Platinum casting is still a mystery for many manufacturers. Many casters who have done well casting gold and other metals experience difficulties when casting platinum. Some of these problems can be blamed on the tree designs and spruing techniques. Because of the unique flow characteristics of platinum, tree designs used successfully in gold casting may not work well in the actual platinum casting process. This paper will try to demystify some of these issues and provide a better understanding to the small caster. It will include a discussion of tree designs for torch casting and for induction casting. Alloy performance, casting temperature parameters and such will also be part of the paper. Finally, a step-by-step torch-casting procedure is included, pointing out common mistakes and misconceptions along the way.

Author: Jurgen J. Maerz