Inexpensive Dual-Handle Unit With Independent Temperature Controls

This is Just One of Several Types of Inexpensive Wax Carvers Available on eBay

After experimenting around with a few different sculpting mediums, wax seems to be a material that I might be able to do something with. Subtractive sculpting in wood requires too much vision, training, or talent – none of which I have. Clays allow addition of material to fill in mistakes, but I haven’t had much luck obtaining a finish suitable for producing a final mold from which I can cast multiple pieces.

But wax is different. Some of the harder varieties of sculpting wax can be carved and polished to a very high finish and are durable enough to easily make it through the process of mold-making. The ability to build up or repair wax fairly quickly makes it attractive for experienced sculptors as well as those of us that have to repeatedly add or subtract material until whatever we are making looks right.

It took about five minutes of using an alcohol lamp to heat tools and melt wax to realize that an electric wax pencil would be a necessity. And since I didn’t know much about what I needed or whether I would stick with carving, I looked for something that didn’t cost several hundred dollars.… Read the rest