For the scope of this article, we will assume a basic knowledge of the Lost Wax Casting process.

Tips for lost wax casting.

Just about anything organic, will eventually burn out and make way for the precious metal that you have chosen to use.  It can be a stand alone item like a scorpion or a small lizard or a design element like a leaf, small cone or twig.

Some of my favorite items, are bugs, scorpions, lizards, and spiders.  Some other items work real well like leaves, small elm cones, and acorns.

When I use leaves, I prefer to actually build the wax up on the back side of the leaves and carefully peel off the leaf and you have left a thin piece of wax with the veins of the leaf perfectly imprinted.  This piece of wax is easier to add to your finished project and the wax burns out a lot cleaner than the leaf and doesn't leave as much ash.  I use chap stick as a parting agent on the leaf before I deposit the wax on to it.  I then peel the leaf off and discard it.  The resulting wax impression is very versatile when added as a design element.

When I use acorns, I take the cap off and scoop out some of the acorn meat.  That makes the finished piece weigh a lot less.  Cast the two items separate and them put them together with the finished piece.

Sea shells do not work.  They are not organic, but made of calcium deposits.  Other sea creatures, like small sea horses, or star fish will burn out because they are made from different material.

If you choose to try a spider, there are a couple of things that you need to take into consideration.  A Black Widow spider is ideal.  The legs need to be reinforced with wax in order to make sure that the metal will flow into all the parts.  I put the wax on the underside of the spider legs so that the natural texture of the spider is not interrupted.  Depending on how long it is between when you kill the spider and cast it will determine if this next step is necessary.  The body will shrivel up if to much time elapses.  You will have to build the body back up to it's natural round shape with wax.

If you put the small animals in alcohol, you can store them for several months without much deterioration.  You must cast them very soon after you take them out for they will dehydrate and start to shrivel quite rapidly.

I also store some items in the freezer.  It may be a little disconcerting when you clean out the freezer and find an assortment of little critters on the bottom that you forgot about.

If you run out of flasks, open up a can of orange slices.  They are the right size for a 3 inch sprue base and they are the perfect height for most small projects.  The cans are straight sided and work better than, string bean cans which are higher and ribbed on the side which make them burn up faster.  They can only be used once, for they will disintegrate after the first use.

You can cast a small bottle.  Clear plastic burns out cleaner than most of your colored plastic.  I take a small bottle like trial size shampoo that you get at a hotel and cast the bottle and cap separate.  Remember that the bottle plastic is really thin and will need to be sprued quite heavily.  The outside of the bottle can be built up with a wax design to give it more thickness.  When they are cleaned up and polished, you can screw the lid on and have a unique sterling silver bottle.

Plastic Easter eggs work well also.  I put a design and legs on the plastic egg and cast it in two halves.  After it is cleaned up they fit together perfectly.  Here is an example of an egg cast in this manner.