Can You Find My Welds?
Most sculptures, with the exception of those small enough to be cast
solid, are cast in sections that are later welded together to complete a
whole sculpture. Welding melts the edges of the adjoining sections. We
learn to reproduce the language of the original artwork’s detail and
texture to restore the detail lost during welding. Sprues, the plumbing
that directs molten metal to the sculpture during casting leaves scars
that require the same texture and detail restoration. The welds must be
very close to the same thickness as the adjoining metal because any
significant variation will cause temperature variation during
patination, resulting in a color shift that will reveal the weld.
Re-creating texture in the weld requires many different tools and the
skill to use them. It is a constant learning process because there is
no end to the textures artists apply to their artwork; we must be able
to re-produce them all. Texture and detail can be anything from
polished smooth to fabric, scales, fur, fingerprints and on and on, if
you can imagine it, it exists or will exist on a sculpture somewhere
sometime.
We use many techniques and tools including; hand carving the metal with
pencil die grinders and an assortment of burrs, wire brushing with
various kinds of rotating brushes, grinding, drilling, peening, sanding,
blasting, filing and others that we make up as we find new textures and
new ways to re-create them.
Tools are important but the experience and skill of the metal finisher
is the critical element in getting a satisfactory result. It takes
years of experience to do an undetectable fit, weld and texture.
The answer to the question in the title of this article is; no, you
cannot find my welds. The welds are completely and accurately
integrated into the finished sculpture, all texture and detail is
matched to the original artwork and the patina is uniform throughout the
piece.
Chris Andrews – Metal Finisher
10-21-2008
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