Update from the foundry- Waxes

Wax pieces of rock rest in their rubber/fiberglass molds 

If you have been following along with the sculpting process of the Grambling State University Tiger then you know that the molds have been taken to Shidoni Foundry in New Mexico at the end of  July and they are now being worked on there.

The first step to the mold making process is the wax.  If you refer back to the mold making process you will find that there were rubber molds made of every piece of the sculpture.  These rubber pieces were covered in a fiberglass mother mold.  Now, the inside of each of these molds must be painted with wax.

I figured the foundry would start with the massive rocks, and I was right.  The wax is painted into the mold and then each mold section must be gated up.  Gates and pour cups give the metal a channel to flow through and allow the gasses to escape to give a clean pour.

The molds are ready for

Shidoni is known for their monumental sculptures and creates larger bronze pieces.  I was curious about the metal bars on the waxes. In my 30 years of working in bronze I have never seen that. I contacted the manager to ask him to define the process.

"Those help support the shape of the panels as we coat the wax with ceramic shell. If we don’t add some structure the wax may move while dipping, and this can crack the first layers of shell. The problems escalate from there. Those bars will be cut off once the shell is on. Then the wax is burned out and the holes are patched so the bronze can be poured."

The sculpture is well on its way to being cast in bronze. I cannot wait to see more photographs.  Thanks for the updates Shidoni. 

Looks like this piece is ready for the next step.