HOW A BRONZE IS MADE PAGE 2 The Flight of the Terns, the evolution of a work of art continued
Upon entering the foundry, we were confronted with the acrid smell of buring wax and amonia. The floor was separated into little booths and cubicles, each housing specific finishing processes. There was a plaster mold room where mother molds are made; a wax room where the hollow wax molds are completed and a shell building section for the ceramic mold stage, where huge vats of slurry and bubbling fluid sand bed look like the boiling mud pots of Yellowstone Park. There were sections for sandblasting, grinding, welding, and chasing. And, of course, there was the furnace room, the heart of the foundry. The noise there was intense as the heat. The furnaces growled green and orange in the background. Above their roar was the incessant whine of the carbide drill. Added to that was the "whir of the grinding wheel and the sharp ring of the hammer on metal. Osmundsen discussed his sculpture with the foundry directors, Richard and Toni Polich, and stood by as the plaster and rubber "mother mold" was formed from the completed model. From the mother mold, a hollow wax mold was prepared and Osmundsen worked directly on it, refining areas that were obliterated and adding detail. It was at this stage that he designed the base of the sculpture. The completed hollow wax mold was given a ceramis shell and strengthened to withstand the terrible pressure of the molten bronze. Back to previous page- How a Bronze is made | OSMUNDSEN POURS BRONZE YEARS AFTER THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN IN HIS NH FOUNDRY At a later date, we returned to watch the pouring. The workers wore long, heavy gloves, aprons, and leg protectors as they prepared to pour the molten bronze into the heated ceramic mold. Even the large open doors did not seem to alleviate the heat. Piled ingots of bronze glowed dully against the wall from the reflected light of the furnace. The crucible, translucent with heat, was slowly raised and the liquid metal was poured carefully into the waiting mold. Osmundsen returned to the foundry later in the week to see the bronze sculpture emerge from the shattered ceramic mold. Now, the finishing processes began. The bronze was sandblasted, ground, hammered, and drilled. The work was slow and exacting. Using a carbide drill, Osmundsen worked most of the afternoon Below:- read about Tallix Foundry |
About Tallix Foundry: - This article was written early in my career with bronzes and it was early in the development of Tallix. Tallix has since become a major World-wide foundry;- I'm sure surpassing anyones expectations. About 8 years ago they replicated and cast da Vinci's famous 24 foot horse. A sculpture, that for years, was thought to be impossible to cast and until some missing da Vinci codices were found, its very existence was questioned. I enjoyed casting my bronzes with Tallix for some years and learned greatly from Dick Polich, it's founder, and the other craftsmen. This experience gave me the knowledge and enthusiasm to open my own foundry in New Hampshire. Our largest bronze attempted was my "Ski for Light - Art for Sight" monument in Frisco, Col. pictured below. |