Bronze belt buckle

[Brasso]

G'day all! I've been working on this belt buckle for probably two months now. The pattern I carved from green jewelers wax after printing out a drawing I found on Google images. The outer shape was traced from an old buckle that was laying around. The texture was done with a soldering iron. I used homemade green sand and decided to leave the back flat and attach the fixtures later.

I experimented with making the fixtures a part of the casting but wasn't happy with the results, I was trying to poke holes in the sand on the flat back part of the mould in the appropriate places but my sand was too crumbly. I was using typesetting lead for the first test pours.

Now I am at the stage of working out how to attach the fixtures, and this is what I am thinking.. brass tubing silver soldered on with 3mm brass rod as the belt attachment. The hook part that hooks into the holes of the belt I think I have worked out.

I am not sure that my brass tubing has a thick enough wall and I'm afraid it is going to wear too fast. It is .45mm thick wall. Considering I can't make the ends of the rod very long at all, because it would be too difficult to spread the ends then clamp the ends into the tube. There is not much clearance there. I also need to bend the rod more neatly.

I hope these photo's are ok... new phone. And unsure of re-sizing procedures here.

All the best,

Brasso.

 

[ausfire]

The photos are fine. I think Frosty will approve of the background this time.

You appear to be on the right track with the buckle attachments, although I cannot be much help with silver soldering etc. No doubt someone here with expertise in that area can advise you.

[ThomasPowers]

Me I cast mine face down in the two part mold and used drill bits to drill out the sprues and vent.  Then I filed the sprues flat on the sides and drilled a cross hole in them and inserted the belt attachment and rounded and trimmed the vent for the projection that goes in the holes in the belt---after the first one which I bent to give a good attachment I drilled the others at an angle and just had to trim it and smooth it.  I was also using petrobond oilsand and casting silver.