Art & Sculpture Unlimited,Inc | Studio & Bronze Foundry Miami

CERAMIC SHELL CASTING : The following is the step by step process of the lost wax casting method.It is the best method used to make our sculptures. This is a long and complex process where we transform the artist's original model (clay, wax, plastiline, plaster, resin, wood, stone, any metal) into a bronze piece. First you make the Mold. This step is by far the most critical. All the detail which appears on the sculpture must be captured in the mold. The mold (depending on the size of the sculpture) is cut into sections for casting. Then you make the Wax Casting. Molten wax is poured into the mold to form layers of wax. This wax model is an exact duplicate of the original casting. Next comes the Chasing the Wax. Here the wax is pulled from the mold and hand chased . Alter that we Stara to do the Spruing, this means the attaching of wax rods or gates and pouring cup to the wax casting to assure a full pour. Now comes a step that we call Investment Casting, this is when the wax casting is dipped into Investment liquid several times. On the first dip a fine powder is applied. On the next dip of course, ceramic sand will be applied. This step is repeated several times, each increasing the coarseness of the material to create the ceramic mold. Between each dip, the ceramic layer must dry before another layer can be applied. Then we do the Burn-Out, the ceramic shell is placed in a kiln and fired. The shell bakes and the wax is melted from the shell. This creates a hollow ceramic shell mold. That’s why it’s called Lost Wax. The ceramic shell is removed from the kiln and immediately the molten bronze is poured into the shell. This step is called Casting. After the casting has cooled several hours we do the Break-Out, the shell is carefully broken away leaving the unfinished bronze. Any fragments of the ceramic shell are removed by Sandblasting. At this time all the pieces of the sculpture are welded together, is what we call the Assembly. Finally the Chasing, all the weld marks are chased and re-detailed. If necessary, the piece is retouched with a Glass Beading, similar to sandblasting. The glass is extremely fine to ensure an even bronze finish. We end with the Polish. The piece is now hand polished in preparation for the Patina, which is the final process where we place a specific coloration to the surface of the sculpture to enhace it .