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Making "Boar Spear" WIP

Bronze sculpture by Iron John Logan. Original WIP posted on Art of Weapons Facebook group Maker's Challenge June 2019

Finished piece can be seen here "Boar Spear" 2020 (irontreeforge.com)



My paper sketch and the block of plaster I am going to carve it into



carving plaster



carving plaster



carving plaster



carving plaster



carving plaster



carving plaster



carving complete. Now to make a negative of this



Negative plaster cast from the carved plaster



Brush the negative plaster with hot wax



once cool the wax pops right out of the negative plaster



made two of these waxes


Wax cleaned up inside and out



Two waxes welded together into the finished wax pattern



the wax pattern gated. Gating is the art of attaching sprues, vents and risers to first let the wax escape and later let the molten metal in. There is a lot of science and art into gating, understanding hot and cold spots in the pattern and how to elevate shrinkage and other defects



Once the pattern is gated and, in this case, caged for protection, it is time to build up the refractory shell - which will be the final mold when completed.



Multiple dips in refractory slurry and dusting with fused silica "stucco" builds up the shell refractory over the course of a week between drying between coats



Once shell is complete and dry the bottom is ground to open the wax so it can escape during burn out. You can also see here how thick the shell is.



wax pouring out of the bottom of the kiln



Shell covered patterns are then placed in a 1650F kiln for de-waxing



Shell de-waxed and fired, ready for metal!



Foundry heating up



pulling the crucible



pouring metal



Shells filled with molten bronze



Once cool the fun part begins - de-shell. All your hard work the weel before to build up the shell now has to be jack-hammered off...



De-shell



Sand blasted



patina process (urine)



Continued working of the urine patina for over 1 year and officially released "boar Spear" in 2020




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