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The Promise

These two locks represent a promise made between two people. The function of the lock has been stripped of its form; they can never be unlocked, only broken. In the same way, a promise cannot be taken back but can only be broken. 

Project Overview

This project is a bronze casted sculpture of locks.

 

A flexible mold of a store-bought lock was made using brush-on rubber and plaster. 

The mold was the used to cast wax copies of the lock. A wax spruce system was set up in order to be invested. The wax will be burned out after the investment has cured to make room for the bronze

The wax spruce system was then invested. A vacuum chamber was used to ensure minimal air bubbles where trapped in the investment.

In preparation for the pour, an appropriate amount of bronze was weighted and placed inside the special centrifuge flask. The small size of the casting allowed the pour to be done on the centrifuge displayed below in the right. 

After the crucible was brought up to the bronze melting temperature, it was placed inside the centrifuge to complete the pour. Below there is a clip of the centrifuge pouring process. This pour was executed by a classmate of mine, but the exact same process was used by me, for my piece. 

Centrifuge Pour

Centrifuge Pour

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After the brozne cooled down it was taken out of the investment and the remaining plaster was cleaned off. 

 The last step is to polish the two pieces and correct the imperfections that were created by the casting process.

Most of the finishing work is completed. 

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