In part 2, David demonstrated the making of the ceramic shell and crucible, followed by burning out or ‘losing’ the wax. In this final instalment David melts the bronze in the crucible, pours it into the attached ceramic shell sculpture mould, releases the bronze, and tells us how to finish it.
After several entertaining hours building the ceramic shell and the furnace — David is quite a raconteur — it was time to hatch the phoenix’s egg. The roar of the torch and the orange-red glow of the furnace were nothing if not exciting. Expectations high, we followed the master through his sleights of hand — he overheated one of them, quickly changing the short tongs for longer ones.
You will need:
Long and short tongs
A grate
Bricks
Leather gloves
Full-face visor
LPG gas burner, hose, and
regulator
Stand and clamp to hold the torch
Furnace, dome, and muffle cover of ceramic wool fibre for the dome
Tray of sand and bucket of water
Hot water in a bucket for gas cylinder
Long piece of No. 8 wire to test state of bronze melt
