Cuttlebone Casting FAQ
What is cuttlebone?
Cuttlebone is the internal shell of cuttlefish, it is white with a hard, brittle shell on one side and a soft body. There are several species and they are found in temperate oceans around the world. They are a fascinating species and I highly recommend researching them.
Why cuttlebone?
The use of cuttlebone is as old as jewellery manufacturing itself. There are examples of items that were made using cuttlebone dating back to the dark ages and long before. Because cuttlefish are widespread their bones would wash up on a lot of beaches making them easily accessible to be collected and sold or used. The structure of cuttlebone is easy to carve and can withstand the heat of molten gold or silver long enough to for the outer layer of metal to cool and form the shape of the mould.
What can be cast?
Anything that is small enough to fit the available cuttlebone can be cast. Hard items such as existing rings can be pressed into the surface of the cuttlebone while softer items would require having a copy made of them by carving wax. Alternatively excellent results can be achieved by carving directly into the cuttlebone.
How do you prepare the cuttlebone?
Take a look at this video to see.
What can’t be cast?
Anything soft that would be damaged by pressure although there is always the option of creating a wax replica and some jewellers can even 3D print the master. The size of the cuttlebone also places limitations.
What are the shortcomings of casting?
Molten silver shrinks as it cools so even though the imprint was the same size as the master, the cast item with be around 10% smaller. As the molten silver fills the mould some items use a lot of metal which can end up being heavy and expensive.
Where do you get the cuttlebone you use?
Fortunately there are a few species of cuttlefish in the sea near me so I can walk my local beach after a storm and simply pick up cuttlebone. There are many pieces that are unusable because they have the bitemarks of the dolphin or shark that had the animal for dinner. I store them in my well-ventilated garage for a couple of weeks to ensure they are entirely dry (pouring molten silver into a mould of wet cuttlebone would be a messy and painful experience I don’t want to have). I give them a good brush to remove sand and head to my bench to work on them.
Can I see you cast something?
Yes, I have many videos of delft clay and cuttlebone casting on Tiktok, you can follow me here: https://www.tiktok.com/@saras.art.australia
