Anyone know anything about this? I'd like to give it a go but don't have a clue, can anyone give me some advice, books, websites etc?
Bronze casting
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I've done a bit at events in the past but I'm certainly no expert.
I seem to recall that Flag Fen run courses fairly regularly though.
I seem to recall that Flag Fen run courses fairly regularly though.
My uncle went through a phase of casting bronze age axe heads for a while, I don't know much about them but I could take a picture of one if you want!
Thanks that's a great site. I remember looking at that site when I was doing my archaeology and ancient history degree. I'd love to do one of the courses, I'll have to save my pocket money for a while.
I was goining to suggest Bronze Age Craft. Neil is a friend of mine and apart from being a bloody nice bloke he knows his stuff. He runs a few courses thorugh the year (including the Flag Fen ones) and sells blank castings for people to finish off. I've been meaing ot attend one of his "sword Festivals" as a punter for years, but always end up doing somehting else 
Check out Lindsay Publications. They have a bunch of books on many subjects - including bronze/brass casting. Same thing with Centaur Forge. And they even have some videos. I know Centaur Forge has a web site, but don't know if Lindsay has one yet.
Colonial Williamsburg did some "colonial crafts" videos in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The whole town operates in a 1770's time period. Their Silversmith at Williamsburg video shows silver casting, and their Gunsmith at Williamsburg video shows the steps to cast various brass parts for a traditional muzzleloading rifle.
But I still need to find somebody to cast up one of these Medieval pots/frypans with a long handle. I've already got a small kettle like it, but not one with that long handle off the side. (at a price I can afford)
Mikey - that grumpy ol; German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
Colonial Williamsburg did some "colonial crafts" videos in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The whole town operates in a 1770's time period. Their Silversmith at Williamsburg video shows silver casting, and their Gunsmith at Williamsburg video shows the steps to cast various brass parts for a traditional muzzleloading rifle.
But I still need to find somebody to cast up one of these Medieval pots/frypans with a long handle. I've already got a small kettle like it, but not one with that long handle off the side. (at a price I can afford)
Mikey - that grumpy ol; German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
Hi.I can fully recommend one of the bronze casting courses run at flag fen near Peterborough.I attended one a couple of years ago and i thought it was brilliant!!We done 'lost wax' casting.We made a model of our objects from special casting wax,covered 'em in clay and horsepoo mix..(no,really)the wax was then burnt out of the mould and the copper alloy was then poured in.when these had cooled we broke them open to reveal our castings!All this was done in an authentic ironage round house over the course of a weekend.Great fun.Are you looking for a course or doing it yourself?P.s.its all a bit more involved than my description...
I'd love to do a course but the price means I'll have to wait for a while. What kind of wax was it?
We didnt use beeswax.The stuff we used was black and it came in block form.As you played with it it became more malleable ie softer in the hand,too soft and you have to leave it for a while to harden..its the proper stuff for lostwax casting.I think a place called Tiranti's sell it,along with lots of other equipment.
The casting wax is a complicated blend of paraffin wax, mineral oil, very very fine clay, natural resin, and dyes and chemical colouring agents.
However, bees wax will do, though it tends to soften too much when handled and harden too much when cool, leading to a risk of breakage on thin parts when the clay outer shell is applied.
Casing wax or jeweller’s wax comes in different colour denoting hardness and use
Some waxes are used for moulding and some are carved cut or turned like wood.
It’s probably all changed now
However, bees wax will do, though it tends to soften too much when handled and harden too much when cool, leading to a risk of breakage on thin parts when the clay outer shell is applied.
Casing wax or jeweller’s wax comes in different colour denoting hardness and use
Some waxes are used for moulding and some are carved cut or turned like wood.
It’s probably all changed now
I know this is an old thread, but I'm thinking of having a little go at casting something, just for sport. I'm pretty convinced that I'll be able to get a high enough temperature with a fan-assisted bit of charcoal, and will just try to make something small and simple like a ring, pendant, or arrowhead. I'd like to have a go at an axe head if it comes off and I still have my face.
My question is if someone knows of a source of metal? There are online suppliers in the US, but don't seem to be any here. I saw something promising on ebay (little granulated bits of bronze) but can't find it now. I could perhaps make the bronze myself by melting copper pipe with tin, if I had a source of the latter. Perhaps there's a bronze bathroom fitting I could buy from Focus and melt down?
I'm even thinking that if I got some granulated bronze, I could make an open-topped mold with sand/clay/stone/whatever, put the bronze in it and melt it in-situ with one of those hobby butane torches. Bronze melts at 913c and they supposedly go up to 1300c, so it ought to work with something like a little arrowhead. This would definitely melt aluminium at 659c, and that might be good practise.
I'll check with local modelling shops, but would appreciate any pointers.
My question is if someone knows of a source of metal? There are online suppliers in the US, but don't seem to be any here. I saw something promising on ebay (little granulated bits of bronze) but can't find it now. I could perhaps make the bronze myself by melting copper pipe with tin, if I had a source of the latter. Perhaps there's a bronze bathroom fitting I could buy from Focus and melt down?
I'm even thinking that if I got some granulated bronze, I could make an open-topped mold with sand/clay/stone/whatever, put the bronze in it and melt it in-situ with one of those hobby butane torches. Bronze melts at 913c and they supposedly go up to 1300c, so it ought to work with something like a little arrowhead. This would definitely melt aluminium at 659c, and that might be good practise.
I'll check with local modelling shops, but would appreciate any pointers.
Thanks, kimboko. I dismissed lead free solder too quickly because I didn't like the sound of the silver and stuff in it, but the details of the alloy are pretty irrelevent until I get to making a massive axe. Then it needs to be sharp.
Copper wire and lead free solder it is, then! And I'm going to use cuttlefish bone for the mold. This lady explains how to do it:
http://jarkwoman.co.uk/JewelleryPics/Silver/Curious Seagull brooch.doc
I found someone that sells sheet tin, copper and brass:
http://www.yellowcatshop.co.uk/shop...state=32769&tabcatid=3500106&subcatid=3500116
And this guys has cast his own bolsters for knife making. I bet some of you would enjoy that.
http://www.codesmiths.com/shed/things/smithing/casting/
Then it needs to be sharp.Copper wire and lead free solder it is, then! And I'm going to use cuttlefish bone for the mold. This lady explains how to do it:
http://jarkwoman.co.uk/JewelleryPics/Silver/Curious Seagull brooch.doc
I found someone that sells sheet tin, copper and brass:
http://www.yellowcatshop.co.uk/shop...state=32769&tabcatid=3500106&subcatid=3500116
And this guys has cast his own bolsters for knife making. I bet some of you would enjoy that.
http://www.codesmiths.com/shed/things/smithing/casting/
Oh, making a bronze axe! How amazing does that look? I've come across bits that talk about making molds from 'green sand', which is green in the sense of being when, like green wood, and is made from sand and clay. They could have done that, or done the lost-wax thing.
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/index.html this is the site I got a lot of usefull info from. I've only reused some old brass plumbing fittings I've not tried bronze but I presume it would be the same casting style
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