< STUDIO WELDING & CUTTING
INTRODUCTION TO SURFACE FINISHING
With a few notable exceptions, the metal alloys used for casting artworks generally have a dull and uninteresting quality when first broken out of the REFRACTORY MOULD after casting. The alloy’s natural appearance, superficial oxidisation and the coarse grain effect through contact with refractory surfaces, can give the design an AS CAST surface which bears little resemblance to the enhanced finishes seen on most of the sculptures exhibited in art galleries and public spaces. To modify the visual appearance of a cast, the founder cosmetically works the sculpture’s surfaces to achieve one of two principal finishes – either a POLISH, or a chemically enhanced PATINATION.
The following pages outline the basic processes used by founders to finish art and design casts, with the emphasis on how the artist can achieve optimum results by working closely with their founder. For those artists wishing to experiment with (patinated) finishes for themselves, some basic guidelines are offered and a few basic foundry patination recipes are provided as a primer.
POLISHING >
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