High-stakes work, handled with care
Direct casting is one of the most rewarding—and most exposed—parts of our craft. It allows you to go straight from wax, resin, plastic, or botanical material into metal, bypassing the mould-making stage entirely. That immediacy can be appealing—but it comes with inherent risk.
At Black Arts, we handle many thousands of direct castings every year. Some are hand-carved waxes. Others are 3D print waxes or resins, natural forms, or directs coupled with the client’s own metals. That last category adds significant complexity, but we’ve developed strong methods to handle it. Directs are the hardest and riskiest type of casting to do well—and we do them well.
We are the are experts in the field, and it shows in our track record, our process, and the reliability of our results.
Other casters will not even consider a lot of the work we do routinely and some of you reading this will have been sent to us by other casters.
We treat direct work to the same exacting standards as everything else we do. Each piece is grouped with others of similar casting profile, matched by metal type, and arranged onto trees in ways that maximise success. This pooling system is one of the major reasons our process works. It allows us to cast smarter. You can read more about that in our How We Operate page.
But in fact, direct casting has no safety net. If something goes wrong in the pour—if a model doesn’t fill, or exhibits porosity—there’s no second chance. Without a mould, that model is gone. It’s not due to negligence. It’s not from a lack of care. It’s simply the nature of working at the limits of metallurgy and a process that is inherently not 100% relaible.
With a mould, it’s a completely different scenario. We can trial and refine. We can use our decades of casting experience to iterate until the model casts perfectly, every time if our first expert attempt does not work out excellently. That’s how robust production is built. That’s how the best work is made repeatable.
This is why we recommend moulding any piece that is valuable, irreplaceable, or sensitive to failure. A mould is not just for bulk orders—it’s an insurance policy.
We do not offer compensation for failed direct castings.
We do not remake failed directs unless a new wax is supplied.
We do offer moulds—for a fee—to help avoid future issues.
Direct casting isn’t experimental—it’s just exposed. Exposed to the unpredictable forces that even the best casting systems cannot entirely eliminate. And while our success rate is north of 99%, the occasional failure is a reality. That’s not typical. That’s rare. But it can happen. And when it does, the risk—creative and financial—sits with the client.
We’re not casual about this. We work at a level where every decision matters as there is no room for error in casting AT ALL, we take great care with every model. But a direct is a one-shot deal. We’ll support you where appropriate, but we ask you to understand the rules before the pour—not after.
If you’re sending something fragile, complex, or irreplaceable, talk to us first. We’ll advise. We’ll help you choose the right approach. Because while direct casting offers freedom, it works best when both sides know what’s at stake.
At Black Arts, we don’t just cast metal. We cast with intelligence, experience, and respect for the material. That’s how we’ve built a reputation in direct work—and why you can trust us with yours.