Moonrunner ... From Clay to Wax to Bronze

    One of my New Year's resolutions was to attempt to catch up on completing several unfinished bronze pieces that were put aside some time ago, and have been gathering dust  ever since. My first "cold case" to be revived in the New Year was a bronze running figure. It had started out as a rough figure made out of Klean Klay, that I then sculpted in wax so that I could cast it in bronze. I had added a slender "moon-like" piece to both support the figure and act as a gate that would facilitate the flow of bronze through the figure during casting. I also made a separate larger disc that would eventually be utilized as part of the base for the piece.
​    As I resumed work on the piece, I first made threaded holes with a tap & die in the base of the bronze sculpture and in the bronze disk, so I could eventually attach them together. The height of the figure combined with the disk was going to be just over 10" tall. I decided increase the height of the piece by adding an additional 3/4" thick wooden disk made out of wenge that would be positioned under the bronze disk. The next step was to grind off any remaining bronze gating "stubs" from the piece. After I chased and re-surfaced those areas, I sealed the bronze with satin spray polyurethane. 
​   I thought I was finally ready to assemble the piece, when I remembered that I had a small piece of marble that might just be a perfect addition to the base - and it already had a hole drilled in it! Bingo! After I smoothed the edges and corners of the piece of marble, I sealed it with Saw Sheen. It was ready to be assembled. I  cut

Translating clay to wax

Casting - view 1

Threaded hole with tap & die

Chased bronze - view 1

Gating wax for casting mold

Casting - view 2

Bronze & wood base sections

Chased bronze - view 2

a length of threaded rod that could be screwed into the hole in the bottom of the figure and reach through both disks to the back of the piece of marble. I put epoxy in the hole in the bottom of the figure before I screwed the rod into it. (I did this to keep the rod from "backing out" when I tightened the nut at the other end.) The final step was to thread the other base pieces onto the rod and then tighten the nut onto the end of the rod.
                                    First "cold case" of 2018 solved! On to the next!

"Moonrunner" ... sealed & assembled