How to Send Your Wax Models to a Casting House

Ready to cast your wax models into gold or silver? You've found the right casting company in Australia? Let's break down how to safely and correctly package your lost wax pendants and rings so they make it to your casting house without breaking.

You'll need:

A rigid mailer box to send them in (don't use a padded mailer - it's not sturdy enough)
Small containers for the waxes (old gemstone containers, kinder surprise tubes, old film roll tubes, unused ring boxes, literally any small box or container that’s hard plastic or cardboard)
Cotton wool balls
Bubble wrap/packing pellets/packing shred

Your biggest priority here is ensuring your jewellery waxes don't break during transit. There's no 'correct' way to do this. If it works, it works.

I personally use a batch of small containers. I want the containers to be small enough that the wax rings don't have a lot of 'move around' room inside. I want each ring to be firmly packed into its container with cotton wool.

There's no rule as to whether you pack 1 wax ring per container, or multiple. For me, it depends on the design. If I have a batch of chunky, solid wax ring designs, I pack 2-3 into a container. If I have a very delicate design, I pack it in its own separate container and ensure there is plenty of cotton wool.

Simply pack your wax jewellery models into their containers and pad them out with cotton wool. I like to do a thin layer on the bottom of the container, lay my wax ring on top, then add more cotton wool around the top and sides so its fully enclosed in wool, with no wiggle room. I'm not packing it so tightly that it breaks. Just enough to prevent movement during transit.

Once all my lost wax rings or pendants are packed into their individual containers, I will pack them into their rigid mailer box. I will wrap them in bubble wrap or packing tissue. Again, I will use enough padding so that they don't move around inside the mailer box. This is key to prevent breakages.

Most casting companies require that you add a note in your package. The note should include your name and contact details and company details (if necessary). You will also need to give the casting company instructions on casting e.g. "there are 2 rings in the black box, please cast them into sterling silver. There is 1 pendant in the white box, please cast into 9 karat yellow gold." Sometimes, I label the individual containers to avoid confusion.

In my 3 years of sending wax jewellery to casting houses in a different state for casting, I have only had a handful of breakages. This is a safe and effective method of shipping your wax jewellery to a casting house so it can be cast into gold, silver, bronze, or brass!

Click here for the complete guide on working with casting houses.