amymay

I loved bronze pouring, but I really just loved sculpting in general. Bronze pours are the epitome of a communal event. I did a lot of lost wax casting. Let me break it down. You start with wax this incredible flex able material and you sculpt it in to what ever you want. The entire time people are commenting and you're rethinking and burning yourself with soldering guns and blowtorches. And then because you can you make duplicates which ends up being another mold to make more wax pieces that you again have to perfect. You string them together with even more wax while imagining the flow of metal. That concept alone... imagine the flow of METAL. By this time you've spent 6 weeks making things in wax. Now comes the fun part. You and three or four trusted artist must cover your beautiful work in a mixture of casting sand and plaster. The form isn't attached to a bottom so some times plaster leaks all over if you can't patch it you're screwed if there is to much air in the mixture you're screwed and if you don't do if fast enough you're really screwed. By really screwed I mean not only do you loose two months of work but you also get stuck in plaster which burns. It's a mess and exhausting work. But you help the other artist do theirs. Once they set up you have to dry them out... if you don't the bronze will hit the moisture in the mold and it will explode quite literally. So you and the group hook up a harness to lift these very heavy molds in to the casket kiln. If you drop them it's all over, back to square one. So you hoist them up and fingers get pinched and you're over a hot kiln because they would crack if you put them in a cold one and five people are watching the four of you do this. It's become a production. Then you take turns watching the kiln making sure it's getting hot enough and not catching on fire. V- Day I had to take the over night watch. 3 am it hit temp and didn't catch on fire. This is good because the building would have burnt down and there really weren't any phones. It's a day later and now you have to take them out but they are Hot. You feel the temp through your gloves and you want to let go but it's all over if you do. They are dry and the wax is gone... all that work and if was just to make a mold. All that time and aggravation is back in to a sheet of wax at the bottom of the kiln. There is no going back. Inevitably the harness you rig up snaps on the last one. The temp was too high for the nylon and cotton would have caught fire. You strap the broken one together having no idea if it's yours or not. They all look pretty much the same now... tubes of plaster and sand with wholes at the top. You've been priming the bronze since 5am and its liquid now. You're suited up in suede from head to toe. And the casts are in a line. I open the furnace and look ever seen lava? That's what it looks like it's the most beautiful substance in the world next to molten aluminum which looks like liquid mirror. As soon as the air hits the bronze the sediment on top cools and has to be scraped off. Much like skimming fat off from broth but you use a long iron hoe that sparks as it hits cause of the temp difference. You through the slug to the side being careful not to let it land in moist sand (that's what the floor is covered in is sand) two of the other artist pick the cauldron up with and odd long pole device. They work in unison while the third controls the fan. The smoke is thick and your lungs burn. You direct them were to poor and soon all the cast are full of bronze even the one that's strapped together. That one normally catches on fire and you have to sprinkle sand on it to put it out. If the hot bronze comes in contact with water of any amount it will explode and small balls will go flying around the room like hot bullets. But one of two burns is nothing.
A few hours later you take a sledge hammer out and tap the poor cup with a mighty blow. It resonates through the metal and the plaster falls off. You then spray it down to finish cooling it. Its winter and your in the court yard with a hose. If your lucky only another 6 weeks of work to go. It takes 6 hours just to cut the pieces apart and your so excited to do it you don't realize your wrist are numb from the vibrating grinder.

You hurt like nothing you have ever felt after a pour day... But you have a piece of metal to show for it.



If it doesn't make complete scence sorry it was part of an email that a friend asked me to post as a blog.