Consecration Crosses CoM

Update, post sprue and beginning of shelling. Did you catch the abomination I did?

 

I have 16g galvanized and a spool of copper colored welding wire 0.023... think I could use the welding wire? I wonder what its melting point is.p

 

use it.. you're good. You'll never melt it.

 

Sorry Kurtis... I was driving down the highway when I wrote that. Your crosses look good. Remember when you pour this, pour it hot, say around 1950-2050... You'll want the bronze pretty thin so it will make it the distance it has to flow in those arms. I'm not sure how many you coats you have, but again, (sorry to sound like a broken record) at layer 3, take that wire of yours and wrap each cross along the long and short sides. I would wrap at least 7 times on the longest part (superstitious) and at least 4 times on the shorter sides. The more the merrier honestly. This is going to give that added reinforcement to the thin edges of the cross and keep those edges from blowing out during the pour and during dewax. Speaking of dewax, are you going to drill some 1/8" holes in the shell before dewax? This really helps vent off pressure. The place I would drill is the fat parts feeding the top and bottom of the crosses. Just remember where you drilled them and patch before adding the metal or you'll get a fountain! After burnout.... If you haven't made patch material, just take some slurry and mix some fine silica into a paste like consistency. Blob over the hole and exceed the size of the hole by at least 1/4" to 3/8". Let dry for an hour and repeat 2 more times to be safe. I've never had a patched hole fail. No need for an extra heat cycle, just preheat your shell as normal and pour the bronze.

Last thing buddy, and I know that this is too late as you have already started stucco work.. I'm looking at your brown vents, you have them going the wrong direction to prevent blah blah blah... I've heard it all. Don't ever be afraid to run them the way you did despite what the textbooks say. You have them setup perfectly to perform boil out in water should you choose to. The chance of bronze finding its way entering them during the pour is slim and none. My only issue with them is their size. I would have used 3/8" sprue rod on those, just because I like fat stuff that holds strong and true. Here is a picture I'm embarrassed to show. This was the very first thing I ever sprued. Zap schooled me fast. The second photo is the corrected version and worked well. The yellow is 3/8" and the center sprue is 3/4" square I make myself. Best of luck. Fingers "crossed" for ya. (get it?? lol)

 

Upside down cross??

I think they are going to cast well. But yeah larger sprues and J shaped feeds give the best quality castings in my experience. Direct casting can work but doesn't always come out as expected especially if you are using home made alloys. The commercial silicon bronze is pretty forgiving but other copper based alloys are not and will pushing certain spruing patterns.

 

Jason, wrap them like a candy-cane?

 

1/8th of an inch after 3 layers.



Long shot.



Jason do you really think this will break? where you thinking during the pour? It is getting pretty solid.

 

yup.. wrap like a candy cane.. It very well could break. It's the thin edge of the crosses and you got a lot of that. When the bronze fills up the legs, the only holding back the weight of the bronze from blowing out is the thin edge. the wire will prevent that.

 

I've never used wire so I don't know how it handles. But if you put 8 coats on those crosses you shouldn't have too much trouble with them breaking. As a rule of thumb, 5 costs for under 6 inches long, 6 coats for things under a foot long 8 for things over 1.5 feet long. Delicate items like these crosses should have a few more layers just to be sure so 8 is good.

 

These thing are going to be something else. Can't wait to see them cast in bronze.

Zap I picked this one up from Barry. He might be okay, but these are longer than they appear in the photos. Look back at #13 and size them up by that bucket. He's got a long way for bronze to travel and you know what that means, HOT hard and fast. Even wrapping them will probably help prevent cracking during dewax. The crosses also have a wide cross section when compared to their edges. The wire is easily snipped with some dykes during breakout. It's super cheap insurance. I'd do it. I just hate seeing failures because my free time is so rare.