Mount Up! ... Two Bronze Men & A Wooden Clamp

17 1/2" x 6" x 14"

      I  finally reached the finishing stage of my most recent bronze casting projects. The bronze pieces were chased and bead blasted, and were ready for patina application and attachment to their respective bases. The first project that I tackled was the one that involved the two small figures and the wooden screw clamp. I chose to spray the figures with a clear statin finish lacquer in oder to retain a natural bright bronze patina color that would contrast with the darker color of the wooden screw clamp. Before mounting the figures on the tops of the clamp, I had to attach the wooden clamp to the base board. I drilled 2 holes in the small ends of each of the wooden jaws of the clamp. After cutting four 3" lengths of threaded rod, I inserted each into a hole with a small amount of epoxy to hold the rod in place (leaving just over 1/2 inch of rod protruding). I had previously sanded the yellowheart wood base board and coated it with satin polyurethane, so the next step was to drill 4 holes that corresponded to the placement of the threaded rods in the ends of the clamp. On the underside of the yellowheart board I used a larger drill bit to widen the holes enough to accommodate the nuts and washers that would hold the clamp in place. Now I was ready to put the piece together.
     I positioned the clamp over the holes in the base board and inserted the protruding threaded rod ends into the holes. I then threaded the washers and nuts onto the rod ends and tightened them. The next step was to fasten the figures to the tops of the clamp jaws. I did this by inserting the pegs attached to their undersides into the epoxy that I had put into the holes in the top of the clamps. This would not only serve to hold the figures in place, but it will also keep the top wooden screw in place. The final step was to put a small amount of wood glue on a few threads of the lower wooden screw and then turning that into its final secured position. Oila! Finito! And on to the next piece.....
     

*For more information on the background and creation of this piece see my blog entries for -  3/3/14, 3/15/14, 4/10/14 & 4/23/14.