8 replies to this topic

[AKAMetal]

Here is a shot of 3 of the 4 lights mounted to boards right before we shipped them to out client. These are approx. 26" tall all told. They are made of cast bronze ((patina'd) with ferric and a propane torch) then polish highlighted and clear coated to hold off the natural oxidation of the polished areas. The hand blown glass is set inside and held firm with the lighting hardware. We had a lot of fun with this job although I did have over 135 hours in it!

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[Phil Lamb]

Great job!!!! Did you have the glass done in advance and build to the glass, or did they blow the glass after you were done with your part?

[AKAMetal]

Great job!!!! Did you have the glass done in advance and build to the glass, or did they blow the glass after you were done with your part?

Thank you! The glass was blown before the casting process was even started. After receiving the first flame glass bowl I started the modeling process and fit all of the wax components to each glass piece before casting. We have blown glass right into bronze sculpture before though and it worked out really well!

[AKAMetal]

Wow, I didn't realize how big, and blurry that photo is though. Oops, sorry.

[Phil Lamb]

Thank you! The glass was blown before the casting process was even started. After receiving the first flame glass bowl I started the modeling process and fit all of the wax components to each glass piece before casting. We have blown glass right into bronze sculpture before though and it worked out really well!

Thanks. I have heard of both ways, but wasn't sure which is better for either person.

[AKAMetal]

This is a picture of the original castle light all broken down for molding, that we made in 2003 or 2004.

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[AvishaiW]

That is a beauty. I like it very much.

[AKAMetal]

Thanks. I have heard of both ways, but wasn't sure which is better for either person.

It really seems to depend on the shape of the piece.If we were to blow into the basket shape that I make to hold the glass it would probably bulge and therefore not come out. I wouldn't be able to finish the metal like that. We made a few seashell like shapes that almost required us to blow into the cast bronze then anneal the metal and glass together, seperate the two, finish both pieces and reassemble. Either way it is super exciting working with these media and finally realizing the finished piece!

[AKAMetal]

That is a beauty. I like it very much.

I checked out your links and must say that the precision vs. archaic approaches to what you do are amazing. We do some very prcise work at my day job as well but not to the medical industry standards. And we also have a few very skilled jewelers here that do some amazing metal forming! I'm always impressed by the deliberate actions taken in both situations. I however am more like the bull in a china shop just barreling through and hoping I don't break anything worse than I can fix it! Anyway, cool links thanks for sharing.