Avadon Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 What are your opinions on the best bronze for small sculpture. I just finished reading this http://www.bronzework.co.uk/Bespoke/bronzetypes.htm and was curious what of these bronzes are the best for making small trinkets/sculpture/jewelry? I guess we can rule out the leaded bronze so it would be between the phosphor, silicon, aluminum and manganese... I plan on hot forging these items and would like to finish with a deep rich dark brown color or even dark gold color. Any thoughts would be appreciated from those who've worked these metals hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Silicon bronze is one of the nicest to forge. Architectural brass/bronze is right up there, too, as well as Naval brass/bronze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 silicon bronze is, i believe what the art foundries use, it has all the right properties for that process. what you going to make? i have some little sculptures at the foundry now ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_m Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I vote for silicon bronze too. It forges great hot, and you can buy TIG rods that will color match it. It's also the most pleasant bronze to use for casting, so save all your scrap bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 The ability to do tiny tig welds is really nice..(I'm all set up for it too) sorta cheat the difficult of forge welding or trying to make complex shapes out of one piece. I like that. What do the other bronzes forge like? Are some better for bladesmithing like in handles and what not? What do the other bronzes finish like? onlinemetals_com just gave me this cool link http://metalreference.com/Forms_Copper_Alloy.html I am checking it out as we speak. I want to make some very small rose pendants, pagan crosses, and misc occult objects ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 One other question, with the exception of leaded bronze, are any of these other bronzes toxic to the skin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_m Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 The ability to do tiny tig welds is really nice..(I'm all set up for it too) sorta cheat the difficult of forge welding or trying to make complex shapes out of one piece. I like that. Plus if you overheat and break whatever you're working on, you can sometimes save it instead of making scrap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Remember Copper is the base metal... so they are all toxic but I think they are not as bad as lead bronze... I have cast 100's of pounds of Silicon Bronze Everdur 655 I believe. Forges great, patinas great, doesn't degrade with multiple castings etc. I have tried forging some naval bronze mystery metal and found it to fracture when forged at any temp showing color. Didn't bother to try to work cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Silicon bronze is wonderful for casting, no problems with gas like with traditional tin bronzes or with brasses either. This stuff pours like water which makes you sprue system so simple unlike with traditional tin based bronze and all that gas that needs to be vented. Silicon bronze is tough stuff compared to the traditional tin bronze in that it doesn't break as easily either if you drop a casting either and if you do make a casting mistake you can weld on a new piece with great ease and like has been said it does pretty good at taking a patina. I don't know why folk mess around with trying to cast sculpture out of old valve bodys with all the inherient problems with brass when they could do it right the first time with silicon bronze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 What do you all think of aluminum bronze? Anyone ever forged this stuff? It's really common on ebay in small quantities. Check out these links.. these are extremely informative. Just found these over the last few days.http://www.standardmetals.com/alloy.htmlhttp://www.metalreference.com/index1.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Had a friend make Al bronze as I recall it was surprisingly hard. As for toxicity of copper alloys the heavy hitters in my opinion are Be, Zn and Pb (in the order I worry about) Be I won't touch or have in the shop. Be I won't touch or have in the shop. Be I won't touch or have in the shop. Zn I take precautions and follow proper procedures Pb I don't use as it's not that big in the scrap stream that avoiding it causes a hardship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Had a friend make Al bronze as I recall it was surprisingly hard. As for toxicity of copper alloys the heavy hitters in my opinion are Be, Zn and Pb (in the order I worry about) Be I won't touch or have in the shop. Be I won't touch or have in the shop. Be I won't touch or have in the shop. Zn I take precautions and follow proper procedures Pb I don't use as it's not that big in the scrap stream that avoiding it causes a hardship. what is zn? If your forging aluminum bronze or silicon bronze should I be wearing a respirator? (obviously i'll be wearing safety glasses, apron, welding sleeves, work shoes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 what is zn? If your forging aluminum bronze or silicon bronze should I be wearing a respirator? (obviously i'll be wearing safety glasses, apron, welding sleeves, work shoes) Zinc - which can be toxic. I use scrap bearings out of commercial multi-spindle machining centers, which are typically silicon bronze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InFire Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I forged more copper than bronze. Copper is far more forgiving but not usefull for any application where structural integrity would be a critical factor. Bronze, whatever the alloy, you'll find it is expensive and finicky to work. Having said that, my expeirience is that every forging is a little different. Sillica bronze forges smooth and has allmost as wide a working range as copper. Aluminum bronzes that I have worked have a narrow working range and are difficult in thin sections. Naval bronzes can vary quite a bit in the alloying percentages which means that you have to take a piece of your supply and play with it before committing your self. Nickle bronzes that I've worked have been pretty forgiving and have the highest working range of any of the alloys, and are the best where structural integrity is critical. Whatever type you choose you will need to spend time and material to get to know what the forging characteristics are, when to anneal it. what it looks like when it's stressed etc. It's frustrating to have hours into a piece and have it break apart because you didn't anneal it properly, got it too hot, or hit it too cold. In the end the results can be very rewarding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamVimes Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I work primarily in Brass, Bronze and Copper, making jewelry and sculpture. The best alloy for my work is Low Fuming Bronze Brazing Rod. Your local welding probably has some you can try, but it must be the Low Fuming type. Try some bare rod not the flux coated. This alloy is low in copper, so tarnishes very slow (about 1/4 the rate of sterling silver). I order in large quantity from one of the manufactures like Aufhauser, who sells in minimum 50 lbs per diam. It is a bit more expensive than the others recommended here but worth it, especially for wearable items and small casting. Use a Boric Acid base flux not a Borax base. I buy the Roach Powder stuff at the Dollar Stores and mix it with water in a tall Olive jar till pancake batter consistency and dip the rod in it for a light flux coating when gas welding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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