Casting Copper

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

We have just come back for Africajac which is a celebration in SW France of all things African. These guys were melting old copper tube into lost wax moulds with a ceramic wall thickness of about 1Cm. They used the mould as the crucible and slowly added more tube until there was about 1/2 litre of molten copper. The heating was an old steel container with a 3Cm wall of ceramic clay, an electric centrifugal fan and a charge of charcoal up to about 3/4 full. The mould was placed on top of the charcoal, lit with some petrol and air and after about 30 mins, hey presto the copper had melted.
Eagle eyed observers will note all the aspects of HSE, no crowd control, no visors,flip flops etc etc.
In spite of this, they were producing some interesting art forms.
Apologies for second photo, its the right way up on my MAC – usual problems.
BobH

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Ornamental

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Looks fun. Nice results too.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Here's something similar from over a hundred years ago in Japan (from my collection of stero photos). This is a Bronze foundry

Ian S C

Edited By Ian S C on 24/07/2016 12:22:19

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