Translate to bronze...

[Araich]

How hard and costly would it be to produce a mold and then a bronze edition of this work?

http://www.roberthague.com/sculpture/images/sol_hague_150.jpg

Would the folds cause nightmares?
It is small.

[edit: fix image]

[obseq]

Ariach,

Is this a digital rendering of the work or have you already rendered some sort of maquette?


I would be very curious regarding your own process as
I'm also toiling in mold production for bronze myself!;)

[edit: no need to repeat the image in a quote :) - RH]

oops--did I repost the image too? My mistake.

[jsimms]

Depending on how small you are talking, it would appear the piece could easily be fabricated.
john

[Araich]

obseq - nope, thats actually painted steel. I don't use the computer for anything but publishing the images of the work. I do clip out the background (shot against white) for my website.

I cannot imagin working with plaster or wax again, after years with steel... and sorta hope that I can take a painted work to a foundry and forget it.

Is this a bad thing?

I've done some messing around with casting, and enjoyed it, but I'm weary that a move to include bronze will drag me out of the workshop, and have me a slave to the process.

[RuBert]

I am surprised you build all of your sculpture maquettes from steel - they are so very fluid. I'm quite sure they could be cast, but I would probably just try to fabricate them if I were making them.

However other sculptors might disagree, for example Tom Otterness is having some amazing casting done outside of studio that he then reassembles.

I was at his studio recently and posted these pictures and links.

http://sculpture.net/community/showthread.php?threadid=289

It made me want to cast even though I don't really like the process. I'm sorry I can't give you price information for casting, but I can tell you that it will be very much worth your while to get bids from several different casters. The difference in pricing may surprise you, and you will eventually find a price and result combination that is attractive. The best foundry can then be developed into a ongoing quality relationship.

I think your piece would make a very nice limited edition.

ps - photo of casting sections in Tom's studio

[Araich]

When you say fabricate - do you mean weld bronze elements together?

[jsimms]

I did mean welding bronze parts together! Silicon bronze welds beautifully (Tig or mig) and would really lend itself to your smaller pieces. I've got a lot of scrap sheet and plate and would be happy to send you some, though it is pretty heavy.
john

[gordonrogers]

ooooh! welding bronze sounds interesting - an everyday Mig (with the correct wire and gas) is all thats needed?

[Araich]

I'm guessing you would need a different liner...

How toxic is it to grind/sand etc?

[jsimms]

You only need silicon bronze wire (I use .035) and argon ('though I use argon /helium mix). No special liner! Unlike copper, silicon bronze is very hard. It's biggest advantage is the beauty of the metal itself and the variation in coloration if left to develop its own patina relative to the environment.

I have a lot of smaller scraps of C655 in varying thickness ( .083 through .25) and would be happy to send a few pounds to anyone for the cost of postage. It weighs 5.5# per square foot in .125" thickness.
john

[jsimms]

I don't believe there is any toxicity problem working with sil/bronze. It hasn't bothered me! YET?

It does grind and sand easily and nicely, and buffs beautifully with 4.5" 3m discs. It is easily colored with a myriad of chemicals and a dip in any hot spring should give serendipitous results.
john

[Araich]

oooo I'm going to look into this!

Way over here in Australia it's not realistic to ship scrap, but I'm sure I can find everything available here.

What's it like to roll etc?

[jsimms]

Rolls and forms like carbon steel! Be sure to get silicon bronze (C655), not architectural, bearing, or aluminum bronze.
j

[fritchie]

Araich - I’m sorry I just saw this. You really don’t want to cast that form. The close spacing between folds would lead to “flashing” with investment molds. (Flashing refers to thin sheets of metal penetrating into tiny crevices in the mold.) With ceramic shell, flashing shouldn’t be a problem, but any cleanup (grinding, etc.) within the spaces still would be difficult.

This shape clearly calls for fabrication, and I expect you could find a shop willing to do a run for you.

A very experienced local founder has cast almost all my bronzes, though I chase and finish them myself. He uses tig welding and silicon bronze exclusively.

[Araich]

One thing that I've realised is that if I were to edition painted work such as this, I would be better off just making it in steel.
Aside from the those where a bronze look is needed that is.

What of a work like this (http://www.artwise.com.au/hague/091.htm) remade in bonze?

[fritchie]

I had another thought overnight, not unusually. It's about 50:50 whether this piece could be done in bronze more easily through casting or through fabrication. If a copy used to make a mold is cut along the leftmost fold in the illustration, the two halves each would be easy to mold and cast. Generally, complex pieces are done in sections and then welded together after individual finishing.

