Bronze Smith Foundry
03/09/2006
03/09/2006
03/09/2006
The Bronze Smith is in Prescott Valley, Arizona.
It's a family business so the tours are done by the owners.
They designed the building to showcase the bronzing process.
It's very complicated and once you see it you understand why a bronze piece is so expensive.
The pieces on display in their shop are just a small portion of what they have, but you get a pretty good idea from these.
We were lucky to be there on a day they did a pour of bronze into molds.
This bronze totem sits outside the shop
Some of the bronzes lining the hall
A few of the pieces for sale in the shop
These are some molds from existing pieces
This artist is making a clay statue that will be used as the from for her bronze piece
He is spreading wax on a stone form. The was mold will be used to cast the bronze
This man is adding some touches to a piece, like rope, reins for a horse, feathers, etc. They keep track of exactly what is on each piece
She is cleaning a finished piece. The man in black in back is the artist Jack Walker. He was such fun to talk with
These are some wax molds that will be filled with the silica- sand which will hold the liquid bronze
It's hard to see but there are some forms hanging there drying
This kiln holds the crucible full of molten bronze. Those are bronze ingots to the left
These guys are retrieving the crucible in preparation for a pour. Look like volcanologists don't they?
Oh ya. That's a hot crucible. We could feel the heat outside
They'll lift the crucible up and pour the bronze into the molds
Here they're pouring the bronze
The crucible has to cleaned out after each pour.
These are silica-sand molds with cooled bronzees inside. The molds will be broken away to reveal the bronze piece