{"id":1245,"date":"2011-04-03T17:24:40","date_gmt":"2011-04-03T23:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/?p=1245"},"modified":"2013-11-06T18:19:00","modified_gmt":"2013-11-07T00:19:00","slug":"the-foundry-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/?p=1245","title":{"rendered":"The Bronze Casting Process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nA steel armature is fabricated that will function as a \u00e2\u20ac\u009dskeleton\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to hold the weight of the clay<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nThe piece is sculpted using an oil based clay<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nThe piece is worked and reworked until both the artist and client are pleased<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nThe finished life-size sculpture<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nThin sheets of metal are used to divide the sculpture in to a predetermined number of sections<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nA latex rubber is applied to the clay sculpture.\u00c2\u00a0 5-6 coats are used to build up a sufficient thickness<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nThe molds are backed with plaster, which will give rigidity and support to the rubber<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nThe plaster pieces are removed and the latex is cut down the center to create a two section mold<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nA finished set of Molds<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nThe molds are coated with wax to create a copy of the clay original<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nWax is poured in, the mold is rotated to evenly coat, and the excess wax is poured out. This will create a hollow replica<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nA finished wax being removed from the mold<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nOne finished wax piece<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nThe pieces are touched up and wax runners and a wax cup are attached.\u00c2\u00a0 The cup and runners will later act as funneling system to enable the bronze to reach the piece<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nThe pieces are coated in a liquid ceramic and allowed to dry.\u00c2\u00a0 This will be repeated 7-8 times to build a thick ceramic shell.\u00c2\u00a0 The shell becomes another mold<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nFinishing the first coat<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nThe piece is next coated in sand. This will help dry it quicker and add mass to the ceramic<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nThe ceramic is chipped away from the bottom of the cup gaining access to the wax.\u00c2\u00a0 The piece is heated and the wax melts, leaving a hollow ceramic shell<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nThe mold is now hollow and ready for bronze to be poured in<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n20 lbs. bronze ingots will be melted and poured into the shells<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nThe bronze is melted in a crucible in a furnace to over 2000 degrees<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nThe ceramic shell are also heated, to prevent them from shattering from the shock of the molten bronze<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nThe shells are removed from the oven and place in a sand filled box with the cup facing up<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nThe cup acts as a funnel and the runners carry the bronze to the piece<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nOnce cooled, the ceramic shell is chipped away. Then the cup and runners will be cut off<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nA finished set of bronze pieces ready to be reassembled<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nUsing heli-arch welders the bronze pieces are welded back together.\u00c2\u00a0 The sculpture is ground and polished to create a seamless finish<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nThe sculpture is heated and treated with chemicals that oxidize the bronze changing its color to the desired effect<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\nThe finished piece is not only beautiful but strong and durable able to last generations!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A steel armature is fabricated that will function as a \u00e2\u20ac\u009dskeleton\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to hold the weight of the clay The piece is sculpted using an oil based clay The piece is worked and reworked until both the artist and client are pleased The finished life-size sculpture Thin sheets of metal are used to divide the sculpture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-category"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alpineartgallery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}