Melting and casting non- ferrous and precious metals

The method includes producing a ceramic shell from a wax model and including an opening through which molten metal can be poured, joining a crucible (11) containing the metal (12) to be cast to the shell, firing the resulting structure to melt the metal, inverting the structure whilst the metal is molten so that it runs into the shell and, after cooling, obtaining the cast object from the shell. The shell can be made up from a series of coatings of ceramic material and the arrangement is such that the metal is poured directly into the hot shell without contact with the surrounding atmosphere. Where a metal such as silver is to be cast, a lump (14) of charcoal may also be enclosed in the crucible (11) to produce a reducing atmosphere. For cooling, the assembly may be placed in a bed of a fluidised material (16) such as sand or iron filings.