ArtMetal

Thanks for the reply Mr Fink - I've read a number of your comments on different forums and gotten a lot from them.

I have played with sodium silicate/CO2 so I am familiar with it. Will it hold up to the burnout? As I recall the sodium silicate does not degrade at the 1500°F that I would be burning out (it is in fact good for fireproofing wood), but I would be afraid that the wax would dissolve the core when it melted out. I have found it to be somewhat fragile.

On the other hand, if I could get one or two layers of shell inside the piece, then back that up with sodium silicate/CO2 sand, I think that would make a great core.

A thought off the top of my head - could one add porosity/venting to a solid core like this by adding something that would burn out - styrofoam beads, wood chips or fiber for example?

These pieces are either too small or too detailed for me to want to cut them in half and replicate the detail over the welded areas.

Thanks again -

Dan

www.RotblattSculpture.com