Jewelry Casting and the Creator - Part Three

The Refiner’s Fire

(To review the key paragraph from Part Two: "The Process" click here )
“...impurities begin to surface from the liquid metal. It is at this point that all the impurities are removed with a pure quartz rod, or incinerated by the fire. In this liquid state the metal will actually follow the flame around the crucible as the impurities are being removed."
The closer the metal comes to being ready for casting into the new form, the more it follows the flame. The more Christ-like we become, the more we seek that thing that helps get us there. As impurities are removed from our lives, the more we want to become the likeness of Christ. The more we seek positive change, the more we seek to follow the flame that incinerates the impurities in our lives. The rod of pure quartz used to remove impurities from the metal reminds me of the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all unrighteousness. And the fire itself that brings impurities to the surface of the liquid metal reminds me of God’s Word, pure truth that shows us our sin and brings our impurities to the surface (Hebrews 4:12). In comparison, the likeness of Christ would be the absolute purest form of metal possible, and then some. If we seek Christ’s likeness, then we must constantly seek that “refiner’s fire” to remove all the impurities in our lives.

"When the impurities are gone and while the metal is still liquid, it takes on a “mirror finish”, indicating that it is time to activate the casting machine to move the liquid metal into the new form which is waiting at the open end of the crucible."
Now I don’t want anyone to be confused here. There’s an important statement to make in following this process. Often when a person falls under conviction, they think “I better get my life cleaned-up”. But only Jesus can do what Jesus can do. The Bible states that if we confess our sins that Jesus is faithful to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). That’s the process. I believe the purification process in our lives begins with the moment we begin confession of our sin. Then Jesus is faithful to forgive us of our sin within that same moment. In the casting process, this is the “mirror finish” state in which the jewelry caster determines the metal is ready to move from the crucible, to the new form inside the plaster flask. The “mirror finish” state is the time when the metal is ready to make the move to the new form. I really love this comparison: The “mirror finish” in the casting process is when the liquid metal reaches a state of condition in which the jewelry caster can see his image. Once we have confessed our sin and accepted Christ as our Savior, we reach that “mirror finish” in which the Creator sees His own Image. That image is the same form that is waiting to receive the now purified metal of our broken-down lives, and we are cast into a new creation.
Because of our decision to confess Jesus Christ as Lord, when the Father looks at us He doesn’t see our broken-down junk anymore, He sees His son who lives in us (Matthew 3:17).

“When the casting machine is activated, the liquid metal moves instantly into the waiting plaster flask which contains the new form for the metal."
When the metal begins to leave the crucible there’s only one way it can go to reach the point of new creation, just as Jesus said there is only one way to the Father (John 14:6). The metal gets there in an instant. The change in our lives with Christ is instantaneous when we accept Him as Savior and we become a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17) which is PERFECT in the eyes of the Heavenly Father. But our earthly lives can take j-u-u-u-st a bit longer to change.

NEXT POST: JEWELRY CASTING AND THE CREATOR - PART FOUR: THE NEW CREATION

Jewelry Casting and the Creator - Part Two

The Process
(Portions of the following paragraph will be highlighted throughout this series and you may want to refer back to it over the next posting weeks)

In the process of centrifugal casting, the old metal junk is placed into the crucible and melted with fire into a liquid state so that there is nothing left of its’ previous form, and the impurities begin to surface from the liquid metal. At this point all the impurities are removed with a pure quartz rod, or incinerated by the fire. In this liquid state the metal will actually follow the flame around the crucible as the impurities are being removed. When the impurities are gone and while the metal is still liquid, it takes on a “mirror finish”, indicating that it is time to activate the centrifugal casting machine to move the liquid metal into the new form (the cavity inside the plaster flask) which is waiting at the open end of the crucible. When the centrifugal casting machine is activated, the liquid metal moves instantly into the waiting plaster flask (which has been removed from the kiln and placed into the centrifuge) containing the new form for the metal. When the metal is cooled, the flask is then submerged into water (called quenching) and the plaster is broken away to reveal the new creation. The new creation is then separated from the “button”, which is all of the leftover metal from the entry point into the plaster flask. Then the finishing and polishing process begins, which can involve many steps including grinding, sanding, and polishing. These steps take the new creation to its’ final stage of beauty, an appearance that observers will appreciate and find pleasing. This is also the point where jewels and gems can be set to further enhance the new creations beauty.


“In the process of centrifugal casting, the old metal junk is placed into the crucible and melted with fire into a liquid state so that there is nothing left of its’ previous form, and the impurities begin to surface from the liquid metal”.

This process begins only after a decision is made that the old junk needs to be made new again. My customers believe in me and my ability to do what I tell them I can do with all their broken-down jewelry. This is much like our decision to follow Jesus Christ as our Savior. We believe in Jesus Christ and His ability to make us new again (Rev 21:5), and have Faith that He is who He says (Jhn 14:6-9) and can do what He says He can do (Jhn 3:16-18).


“The old metal junk is placed into the crucible and melted with fire into a liquid state so that there is nothing left of its’ previous form, and the impurities begin to surface from the liquid metal. It is at this point that all the impurities are removed with a pure quartz rod, or incinerated by the fire.”
Our old life and our old ways, the “old metal junk” of our lives gets placed into the crucible to be made ready for the new creation. This also makes me think of how we come under conviction of our sin. The purification process begins. More often in life than not, this process is likened to “going through the fire”, a refiners fire (Mal 3:2-3). This “fire” at first can seem painful because we are faced with looking at our sin and/or don’t want to let go of some things in our lives. Sometimes it’s things that we have put in front of our relationship with Jesus, and sometimes it’s just plain old SIN. But the refiners’ fire brings all the impurities to the surface so that they can be removed.

Illustrations of the 'lost wax' jewelry casting process

NEXT POST: JEWELRY CASTING AND THE CREATOR - PART THREE: THE REFINER'S FIRE