These stills give you a slightly closer look at the process of casting molten bronze metal. Pay some attention to the last one. It shows a way that Gary and the Seacoast buys prevented the 'orange hot' crucible from cracking open and pouring the entire molten bronze charge on his lawn. A Kiloea style eruption in his backyard we did not need. Some people want more technical photos and others want more artistic shots. We know Gary quite well after our experience in his 'Back to the Bronze Age Project', so I believe we can safely predict a bit more of the artist will leak out if you keep the pressure on.
What's so nice about bronze is this; the sophistication of bronze to cast iron, as their ability to reproduce a detailed object is concerned, is like comparing chess to checkers. Extremely fine detail is reproducible by using the investment, or lost-wax process to produce a 'positive' which melts, then vaporizes within the investment matrix, leaving a void which has all the intricate details which were evident on the wax positive. The molten bronze, when brought to the correct temperature, can then fill the void reproducing the intricate shape of the wax positive.
Tracy and Mike
The stainless steel degassing powder insertion tool is withdrawn from the bottom of the crucible.
Here the fluxing powder goes into the crucible still being heated by the furnace.
'Neptune' withdraws the investment from the Burn-Out Oven with his trident.
A glowing charge of bronze is lifted carefully from the furnace using crucible tongs.
Gary skims the impurities off the surface of the melt with a dross ladle.
The moment that liquid bronze flows into the mold. Only practice will improve the aim and volume of the pour.
After pouring the first Smee, the excess metal, about 6 pounds goes into ingot molds, this time taking some care to reducing the thickness of the bridge between ingots, so you can actually separate them for use in the next melt without bandsawing them.
This steel tray filled with fire brick is an important piece of safety equipment. Kept under a waterproof cover, until needed, this unified platform of fire brick provides a fire-proof, flat and level surface upon which to place extremely hot objects without creating dangerous conditions, like the production of steam that damp dirt or lawn grass likely would produce.