“It’s Melting!”

For years i have wanted to turn my hand to bronze casting, not least as a way of using up the scraps of copper that i have up until now had no choice but to cash in at the scrap yard. well a couple of weeks ago i bought myself a small crucible furnace and set to carving something to cast in wax. after a few hours i had a simple heart shape to try out.

Firing up the furnace for the First time i dumped in piles of coiled bits of copper, the off cuts from countless copper leaves and looked on in awe as the copper darkened as it heated and then started to glow, and then hopping from one foot to the other in excitement, i looked down into the furnace and saw the molten copper shine as liquid in the bottom of the crucible.

As the metal was liquefying i prepared the sand mold to cast the heart, i didn’t really care about doing it too neatly as it was just testing the concept rather than making a refined object, as long as i got the rough shape i knew i could finish everything off later.

When i gauged i had enough metal in liquid form i took it out with long tongs and poured it into the sand mold, as the metal caused the oil impregnated sand to spontaneously combust. I knew at that moment the next project i had to do was a Sacred heart!