Conceptually the piece is a construction, made of flat sections which are shaped by rolling and then welded together. That’s the way bronze copies would be made if fabricated.

Another thought I omitted last night - any bronze casting should be welded with the same metal used for the cast, so the colors will be consistent. If you use a semi-transparent patina, this will be critical.

Bronze patinas come in two distinct flavors, opaque and semi-transparent. Blues, greens, and so on are made with copper compounds, typically cupric nitrate. These are opaque. Golds through browns and blacks are made with sulfur compounds, typically “liver of sulfur”, or potassium sulfide. The sulfides are quite transparent, becoming less so as the color gets darker. Ferric nitrate, another patining agent, gives red colors, and also is semi-transparent.

[jsimms]

Either one could be easily done in bronze and would look great!
I feel bronze has much more "life" than steel, particularily painted steel. See attached for a shot of a bronze wall sconce I just patinaed. Don't get me wrong, RH, I think your work is great, but this might be a direction to try.
j

[jsimms]

attached is a shot of a "raw" bronze flat bar that was coarse ground them buffed with a 3m disc. I'll patina it tomorrow the show how it comes out.
j

[Araich]

I can see the 'life' in bronze. It's a totally different feel to steel.

Right now I have a healthy to-and-fro with steel, and don't much want to go to another material in the making. But this idea of fabricating has me intrigued.

I think I may just have to visit some foundries and look at the costs.

I'm at the point where steel is (thank the heavens) paying my rent. Bronze may just end up keeping me in rags.

What's the experience in pricing your work like?
An equivalent steel work in bronze would alter the gallery price how much?

I'm heading to bronze regardless of the money, just how often and to what degree I'm afraid is very much about the money :(

A stable patina would be a dream!

[jsimms]

The perceived value of bronze is signficantly more than steel,
and the only change in cost to you is the material cost. I would guess that you could demand twice as much for one of your pieces in bronze. The patination process is actually quite easy, and you can add a lot of character to a piece that you can't possibly get with paint.

Sil-bronze is slightly heavier than steel and here it runs around $3 to $6 per pound depending on the sheet size. Go to alaskan copper [/URL] http://www.alaskop for more info. I'd bet its pretty pricy way down south!
j

[fritchie]

Araich - This refers to your post and figure of 5.10. I assume your dimensions are in inches, so it is about 55 inches tall. Depending on the foundry, that could be made in 1 or 2 sections. The form looks simple. (I assume the box-like pieces at top and bottom are hollow, about 1/16 - 1/8 inch thick.)

Thickness can be a problem with bronze. Anything more than about 1/8 to 3/16 inch typically is cast hollow, but there is a size range which is too thick to be solid and too thin to be hollow.

[Araich]

Fritchie - dimensions are in cm's.

I've decided to hand a small work over to a foundry to cast whole, and should see the first wax in a couple of days. I'm just going to let them do the complete process, and learn from their approach... I've picked up many ideas from this thread, and expect to try some fabrication in bronze later in the year.

The big question now is what patina?

http://www.roberthague.com/images/moore.gif

I've no idea!

Also, what do I call the painted steel original now? Artist proof? Or just 'original work'? And does it affect the edition number?

I'm going to do 5 of this one.

[edit: fix image]

[rderr.com]

Dear Araich

The European legislation is very interesting for these legal definitions of "orginal work" and artist profs. A work is considered an "orginal" if limited to, I belive, 12 or 14 numbers. The first 4 are stamped 1...4 ea [epruve d'artist , artist prof]| 12 or 14. Limited edition is 1...x|x. Anne of Brux. can probably refin my memory of the problem.

ps How do I do a spellllllllllllllll check with this and in francai a ca.

[fritchie]

Araich - I've described some materials used in patinating bronzes above. Patina simply describes the surface color, whether it develops through age (most preferred, but takes years) or through studio processes (takes maybe an hour or so, with preparation taking maybe 1 - 3 days).

Bronze will naturally oxidize in dry air to a shade of gold, brown, or black, or in more moist air to a shade of green to blue. Studio techniques to get these same effects much faster are what I described above. As far as “original” and “edition”, I’m not sure the U. S. has a legal definition, though rderr describes the European (perhaps only French) position. I might say the steel form is a prototype or something similar. It is not an “artist’s proof” because of the different material.

Interesting points. I’d like to hear other replies as well.

[Araich]

I think I'll get a few cast at once so I can try some common patinas out. Transparent ones.

