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The lost-wax technique did not appear in northern China until the 6th century BC. [19] Lost-wax casting is known as rÅgata in Japanese, and dates back to the Yayoi period, c. 200 BC. [16] The most famous piece made by cire perdue is the bronze image of Buddha in the temple of the Todaiji monastery at Nara. [16]
The term "lost-wax casting" can also refer to modern investment casting processes. Investment casting has been used in various forms for the last 5,000 years. In its earliest forms, beeswax was used to form patterns necessary for the casting process.
The earliest known record of lost-wax casting is a clay tablet written in cuneiform in the ancient city of Sparta, Babylon, which specifically records how much wax is needed to cast a key. [6] The earliest-known castings in the global archaeological record were made in open stone molds. [ 7 ]
Single use molds are prepared using the lost wax method. A small amount of metal in a crucible next to the mold is heated with a torch. When the metal is molten the arm is released, forcing (by centrifugal force) the metal into the mold. The high forces imposed on the metal overcome the viscosity, resulting in a finely detailed workpiece.
Lost-foam casting is a type of evaporative-pattern casting process that is similar to investment casting except foam is used for the pattern instead of wax. This process takes advantage of the low boiling point of foam to simplify the investment casting process by removing the need to melt the wax out of the mold.
There are a wide variety of wax types used in the lost wax casting process. Generally they fall into three main types, soft, hard and injection waxes. Injection waxes are made and intended to be used for injecting wax under pressure into rubber or other types of molds.