Posts Tagged ‘plaster mold’
Casting Glass
Delve into the alluring procedures of glass casting. Casting glass utilizes more glass and the end product is bulkier than standard glass fusing, which is typically level. These pieces have added deepness and height. Sometimes referred to as kiln casting, in these methods hot glass is permitted to solidify in a cast.
There exist various unique methods this procedure can be achieved, depending on the particular form of casting applied. A few of the diverse ways would be frit casting or sand casting, just to name a couple. Every way is unique in the progression and outcome of the artwork.
Anyone can make stunning artwork with out even needing to cut glass. A few of the practices are actually easy to realize, while others demand several stages and particular equipment. From purely filling a cast with frit to pouring hot glass into a shape, these practices vary a huge amount.
Let us look at the distinctive kinds and how they are accomplished.
Frit Casting – Placing chunks of frit inside a prepared form and firing until the molten glass fills the cast. This method could take numerous heating sessions to complete.
Hot Casting – In this procedure, molten glass is usually poured into a shape from a glass furnace. The glass is carried to the shape utilizing a ladle.
Lost Wax – Also referred to as lost-wax casting or lost mould. A design is formed out of beeswax then a plaster mold is formed encasing the wax. The beeswax is then dissolved and the empty vessel can be filled up with liquid glass and finished in a glass kiln.
Pate de Verre – Making a mixture from glass and a binder. The mixture is then put inside a cast and heated inside a kiln. The title actually means glass paste.
Sand Casting – Pouring molten glass directly into a cast that is formed out of sand. The glass is transferred to the form using a bucket.
From the simplest process to the most demanding method, glass casting is exhilarating and enthralling to undertake. Try one or more of these processes in your glass fusing escapades.
I am a young retiree, with tons of time on my hands, so I have been spending my time doing glass fusing. Glass fusing is my passion, and I have started a web site to help others learn the techniques and processes of this art.
I love trying different techniques in my kiln. Learning with each new firing. For more information, please visit my site at Glass Fusing Made Easy
Posted in Sculpture | 
Tags: Casting, fusing, Glass, glass furnace, plaster mold, stunning artwork | 
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Bronze Casting Information and the Process of Bronze Casting
Bronze has been the most sought-after metal for cast metal sculptures in the bygone years. Bronze alloys have a desirable and unusual property to expand slightly prior to their setting. This helps a great deal in filling every corner of the mold. Their ductility and strength causes them to be molded into any form. However, bronze has a basic disadvantage of not being durable. Hence, there are hardly any traces of ancient bronze statues found. Bronze casting generally takes place by a process called lost-wax casting. Though, centrifugal and sand castings are also employed, around 90% of bronze casting takes place through lost-wax casting.
Lost-wax method: Lost-wax casting, in the industry, is better known as investment casting. It is costlier than die and sand casting, but outshines them in terms of accuracy. It is easily possible to make complicated structures through ‘lost-wax casting’. The process can be described as follows:
Sculpting: First, the original artwork is created by the artist from clay, wax, or some other material. Mostly, clay (oil-based) and wax are used due to their property of retention of softness.
Mold making: Majority of molds consist of 2 pieces, along with a shim placed between 2 halves at the time of construction in order to put back the mold accurately. Keys are kept in the shim. The small sculpture molds generally consist of plaster. Fiberglass can also be used. To have the minute details preserved on the surface of original artwork, there exists a mold inside. It is made up of vinyl, silicone, or latex supported by plaster part of mold. Generally, the destruction of original artwork takes place during making. This is due to the solid nature of the originals. The other reason is the rigidity of the originals at the time of removal of plaster mold. That’s why; the original is cut off into thin, long pieces and separately molded. At times, a number of molds are required for recreating the original structure.
Wax: After the completion of latex-and-plaster mold, the pouring of molten wax takes place. Then, swishing is carried out till a uniform coating is obtained. The thickness of the coating is 1/8 inches. The mold’s inner surface gets covered by it. This process is repeatedly executed till the preferred thickness is attained.
Wax removal: Artwork’s ‘hallow wax copy’ is detached from mold. This mold may be reused by the artist for making more copies of wax, but its use gets restricted due to frequent ‘wear & tear’. Around 25 copies can be made for tiny bronze artworks.
Chasing: The chasing of each copy starts. Rubbing of the marks is done by a hot metal tool. The marks showing ‘flashing’ or ‘parting line’ are rubbed out.
Spruing: The spruing of copy generates paths to flow (for molten bronze) and causes air to move out.
Slurry: The dipping of sprued copy into a liquid silica slurry, and then into sand-like ‘stucco’ takes place. This process is repeatedly carried out till the coating attains thickness of at least ½ inch.
After these steps, the out-and-out processes like burnout, testing, pouring, releasing, metal chasing, and patinating are carried out.
Metal Casting Basics
Posted in Technology |
Tags: bronze, bronze alloys, Kent, mold, plaster mold, sand castings, wax |
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