David Durman Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 I am taking a metalworking class at my local university and am planning, amongst other things, casting two jewelry boxes, one for each of my daughters. I'm planning on making them out of mild bronze, and they will be approximately 7 inches long by 3 inches wide by 3 inches deep. Should I cast the individual plates and later weld them together, or can something this size simply be casted in two pieces, namely the box and the lid? Would it make more sense to simply cast ingots and beat them into plates? Thanks for any help! (Attached is an image of the basic design I am going to attempt to recreate.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Durman Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 Additionally, I had planned on a wall thickness of approximately 1/16 in; is this appropriate or should I change it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Trying to cast something that thin yet that sized is not a starter project! Have you consulted your instructor for casting? Brass can be temperamental with beating out thin stock. Do you have access to a rolling mill? Alloy will make a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 5 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: Trying to cast something that thin yet that sized is not a starter project! Have you consulted your instructor for casting? Brass can be temperamental with beating out thin stock. Do you have access to a rolling mill? Alloy will make a big difference. That was my thought. Silicone bronze is available in sheet form and is TIG weldable with argon although I would use low temp silver solder and use corner ornamentation to assemble from two sheets top and bottom. (Think two sheets of metal with corners cut so sides fold in to make the vertical corner.) A little chasing and you have your box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Durman Posted February 27, 2016 Author Share Posted February 27, 2016 They don't have a rolling mill. Honestly, that thickness was just something I estimated based on that example image; I'm not married to it particularly, it just seemed a reasonable thickness. What would be a reasonable thickness for casting? I haven't talked to the professor or the student teacher yet; I have a lot of things I want to do in the class and it only meets from 6 to 9 every Thursday for eight weeks. In essence I'm trying to work out as much of my planning as I can outside of class so I can maximize my shop time; I'm certainly going to check with the professor, but I want to have a solid plan. I was partial to using mild bronze because I have already ordered copper and tin ingots to make classic bronze for another project in the class; had the idea of sticking to traditional materials since I am already using one. Should I just order silicone bronze sheets and weld it? That seems like less complicated work but more shop-time-consuming. Additionally, unless I'm just looking at the wrong sites, ordering silicone sheets seem significantly more expensive than making my own bronze. Am I mistaken? Again, thanks for answering! EDIT: By casting it at that wall thickness, I hadn't meant casting the complete box shape. I meant casting each wall individually (a total of 5 plus the lid) and welding them together. I asked about casting it whole mostly to gauge whether or not that was a realistic wall thickness for a whole cast. I realize I wasn't particularly clear, my apologies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Ask the instructor how thin he can pull off though expect failures. I'd cast it maybe around 1/8" thick and machine the inside to thin it. 2 parts, box and lid. Lost wax investment. It shouldn't be too difficult but it is DARNED ambitious for a beginner's project. Is there an end mill in the shop? That's how I'd thin the walls and it'd make getting rid of the sprue and all the risers something like that wants. Gating would be interesting. Casting open side up would require risers all along the edges to get the bronze to flow completely. However casting open side down would mean gating so the bronze flowed around the outside, down under then back up. That gives me visions of the instructor's expression when he saw the mess I was making of the master form. Still it's no more elaborate than gang molding so I don't THINK it's a deal killer. And just so you know I haven't done any casting since high school and I graduated June '70. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Either way should work, it just depends on how ornate you go. Casting the sides flat will work, but I might go thicker on the wall thickness. Being more substantial will make them less prone to warping, and other damage like cracking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 On 2/27/2016 at 8:42 PM, David Durman said: ............I was partial to using mild bronze because I have already ordered copper and tin ingots to make classic bronze for another project in the class; had the idea of sticking to traditional materials since I am already using one. Should I just order silicone bronze sheets and weld it? That seems like less complicated work but more shop-time-consuming. Additionally, unless I'm just looking at the wrong sites, ordering silicone sheets seem significantly more expensive than making my own bronze. Am I mistaken? Again, thanks for answering! ......... Bronze is sold by the pound so it costs what ever the market is in metals. As a life long do it myself and cheap out the commercial profiteer practitioner I sympathize with your ambition. In this case I tend to believe that buying the material all ready prepared would be the better choice. Preparing alloys and then casting them is not for the craftsperson in a hurry I've been told. If you decide to go the casting route check http://www.atlasmetal.com/silicon-bronze.php is the place to go. Your instructor will thank you as I'd guess that he has had experience with casting silicone bronze. The friends that I have working in bronze casting rely on them for material. They sell silicone bronze and other copper base alloys as ingot or casting shot and cubes Min Order is like $ 25 which at todays prices takes no time to reach for any about of copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Durman Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Thanks for the replies! Very helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Durman Posted April 6, 2016 Author Share Posted April 6, 2016 Just a quick update if anyone is curious: I'm going to be using the silicone bronze he has in the shop for these boxes which I am going to make with 1/8" walls. He feels fairly confident that we can cast that with a low chance of failure. Does anyone have an opinion on how the box and lid should be orientated in the sand? Also, we made my take on classical bronze (12.5% tin) last week, casting three small ingots. I'm pretty pleased with the high blonde color it came out with. Here is a picture after a quick clean-up: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 I'm not a caster, haven't done any since high school. I'd orient it open side UP and make sure I had a deep sprue to keep pressure on the melt, a large riser and plenty of vents. Pouring it with the open side down would make for a messy cleanup with all the vents it'd need to not trap air. You'd undoubtedly be farther ahead asking folk on one of the casting fora. If I were going to attempt such I'd just go to my bronze caster friend and pay for a class, investment and help pour. Well, I'd help most by staying out of Pat's way and not distract him with questions. Go to a pro if you can, it'll pay in the end. Or take a class, college extension or studio. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Durman Posted May 25, 2016 Author Share Posted May 25, 2016 If anyone is curious about it, I cleaned up one of those bronze ingots I made: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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