Any good links to view patinas online? And the process?

At this point I intend to make all the original work as completed steel sculptures, which I will sell to offset the casting costs.

[rderr.com]

Dear Fritchie,

The legislation is pan-Eropean. Artist, galleries, and collectors fought for years to unifie various customs and laws. As far as I know there is no relevent American body of law. Perhaps under "intellectual property" legislation?

Artist proof (thanks for the spell check) is the experimental phase of the translation of "model", in any material, to the material of the "edited" version. Engravers have more experience in the problem. Each time they change paper, material, a "proof is pulled to "prove" the desired results.

Myself I use the European model. to edit bronze. I've recently finished a first proof, 1ea|12, of a green sand casting of a tree root and the scapula of a buck shoot by my nephew. When I learn how to reduce the file size I'll post the photo.

[jsimms]

RH.......
Probably the most basic transparent patina is a sulphurus solution, normally potash or liver of sulphur, an easily obtained substance with no shipping restrictions and few health concerns.

If you have any sulphurus hot springs nearby, some great results can be gotten by giving the piece a dip there.

This base patina can then be enhanced with simple things such as vinegar or used cat litter or stall muck. These give surprising and serendipitous results which I feel give character to a piece.

John

[Araich]

So it is accepted practice in an edition of 5 to have 1 artist proof? This is driven by the logic that the first may fail - and even if it does not, 6 can go to sale?

I only ask as I need to spread the mold costs across the edition.

jsimms, that sounds like a hilarious recipe. :D

[fritchie]

Araich - One thing to keep in mind is the bronze casting technique. Sand casting is cheapest, when it can be done, but it requires relatively simple forms, and it doesn't pick up fine detail.

The two principal methods used by art foundries today are ceramic shell and investment. Ceramic shell is much more popular, because it's easier and leaves fewer ragged protrusions (flashing) which require hand labor for cleanup.

The drawback, in my view, is that it requires the cast to be sandblasted for removal of traces of the ceramic mold. This destroys fine detail, and it produces a very uniform, somewhat dull surface which lacks any color variation. I like the natural small variation in color across the piece which comes with investment casting. To my eye, ceramic-shell casts look machine-made. They are by far the most common pieces in commercial galleries and tourist shops.

I did have to use ceramic-shell casting on one occasion, and I found a way to recover the missing color variation. Basically it involved coating the cleaned cast irregularly with a fine silica powder called diatomaceous earth, which was lightly dampened with ammonia. Traces of ammonia in the presence of air act as a weak etching agent, and this light etch brought back the missing irregularity. I’ll go into this more if or when it will help.

[rderr.com]

Dear Araich.

No. What the Austrailian practice is I do not know. What I did discribe was the European legislation. If you wish to limit the edition to 5 then the numerotation would be 1.....|5 and the artist proof would be included within.

[rderr.com]

Dear Fritchie

You are quite right about the ceramic. I work in wood and take to heart to use the grain as part to the finished object. When I first approached a founder he said, "Ceramiic. No question. The detail will give life to the wings of a fly!" and it did. How sad to see it all disapear in the dish washer.

Sand does require a simple concetion. But, simple does not mean simplistic. In a two part or multiple of two part mold sophistication can be aquired, The detail depends on the grain of the sand. And the "flashing" on the abilities of the mold maker

[rderr.com]

Dear Gentelpersons

Voila, hopefully, the photo of the green sand cast scapula and root called Sprit I seem to have posted a new thread instead of a reply.

[fritchie]

rderr - Glad to see you got up this image. And, yes, this piece is perfect for a sand cast - no undercuts. That’s the critical issue.

[rderr.com]

Dear Fritchie

What the photo does not show is there are undercuts in the three planes. The molding was done in two parts in the tradional bottomless boxes. In the first box was placed a bed of sand then the model Sand was packed to the level of the first undercut i.e. the front to back median. The second box was secured to the first and the surfaces of sand and the model powdered with talc. Sand was then packed into the boxes and onto model Turn the boxes over with the first box now on top, Lift the first box off. The talc will have formed a barrier between the two boxes of sand and, the model and the second box. Clean carefully the surface of the sand in the second box and repair any tears in the surface. Repowder the surface of the second box and model. Empty the first box. Resecure the first to the second box. Pack sand into the box. Open with care. Because the model has concave and convex surfaces perpendicular to the face, the trick is to lift and turn the model in a way to not destroy the imprint in the third plane. Situate the chimneys and vents. Reattach the boxes. Versez et voila!

