Shidoni Pour

The 3-man pour crew is donning protective gear.

The molds will be removed from the kiln (upper right) when molten bronze is ready.  The molds are sitting in a round tray on the removable floor (dark part) of the kiln.  The shiny pipe on kiln's bottom left is a hydraulic lift that raises and lowers the kiln floor and its tray full of moldings.  

Is it soup yet?

Digital thermometer is inserted into cauldron of molten bronze; soup must reach 2200 degrees F before serving.

It's soup!

So it's time to hook up the pour bucket to the overhead lift apparatus.

The cauldron of molten metal will be emptied into this bucket.

There are 10 steps to the lost-wax method.  First step is the actual creation of the figure by the artist, sculpting in wax, which could take anywhere from a few days to several years.  The next 9 steps take several weeks to complete.  A mold is made from the wax, the wax is melted off, and the mold is baked in the kiln.  The pour, aka casting, is step 7.

The kiln floor is being lowered and swiveled outward so the tray of molds can be hoisted off and placed in the center of the work area for pouring.

Kiln floor is fully lowered and swiveled outward.  Crew is attaching the apparatus to lift the tray of molds off of the kiln floor and place it in the center of the work area.  The crew's movements are slow-paced and methodical - and they need to be.  It's extremely dangerous work, the heat is incredible and they're covered with 2 layers of fire resistant clothing that has all the breathability of sheet metal.

I'm amazed that people have been making bronze statues for nearly 5,000 years.  How did they discover the process of making bronze and molds?  How did they figure out that bronze was even worth making or that it would last for centuries?

There are 9 unique molds in the 5' circular tray.  They're heavily coated with ceramic so you can't identify them as arms or legs or whatever.  Most, if not all, are small pieces that will be welded to other pieces to form one large bronze statue.  The crew works their way around the tray, tweaking the pour bucket up, down, forward and back so it's precisely aligned with the hole at the top of the mold.  They know their stuff, barely spilled a drop.

Excess is returned to cauldron, to be used in the next pour, which occurred 90 minutes later.

Several bronze bricks were added to the cauldron to top it up.  The kiln and cauldron are natural gas fueled and they roar like a pair of female dragons with severe PMS!  I think both are kept at pour temperature 24/7.  'What's your monthly gas bill?' I asked an employee.  He didn't know.  Anyway, glad I'm not paying it.

In the early 80s, I toured Italy and spent time in Florence, which has an abundance of art, especially sculpture.  I was delighted by the Baptistery doors, which were cast in bronze in 1402-04.  They are so exquisitely detailed!  It's incredible that they are 600 years old but look brand new and that there was such a high level of expertise way back then.  Google 'baptistery doors images' and see for yourself.