum quantities of 25 pieces per style
Model making by hand or by CNC CAD/ CAM.
Mold making in an assortment of sizes and different types of molding compounds.
(We don’t make molds for other casters.)

Gold and Rhodium plating:
We also do production plating in gold and Rhodium. It has to be 25 or more pieces of the same item. We can do one or 2 pieces, but there is an extra charge involved for very small amounts.

The metals we cast in are as follows: This uses the lost wax process
Platinum      (from a rubber mold only, Not hand carved waxes for platinum)
24K gold, 22K gold,
18K yellow, white, green, rose, 18k yellow spring gold.
14k yellow, white, green, rose, 14K yellow spring gold.
10k yellow and white gold.

De-ox Sterling silver .We formulate our Silver at 927 and 935 as we export to Europe and it will pass any assay. So your models should have a 925 stamp in the model

Pure Silver for enamellists

Pink Silver   (new material, looks like rose gold)
Yellow Bronze, White Bronze, Brass
Please note: White Bronze hand polished looks just like sterling and is much less costly.

Pewter Casting:  See last section for details. This is an entirely different casting process.

MAILING NEW MODELS:
If you are sending in new models, first scan them onto a page, then, assign model numbers to them starting with number 1. Keep a copy of this scan for your records with a date on the scan. This can help in proofing when the design was first originated. This will also help in our conversations over the phone or by email in case there are issues with a certain design. Name your design…. Assign a name you want us to use when we refer to your items in our conversations and invoices.

Mold making and tracking orders
 First, we assign you a customer designation based on 2, 3 or 4 letters of your name (RCJ is ours)  and a model number would be assigned to every mold /model we make for you.  Example: RCJ-1-SS or RCJ-1-14KY    etc. depending on the metal.

The average small jewelry mold costs $20.00   larger and more complex molds would be more. When the molds are made, we send the model back to you with the model number that has been assigned. The mold is here for future orders. Now, you can order at anytime by fax (preferred) email or by phone.  We have too many customers (over 500 customers and over 40,000 molds) to be able to inventory molds into and out of service and send them back and forth to customers. If a customer requires that we send the molds back and forth with each order, there will be a $10 charge per mold to process it and it will also increase the shipping costs due to added weight and mold value on the insurance side.

Pewter Casting:
We also cast pewter (tin), but this is a completely different process than lost wax and is mostly suited to large volume.  Pewter is cast directly into special round rubber molds.

Pewter requires multiple models of the same piece to achieve the lowest production cost. This is done by making a master mold, then producing 20 or 30 copies of the same piece which are subsequently cleaned up by a model maker and afterwards are put into 1 mold. Now, every time you pour into that mold, you would get 20 to 30 piecs.

It is best to make a pewter master mold with a lot of different designs in it... then, we produce all the production models for each style and make the production molds.

The average cost to set up per style in pewter with mold and multiple models is about $250.00

The original models for pewter need to be thicker than a model for bronze or silver as the pewter castings are much softer.
Jump rings or attachment rings for buttons in pewter need to be quite thick or they will easily wear out or break off.

Minimum thickness for the original pewter model needs to be above 2 Millimeters thick.
Sometimes the model may need to be thicker for items such as belt buckles and bigger pieces.

Payment

We prefer to put all customers on a credit card payment system. After your first order is ready to ship, we will usually call for a credit card number and address of the card. Afterwards, it will be in our data base and we charge after any order has been shipped. If you get a new credit card, just let us know…. preferably before we ship the next order.  Sometimes your expiration date may be a problem or you had a credit card stolen and the number doesn’t work. Our processing system will let us know and we’ll give you a call.

Shipping to us:
You can ship using any carrier. Our advice is that you insure the package for the full value of the models, molds in the package… Remember, this is what it would cost today to have a model maker make a new one from scratch. Don’t skimp on insurance or you may not be able to replace the model. Also use a tracking number so that you can track the package. Sometimes a package can be delivered to the wrong address… a tracking number will allow you and the carrier to track the package and find out who received it. Never put the word Jewelry or Jewelry Designer on a package. This just invites a thief to look a bit more carefully at your package!!!

Our Shipping address should be as follows:

RCJC Inc (Stands for Racecar Jewelry Co. Inc. and this reduces theft in Shipping.)
52 Glen Rd.
Cranston, RI. 02920
Tel: 401-461-7803
 Fax: 401-270-1196

How we ship:
Our preferred method of shipping is FEDEX and UPS. We have a good deal with FEDEX due to being members of the MJSA.
It is cheaper for us to ship FEDEX second day insured for full value than to ship UPS ground outside of the New England area.
 All packages are shipped fully insured for the product you ordered and we put a minimum of $200 insurance per original model when models are being returned. It is up to you, the customer to tell us ahead of time if you require more or less insurance on your models. It is best to mention the value in the letter when you send models to us.

On Special occasions, we will use US POSTAL service. This is used mostly when shipping to Canada as it cost much less for our Canadian customers due to import laws and brokerage.  When we use US Postal in the USA, We have to charge extra as the process of dealing with the postal insurance, tracking and signatures requires individual forms to be filled out
and can take up to ½ hour. The US Postal online system does not allow us to insure packages above $500. If we take the package to the post office, it is possible to insure for up to $5000.

This is according to the current information we have at the time this note has been written.