Apparatus and method of manufacture of articles containing controlled amounts of binder

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows.
1.
In a method of forming ceramic products containing a controlled amount of meltable binder comprising forming a mixture of a melted meltable wax binder which is solid at room temperature and ceramic forming base materials into a solid article of desired configuration by allowing said mixture to solidify in a mold, the improvement in said method comprising the steps of: packing said article into a binder-absorptive material for absorbing said binder when it is converted to a liquid state wherein said binder has a melting point less than the temperature at which said base material is undesirably heat altered and wherein said binder absorptive material has a melting point greater than the melting point of the binder, is non-reactive with said binder, and has a sufficiently small particle size so as to not yield imperfections when contacting the solidified mixture and elevating and maintaining the temperature of said article above the melting point of the meltable binder but below the vaporization temperature of said binder causing said binder to become liquid and allowing said binder to be drawn from said article into said binder-absorptive material by a wicking action until at least 45% of said binder is wicked out of said article and into said binder absorptive material; and thereafter firing said article in a kiln to produce a ceramic product.
2.
The method of claim 1 in which said step of forming said article comprises: forming a relatively thick walled article having a wall thickness of at least 1/2 inch; said step of elevating and maintaining the temperature of said article above the melting point of the meltable binder and below the vaporization temperature thereof is conducted until at least about 65% of said binder is wicked out of said article and into said binder absorptive material; and said method includes removing said article from said binder absorptive material after said wicking of at least about 65% of said binder out of said article and thereafter performing said firing step