More appropriately called the "Lost Wax" process, here are the eleven steps used to create my sculptures.*
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An artist's completed sculpture is taken to the foundry, bid, photographed, and measured.
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It is then cut up so that the mold will pick up the most details and pour well in wax and metal. The mold is made of silicone rubber then covered with a thick plaster out mold.
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Several (4) coats of wax are poured into the mold. Each coat being allowed to cool and then the mold is removed.
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Wax chasers clean, repair, smooth, replace detail, cut windows, etc. to prepare the wax for the rest of the process.
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The wax goes to be sprued which is attaching the waxes to a cup with sprue wax to make the channels for the metal to reach all parts of the piece.
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Eight coats of slurry are then applied with 24 hours drying time between each coat to make a thick ceramic shell surrounding the wax.
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These shells are then put in a burn out oven and heated to 1,500 degrees to melt out the wax, leaving a cavity for the bronze.
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The hot shells go into the foundry room and are heated from 1,900 to 2,100 degrees then filled with molten bronze.
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Sledge and jack hammers are used to carefully chip the shell off so that the bronze can be sandblasted.
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Metal toolers then begin welding the pieces back together, aligning, buffing, grinding, and repairing detail and texture until the sculpture looks as if it were cast in one piece.
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The final process is patina. This is where color is put on with heat and chemicals then hot waxed to seal and stop any chemical action.
