 ArtMetalsocial networking for the metal arts |
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Bronze C873
ksquare -
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 7:02pm
Casting What is yalls favorite bronze alloy to cast your sculptures with? I have been reading about C873 Everdure. It looks like it may be a good candidate. I was also curious to see if any of you have ever tried to make it. I have a ample supply of good quality copper manganese and silicon. I pick our metallurgist head about it and he said he didn’t know if I would be able to get it hot enough to really get it mixed. He explained that even though I can get the bronze molting, it may not be hot enough to actually make it. I cant remember all the big words he used but basically melting it and getting it to mix / bond together is not the same thing. It looks like I could make it for about 4 dollars a pound of so. Do any of you know how hot it would need to get? Im thinking I have about talked myself into just buying the alloy. Ksquare  Making up your own Everdure
visitor -
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 8:16pm
I agree with Rich on that. It is also my favorite alloy to both cast and work with including welding and color matching but I buy the ingot instead of attempting to make it. Also have lots of copper available but seldom melt it. Getting the temperature is not my problem but just follow working with molten copper is a real challenge. It radiates so much heat so fast when molten that making additions of other metals super quickly is the problem. Those metals preferably should be added when also molten to their temps or close to it and that calls for an additional furnace and controlled mixing system. Of course any other lower temperature metal being added will want to degas or boil quickly until it is mixed into the main body and forms the new eutectic levels. That short time period is too much for me to be involved with and once mixed, I can never be that sure what the actual proportions ending up are.  Buying verses making your bronze alloy
johndach -
Friday, July 30, 2010 - 2:38pm
I think that you would be far better off buying the bronze and put the time and effort you would have had to "spend" on making your bronze into the art you are casting. If making your alloy is so important, why not smelt the alloying metals, or go mine your own ore or what, you didn't make your own crucible, or drill the well that you are getting the fuel out of for the furnace, etc. Do what you want to be doing, and if it is art, do the art. Where the ore was mined, who smelted it, who alloyed it are all little factors of info and are we glad someone is doing that so that "we" can be making art with it. Buy the alloy and get arting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! John Dach |
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ArtMetal
Everdur is a great alloy to
Everdur is a great alloy to cast with. It also has the advantage of being a silicon bronze with minimal other alloying ingredients so it can be TIG welded with excellent color match. That same cannot be said of some of the other bronze alloys. Those that contain tin or zinc don't yield a color match when welded and those that contain lead are a pain all the way around, for everything except machining.
You may be able to make your own alloy, but to do so you'll need to reach a temp of around 2300F. Of course, that's pretty much the same temp you need to pour at when casting. Personally, I wouldn't bother trying to make my own.
Rich