The Process of Casting Bronze Sculpture

If you want to learn more about the process of YouFine bronze foundry, please check the directions below. In recent years, casting bronze sculptures have played an important role in people’s lives. It has become a performance art that guides people on how to understand bronze sculptures. Then, the significance of bronze carving crafts is not only here, but the aesthetics of bronze carving crafts is also an art, which is also the value of bronze carving crafts.

Step 1. Making the Clay Model( Own Most Excellent Model Artists)

This step is by far the most critical. All the detail that appears in the original sculpture must be captured in this model. The model(depending on the size of the sculpture) is cut into sections for casting. YouFine would make one 1:1 clay model for every bronze sculpture after getting the orders from our clients. You Fine clay model artists are the best and most excellent in the art area. And, YouFine clay model artists never stop studying to improve their technique of making vivid artwork. Of course, through more than 30 years of practice, our artists could make the most realistic clay model.

Step 2. Silicon Rubber Mould  Making

After an artist’s original piece has been sculpted, a silicone rubber mould must be made. Layers of liquid rubber are applied to the original sculpture to capture the fine detail. After the rubber has been set, a thick plaster mixture is applied and given time to harden to create a rigid “mother mould” to help preserve the firm shape.

Depending on the size of the piece, a mould can be made in several pieces to allow for a more excellent wax pour and ease of assembly. Our artists would make a silicone rubber mold. Firstly, the Silicone Rubber is liquid, and artists.

Step 3. Wax Making

Now, using the rubber mold made from the original piece, molten sculpting wax is poured into the hollow interior of the mold. The wax is allowed to cool before it is carefully pulled out of the mold. Now we have a highly detailed positive wax copy of the original sculpture!

Step 4. Wax Mold Chasing

The original sculpture is now used exclusively as a reference point. From the “negative” rubber mold, a wax “positive” must be created.   Wax is melted to about 210°F, poured into the mold, and evenly coated or “slushed” inside. Slushing is repeated three times using cooler wax each time to avoid melting the previous coat. Under ideal conditions, the wax wall will be about 3/16″ thick — any less might create flow problems for the bronze; any more will result in a heavier-than-necessary sculpture. When the mold is opened and the rubber peeled away, an almost perfect wax reproduction is removed.

Our artists use professional tools (carving knife, Needle, etc.) to chase the wax mold. Also, our attentive female artist chases the wax exactly according to the original pictures and clients’ requests, trying their best to make sure the wax mold is also 100% the same as the original.

Step 5. Sand Shell Making

After chasing the wax molds, our artists would cover the fine white sand on the wax molds. It is important that our white fine sand comes from Inner Mongolia, where the sand is very fine and is reputed to be the best sand in China. Artists still need to check the fine sand with their hands every time before they make the shells. All of this would ensure the final sand shell is cleaner and does not affect the final fine surface of the statue.

Second, in this process, we add Silica sol(one kind of excellent nanomaterial, strong acid resistance material), which is very different from traditional ammonia(ammonia is acidic and makes the bronze color change after rain), would avoid the statue appear the white spots. We all knew that the white spots would make the statue damage. However, some traditional manufacturers still use ammonia then their statues appear the white spots. Lastly, their bronze sculpture just stays beautiful for a while. There is no doubt that the You Fine factory bronze sculpture would become more patina over time.

Step 6.Burn-Out

The ceramic shell is placed in a kiln and fired. The shell bakes and the wax is melted (lost) from the shell. This creates a hollow ceramic shell mold. Thus the term “Lost Wax”.The shells are now ready for casting!

Step 7. Casting Bronze

The sand shell (mold) is removed from the kiln and immediately the molten bronze is poured into the shell. At the time of pouring, the bronze is 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. Workers would use a crucible to pour the liquid bronze into formerly made sand shells, the bronze pieces would be formed while the wax molds are heated to flow out. YouFine Foundry updated our furnace from coal heating to electric heating, which could keep thermostatic after heating to a certain degree and is also more environmentally friendly. 

Step 8. Welding 

At this time all the pieces of the sculpture are welded together by our skilled craftsman. All the weld marks are chased and re‑detailed. Welders would weld the bronze pieces together according to original requests. During this process the most import to make sure the structure is perfect, or the total sculpture is far away from the original if comparing them together, YouFine welders need to learn clients’ requests and the structure of the original artwork before they start to work, in this way to make sure YouFine sculpture structure perfect. Every famous artist checks artwork quality, and the first check is always the structure.

Step 9. Fine Polishing

After welding the bronze statue, our artist would polish the statue carefully. Either too much polishing or too soft polishing is not good. YouFine team requested our polishing top masters to polish the structure just right. Not only keep the details of the hairs and eyebrows etc. but also show the total taste of the whole work. No doubt, the YouFine bronze sculpture is very close to the original one. The raw bronze sculpture is now hand-polished in preparation for the patina.

Step 10. Patina

YouFine artists use patina to make the bronze statue, which means modulating different chemical liquids together to a different degree, then pouring the liquid on the bronze surface with heating, the beautiful final patina color comes out after several layers of color changing. Of course, the patina would ensure the statue is more natural and nice as time goes by. And, after centuries years, our bronze sculpture could not fade.

Finally, thecasting bronze sculpture is heated and chemicals are sprayed on the surface to create the “patina”, a colored finish. Several layers of wax are applied while the sculpture is warm to create a sheen on the surface and provide protection from the elements. Each casting, even those in an edition, is a one-of-a-kind, handcrafted work of art, created by highly trained artists and craftsmen. This, combined with the many hours of work involved in creating a sculpture, is why bronze sculpture can be expensive. Please keep in mind that each sculpture is unique, and as such, so is its price.

Step 10. Maintaining the Bronze Sculpture

After the patina color, there are two methods to maintain the bronze surface. The first one is using wax to protect the bronze sculpture surface, top masters would heat the wax to liquid, then brush the wax to the patina’s surface softly, and at the same time use a spray gun to heat the surface making sure the wax is one protective layer. In this way, the patina color would last many years whether under strong sunlight or heavy snow.

The second way is to spray a little bit of varnish on the surface of the sculpture, which would form a smooth film, which could well protect the bronze sculpture from dust and rain. Cause the varnish is transparent, which would show the original natural surface of the bronze sculpture, no change to the original patina color. Overall, These methods could ensure the statue becomes brighter and more beautiful as time goes by. You Fine artists devote all of their hearts to artwork, at every step you could feel it. Choose You Fine, choose the best bronze artwork!

So if you want to know more about the process of making sculpture, no matter it’s marble, bronze, or stainless steel, please contact us right now!

Experience is important & our sculptors have it!!