Flashing occurs for several reasons: tears between the two surfaces, insufficient compactation. and separation of the two boxes by the force of vapor not properly vented.

[fritchie]

rderr - Thanks for this example on use of sandcasting. I have never seen it done, just read about it and had one or two people comment on using it. If it can be done, this is far cheaper than use of an intermediate permanent mold.

[rderr.com]

Dear Fritchie

Green sand is not the ansewer to all. Nothing is . "Couple by Attitude" on my web site rderr.com was cast using and green sand and lost wax. The scapula was cast in green sand and the rest in lost was to keep the weight down. Green sand can be cast with a core but I do not know how. Is someone out there knowlegable?

[jwebb]

I stumbled on this rather old thread and very interesting conversation. After starting out as a foundry-assistant for my Sculpture professor, I have worked for 30 years at the world's largest producer of investment castings. These are not bronze sculptures but mostly aircraft engine parts, medical prostheses, and various aerospace and missile parts. Sizes range from tiny balance weights to 60 inches plus in diameter, in titanium and various "superalloys". Though this employment quickly took all the fun out of casting, for me, as a sculptor, there may be a few comments I can contribute to this conversation. First, there are very few limits on what shapes can be cast today. It's just a matter of finding a foundry that's capable. Our bread and butter is casting in one piece configurations which would alternatively be way more expensive to fabricate, forge, and/or machine. Many of the capabilites this place has are beyond what average bronze foundries can do, but they are getting better all the time. Most of them in this area are mired in producing horsies and cowpokes and critturs, for that rampaging market. And most all of them feature and loudly "sell" secret patination tricks that produce airbrushed-like multihued effects that are far from the classical bronze character that has been so well described and detailed above in this thread. I still occasionally have a portrait or other commission for a bronze, and I want to work the wax myself; have them gate it, invest and cast it, and remove the gating; and then I want to chase the surface and patinate it myself. Some places fight me on this, as they want to be "full-service foundries" who do all of the above and charge more for it, and I understand where they're coming from, but they turn out a result as lifeless as plastic. So be demanding and stick to your demands until you find a place that'll do it your way. Best regards.

[Araich]

jwebb, thanks for your reply. It echo's many of the thoughts and comments of those I've spoken with.
I've found that my work is considered fairly easy to cast off, but the only question mark is the chasing and patina.
I'll let you know how I go.
Refreshingly (it seems) this foundry actually suggested I do the chasing and patination myself anyway.

I'll let them do the first couple and then I'm diving in. In fact I should call them today...

[rderr.com]

Dear Araich

Do have a go at the chasing and patination. It is the best part of the chicken.

Ardor

[fritchie]

Several comments:

jwebb - Glad to see you agree with my opinion on doing your own patination. I agree completely - the “full -service foundries” make pieces that look like they are painted: flat and dull in color.

Araich - As least in the U. S., you don’t “cast off” sculpture (I hope), you cast it. “Cast off” means to discard.

[jwebb]

fritchie, I agree with (almost) everything you say on these threads. Particularly I share your veneration for bronze and the way it's been treated by sculptors historically - though I don't currently work in it much. To my eye the european sculptors, and the foundries that supported them, particularly in France in the 19th and early 20th centuries, produced really lovely results, including very "natural" and rich patinas. (Rodin; Maillol; etc.). I found a piece once, in an antique shop, which I still think about though I couldn't afford to buy it. It was unsigned, but French I believe. It was a small figure of an infant, in dress from I'd say 1800's. What amazed me was that the whole piece was done from what was obviously one sheet of wax, approximately 1/4 inch thick and 14" square. This must've been soft bee's wax. It had been formed into a basic cone shape, with the apex being modeled into the head and figure, and these swaddling clothes descending into and morphing into the base of what was now a pyramidal shape. When I turned it over, I could see that it was, indeed, one sheet of wax. The down-sprue for the casting was attached to the inside of the apex of that cone, and a few gates run out to its outer walls. Since they were all on what became the inside of the piece, they'd merely been clipped off and their locations and sizes (gate "witnesses") were evident. An inverted cone is the perfect shape for a casting, as the solidification of the metal begins at its bottom and continues equally up its sides, driving any gas right up to the top and out the "risers". The total mastery of the material and the process which this little piece displayed still amazes me. It appeared so easily and even casually done. This guy (or lady) must've whipped these things out. And, yes, you could still see fingerprints the sculptor left in the wax, in places.

