We have taught bronze casting to hundreds of artist and students through our classes. Several years ago a artist located in Chicago sent us a wax pattern and asked if we would cast it. We cast the sculpture and returned it to him through the mail. We never met the artist, many years later he stopped by our studios and introduced himself. He had asked that we provide a kit to others to create wax sculptures and to work with them to cast the work created.

Therefore we offer the following:
  • A wax kit with instructions to create an object of art through the lost wax casting method.
  • upon completion of the wax, our foundry can assist in casting your wax sculpture in bronze.
  • to control the size of the wax pattern to be cast we, must limit the maximum dimensions of sculpture. It must fit inside an 11oz. Coffee can.
  • the coffee can is something recognizable by all. The approximate size is relative to a 4 inch diameter cylinder x 6 inches in height.
  • for more advance work quotes are available.Our goal is to make bronze sculpture casting affordable to more artists, true we are not talking about monumental sculpture, however bronze casting at a small scale is affordable.
  • The cost of the wax kit and subsequent casting costs by the foundry is comparable to the cost of students taking our class at The Art League. See our website for class information.

To determine a cost to cast the wax sculpture, we request that a photo of the sculpture be sent to usvia email, regular mail or fax. This gives us a ‘picture’ of how complex the casting may be. The sculpture picture will be used to quote you a price to cast the wax. Including your email address will enable us to communicate with you on any particulars that may need to be discussed.

THE BACKYARD FOUNDRY is a full service
foundry and we are able to provide casting
services to artists who have waxes and do not need a wax kit. We request that you also send photos and request a bronze casting quote. Perhaps you have a clay or a sculpture in another media which will require a mold, as you noticed while browsing our website, we can build a mold and obtain a wax pattern to cast for you. Again send a photo an we will be happy to discuss your needs. We look forward to cast for you.

The information contained in these two
pages may be downloaded or printed by
accessing the Acrobat PDF attached.
Click Here to download PDF
 
The wax kit has the following items included in its package:
The items shown in the photo are:
  1. Instructional Pamphlet
  2. A 1lb. slab of Victory Brown Wax
  3. An alcohol fuel lamp
  4. A set of wax working tools
The cost of the wax kit is $30.00 (thirty dollars)
plus the shipping cost of $7.00 (seven dollars),
which is payable by sending a money order, bank draft or we accept payment by Pay Pal. Contact us via email with any questions that you may have.

The Lost-wax Casting Process:
Browse our website gallery and you will see
photos of the process that the wax pattern has toundergo for the lost wax casting process:
  1. The wax pattern has to be spru’d; the gates, feeds risers, and vents will have to be added to it.
  2. An investment mold has to be made of the spru’d assembly. This is done with a liquid binder (colloidal silica) and silica flour mixed together to form a slurry.
  • The slurry is poured onto the wax pattern and allowed to drain. A coating of silica sand is sprinkled onto the wet surface. This coating will dry in 2 to 6 hours and then another coating is applied.
  • Seven to ten coatings will be applied
    forming an uncured ceramic shell which
    has taken the shape of the wax contained.
  • With intense heat, the wax pattern is
    melted out of the shell and the shell cures
    to a tough ceramic shell able to withstand the temperature of the molten metal to be poured into it.
  • The bronze ingot metal for casting is then
    melted and poured into the ceramic shell.
  • Removal of the shell and media blasting
    cleans the bronze and prepares it for chasing.
The cost of the wax kit is $30.00 (thirty dollars) plus the shipping cost of $7.00 (seven dollars), which is payable by sending a money order or a bank draft to our address, or we accept payment by Pay Pal. We do not accept personal checks. Contact us via email with any questions that you may have.
Mail to:
The Backyard Foundry
1500 Portal Drive, NW
Washington, DC 20012 		THANKS FOR VISITING OUR SITE.
richardson@byf-foundry.com