An information site by IHDE-Candle factory

The hand casting wax from www.candlecraftcenter.com (special casting wax) has a melting point (freezing point) of less than 50 degrees. Therefore painless casts of body parts are possible.

Here you find some answers to questions concerning cast hands that one of our customers has send us.

Hand casting wax consists partly of natural wax and partly of synthetic wax with DAB - approval (German version of USA-FDA). Thus, there isn’t any health risk - but it’s not tested with regard to allergies.

This wax is delivered in a tin can 265 x 175 mm which can be heated directly in a water bath. So, it’s also big enough for bigger hands...

After melting on all the wax it normally has to cool until a light film forms. You can’t tell the temperature of the wax by watching it! So, please test it carefully in order to avoid burning yourself! Everybody who is a survivor can put his hand also in hotter wax...

You’ll get the best results when you cast either your fist or your outstreched hand when you keep your fingers close to each other. If you spread out your fingers it will be difficult to cast.

It’s not easy to get a well-done cast! It demands great skill to keep your hand unchanged during all the process and to remove finally the cast without breaking it! But you will be able to repeat it as often as you want - the wax has always been reusable (if your hands were clean...).

In the section “mould constructions” on www.candlecraftcenter.com you’ll find a cold casting compound which has to be mixed with water. The great advantage of this wax is that it’s indefinitely reusable.

If you are in a hurry, you can also quicken the cooling after dipping the body part into the wax with a cold water bath. But this is actually not recommendable as the next layer generally doesn’t cling well.

Depending on the room temperature and the wax temperature you have to dip your hand 5 to 10 times into the wax. Afterwards you have to cut a rip into the wax hand with a knife (leave your skin and artery safe!). The length as well as the position of the rip depend on the shape of your hand.

After removing your hand from the wax hand, join it together again and close the fissure with liquid wax. You can either pour the liquid wax over the fissure or take some “wax mud” from the rim of the pot.

The finished forms can be fixed easily in a sand bed.

Fill the wax hands with model making plaster. It has to be a type of plaster that can be poured. Most of the building plaster is not suitable since it’s used paste-like for cleaning something. You can find model plaster on www.candlecraftcenter.com (Mould construction). Another tip: plaster becomes warm while it hardens. If you watch for the right moment (30 to 60 minutes after the cast) you can detach easily the wax coat from the plaster hand.

As we have already said, it’s not easy to create well-done casts, but the finished ones are wonderful and long-lasting souvenirs!