[fritchie]

jwebb - This is a nice description of a mature phase in a field of art, where the sculptor understands the whole process and designs work to take advantage of natural strengths and to avoid weaknesses - sort of like a classical composer who is able to utilize the full resources of an orchestra while emphasizing a few specific figures.

The single instructor I had over most of my several years of sculpture classes repeatedly said to ignore the technical requirements of casting - to focus on the art and worry about moldmaking and casting later. More or less, that is the approach I take, but with more experience I have made small changes that I know will make casting easier while not interfering with the overall conception.

In a way, what you and I are discussing here resembles something I read today in regard to the NASA loss of Challenger earlier this year. The review board said many engineers and technicians worried that they might grow stale between shuttle flights because the frequency is low. All these examples show the value of consistent and frequent attention to creative work. A qualitative gain, not just a quantitative one, results when a field is “hot”, and the converse is true as well.

For fields out of favor at any given time, practitioners just must work harder and smarter.

[Araich]

I'm right now looking at two (still warm) bronzes... success!

Pictures to follow.

[fritchie]

Araich - Congratulations! Half the work is behind you, and lots of fun ahead. Do keep us up to date.

[Araich]

44cm wide, rubber mold, edtition 5.
Cast in two pieces, the ball being welded back on.

[Araich]

28cm wide, rubber mold, edition 5.
Cast in one piece.

[anne (bxl)]

robert, I appreciate your steel work very much, you know it.
but what an emotion seiing it in bronze!
what's your own feeling?

[Araich]

Dear Anne, thank you. I'm not all that sure what to think yet. I hated the raw bronze, and was miserable as I chased the work. But with the patina (liver + ferric) done, I fell in love with them.

But my little "bronze babies" have already left me for the galleries. No more than 1/2 a dozen daylight hours and they are gone. Barely time to photograph.

Oh, such is the life of a working artist.

[fritchie]

Araich - Congratulations! These are very nice, typical of your forms, and in a new material and color. I'm sure you will grow to like this new way of working.

On a side note, the frosted surface shows that they were sandblasted, probably cast using the ceramic shell technique. As you do more pieces, you will have the opportunity to decide whether to leave them in this "perfect" form, or to add or leave traces of tool marks.

This image suggests your earlier work in steel - "pure", extruded shape. You may choose to keep with that, or to go into new territory with the new material.

Keep us posted on new pieces. And, again, congratulations!

[Araich]

Yes, ceramic shell... not sure what you mean about frosting, as they had sandblaster the work (thinking wrongly that I would want a heavy painterly patina) but I re-sanded them back for the transparent look. The surface was not a high polish however.
Also, the waxing (polish) was not great in these pictures - and the colour scan is too contrasty. The works are lighter.

Fritchie - I just know you want me to add tool marks :D

But it is just not me. I have left imperfections, and allowed for a sloppy irregular patina (how convenient)... of course we will see when I work directly in wax - things will surely change.

I had my pricing meeting yesterday, went well, the Gallery has let me go the cost. This means that I show them the receipt, and this is taken off the sale price before any commission split. In this case I've just added the cost (cast + 1/5th mold) to the price of the original steel piece (which I sold outright to pay for the mold etc).
Judging by other pricing I've seen, this means these are very reasonable - giving them every chance to succeed.

[fritchie]

By all means, follow your own instincts. Otherwise, you have nothing. I DO like the irregularities in the patina.

By frosted, I mean that highlights in the photo look diffuse and not sharp. I took this to mean that the surface finish is not real smooth, but “frosted” as a window pane covered with moisture. However, this might be an effect of your lighting system - maybe the lights are really diffuse. And as you say, less polish on the wax will give a diffuse appearance.

I used a naphtha - artificial beeswax mixture for years on recommendation of a professional patinist, until the original preparation ran out, and I have been unable to find a satisfactory wax since - about 1 ½ years. Anyway, the piece is excellent. Thanks for showing and for your comments.

[obseq]

<<28cm wide, silicon mold, edition 5.>>


Araich--or anyone else,

Can you tell me more about silicon molds?

I've been mired in bouts of trial-and-error with producing a mold for one of my pieces. Any suggestions regarding mold-making, or processes you swear by would be greatly appreciated.


Again, great work Araich..!

[fritchie]

obseq - All my molds, both the ones I have made and the ones a foundry has made for me, are of polyurethane. Silicon molds are considered the best, but no one I know uses them for wax (and then bronze) casts. They are designed primarily for resin casts, which generate tremendous heat as they cure. In contrast, wax never is at a temperature above about 80 - 90 degrees Celsius or 175 to 195 degrees Fahrenheit. (I’m guessing here, but it’s quite a bit below the boiling point of water, 100 Celsius or 212 Fahrenheit.)

