Ready to Start Carving Wax? Here's What You'll Need

Now that you know your weights, the next step is getting set up to actually make it. Lost wax casting is one of the most rewarding techniques in jewellery making. You carve your design in wax, send it off to be cast, and it comes back in silver (or gold, or whatever you calculated just now).

Here's everything you need:

1. Wax - The Raw Material

This is what you'll carve your design from. The type of wax you choose depends on what you're making.

• Carving rings from scratch? Start with a wax tube — they come pre-formed with a hole through the centre, which saves you a lot of work. We stock Ferris File-A-Wax tubes in several profiles to suit different ring styles. Shop Wax Tubes 
  
• Carving pendants, freeform shapes, or flat pieces? A wax block or sheet gives you a solid blank to carve into. Ferris green is firm and great for detailed carving; Mitsuro Hikime is a softer, more flexible wax that's popular for building up and shaping organic forms. Shop Wax Blocks & Sheets

Not sure which wax to start with? Ferris File-A-Wax Blue Block ($28.50) is the most beginner-friendly carving wax we stock - easy to file, and gives clean, precise results. It's what we use in our studio workshops.

2. Carving Tools - What You'll Shape It With

You don't need a huge collection to start. A small set of quality tools beats a big set of mediocre ones every time.

• Start here: Set of 5 Double-ended Wax Carvers - $17 Five different tip shapes for cutting, scooping, smoothing, and detailing. This is the set we recommend to every beginner.
  
  
• For clean wax-to-wax joins and detailed build-up work: Electric Wax Pen Station - $67 Melts wax precisely so you can add material, repair sections, or attach elements with control. A brilliant tool once you're ready to go beyond carving alone. 
  
  
• For sizing and shaping rings accurately: Aluminium Ring Measuring Stick - $25 Essential if you're carving rings. Lets you check your wax against real ring sizes as you go, so you're not guessing before casting.
  
  
• Want it all in one go? The Lost Wax Jewellery Tool Kits bundle the key tools together at a saving — a much less overwhelming way to get started than buying everything separately.
  
  

3. A Scale - Because Weights Matter

You just used this calculator to work out your metal weight - now you need a scale accurate enough to weigh your wax piece before it goes to casting. A good jewellery scale reads to 0.01g, which is precise enough for everything you'll be doing.

• On Balance Truweigh Digital Mini Scale - $32 - reads to 0.01g, 200g capacity. Compact, reliable, and the one we recommend for wax work.

Not Sure Where to Start?

If this all feels like a lot to pull together at once, the simplest path is a kit. We've done the hard work of figuring out what you actually need - no filler tools, no guessing.

Take the Kit Finder Quiz or Browse our Lost Wax Tool Kits

Or if you'd rather just chat it through, give Bec a call on 0457 700 070 — she's happy to point you in the right direction based on exactly what you're trying to make.