I have made lots of epoxy casts in these molds, and they are said to be perfectly safe for that because epoxy also cures at a relatively low temperature. I also have made a couple of polyurethane casts in these polyurethane molds, and people say that is the dangerous resin. It becomes very hot while curing, and I have been told that after “only” 5 - 10 casts, the mold may degrade to the point where it is too soft to use. Two large US manufacturers make 2-part polyurethane mold mixes - PolyTek and Smooth-On. People I know seem to be happy with both.

Hope this helps.

[rderr.com]

Dear Araich and Obseq

Yes the work is good. But. Why the expense of silicon? I would have opted for Polly you’re a thane rubber (thanks to Gram Norton) and plaster mother molds. You did use plaster mother molds with the silicon, I hope. Otherwise the molding cost would have been prohibitive. Can you give an idea of the overall cost, molds and casting? Fritchie over on another thread gave advice to a novice and a real example of foundry cost would be interesting. When I was a member of a coop., the cost would have been for the 28 cm (18in.?) piece silicon molding included; more or less $40.00 for silicon (rubber closer to $20.00) plaster $2.00 or $3.00, ceramic slip about $10.00 and the bronze at $2.50 per lb for 10 or15 lbs. 25 to 40 bucks. Now that I work with a functioning art foundry, the molding cost are about the same because I do do all my on work up to and including the wax and the foundry does the ceramic shell and pour the bronze at !.!! Bucks per lb.

Obseq, I have used from cuttelfish bone to silicon with ceramic slip. The only answer to your question “Witch?” is” Witch ever works” . The cuttlebone was for a missing link to a gold chain, green sand for monotypes, Polly you’re a thane for large multiples, and silicon for the more delicate

Ardor

[Araich]

My mistake. I meant to say rubber not silcon. Yes with a plaster mother mould. The foundry did this, as I said at the outset, these first few I've left to them.

[anne (bxl)]

I am not sure I understand every single technical words of this thread (tomorrow, i'll buy a technical dictionnary....), but what I can say is that in western Europe, 70% of the art molds are made of silicon mainly with plaster mother molds (even for wax).

[fritchie]

A few more words on molding materials here. Basically all the molds actually in touch with an original these days, whether the original is water-clay, oil-clay, wax, or some natural material, are "rubber", and the "rubber" is a flexible polymer or resin of some sort. The two most popular “rubber” molding compounds today are polyurethane and “silicon”.

The rubber mold usually is limited in thickness, normally under 1 inch in the thickest parts, and probably no more than 1/4 to ½ inch in thinner areas. Its purpose, as the word “rubber” indicates, is to wrap into “undercut” areas from which it can be unfolded when removing the original. Because the “rubber” mold has this flexibility, it most be held rigid when in use.

Rigidity is achieved by forming the outside of the rubber mold into a relatively smooth, spherical or cylindrical shape, and then forming a rigid “mother” mold over the rubber. The “mother” typically is of plaster, though some people use a polyurethane mother also, to reduce weight. In this case, the polyurethane mother is of a different, more rigid formula that the inner mold.

“Silicon” actually is a silicone polymer, chemically related to the silicone breast implants so famously the subject of U. S. lawsuits. Silicone polymers are more heat-resistant and probably more abrasion-resistant than polyurethane, but because the wax used as an intermediate in bronze casting is low-melting, “silicon” molds represent overkill unless an edition runs into the hundreds or thousands of copies.

[Gregp]

Originally posted by Araich
One thing that I've realised is that if I were to edition painted work such as this, I would be better off just making it in steel.
Aside from the those where a bronze look is needed that is.

What of a work like this (http://www.artwise.com.au/hague/091.htm) remade in bonze?
Araich,

I would be happy to give you a quote on this piece for an edition of 10 bronze castings. However you would have to pay for shipping.

Best Regards
Greg Pettengill
Cote' Art & Engineering

[YueLiang]

Araich, that peice you could just drop at the foundry and leave it. a good mold maker could probably find a way to make the mold without cutting it up, a not so good one might chop it up, so that would have to be discussed. it certainly is a lovely sculpture, though! YueLiang

[YueLiang]

Hmm, Araich, i thought i just posted a reply to your last reply, (about the sculpture on your site being cast in bronze) but it ended up somewhere else, and i have no idea how. (computers are not my thing) but if it looks totaly random where it is, i meant it to be here. sorry about that. yueliang