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Western Woman Wax Work- “Blessings Bloom”

January 15th, 2009 | Posted in Wax tips | Print Print 5 Comments »

Western Woman Wax Work- “Blessings Bloom”

Finished Wax for Bronze

Finished Wax for Bronze

This wax is a western woman—my latest sculpture soon to go into bronze. The foundry poured 2 waxes and sent them to me via UPS. In the summer, I’d have to go to the foundry and pick up the wax myself for fear they might melt in a delivery truck. :-)   Much work goes into having the waxes finished as seen above. 

Parts need attached and chased out.

Parts need attached and chased out.

Here are most of the wax parts as they come to me.

The waxes need to be cleaned up or “chased out” so all the seam lines are removed. As hot wax is poured into the rubber mold, it swirls around and air bubbles are created and they often show up on the surface; the bubbles will need to be filled with hot wax.

Seam lines need to be removed.

Seam lines need to be removed.

Seam lines on dog need to be removed.

I had a lot of work to do on these waxes. Unfortunately, one of the wax’s head came off in the shipping.  The brim of the hat did not come out well on both waxes.  Limbs had to be reattached and seams cleaned up.  It took 20 hours of labor to chase out these two waxes.

Next my husband and I will drive to the foundry and drop the waxes off.  They’ll make a ceramic shell around them and, after it hardens, melt the wax out.  Then molten bronze will be poured in the ceramic mold in order to make the bronze.  When that is done, I’ll go to the foundry and help finish out the metal work, and then we’ll have the patina applied.

My technique for working out the waxes is a fairly simple one. I use:

  • Dental tools

Ebay has these for sale in sets of maybe 20 or so.  I like the one that looks sort of like a flattened spoon.  It holds the liquid wax really well.

  • Soldering Iron

It heats up metal tools, which in turn will melt wax to drip on the sculpture in order to sculpt imperfections.

  • Lamp oil

Dip cheap synthetic artist brushes into the oil and then brush over the wax surface in order to add texture and/or smooth out surface of the wax.  The oil sort of melts the wax just a bit.

  • Paper Towels

After applying oil to the area being worked on, I sometimes will use a paper towel and work it over the oiled area.  Since the oil is softening the wax, the paper towel will pull the wax and smooth it out further.

  • Cheap synthetic artist brushes

These are the brushes you see in stores like Michael’s for like $5 or $10 for a package of 10 or so.   If you get the real hair brushes, they won’t work very well because the hairs will pull out into the wax easily.  It’s best to use the plastic/synthetic brushes.

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5 Responses to “Western Woman Wax Work- “Blessings Bloom””

  1. ZooDoc says:
    January 18, 2009 at 11:11 pm

    Nice step-by-step, Ms. Bonet! ZD

  2. doris says:
    January 19, 2009 at 12:55 pm

    hi tamara, it was very interesting to read the steps and which tools you use… i admire your patience, of redoing the wonderful clay sculpture once again in wax, that is the repairs necessary. i know, i would not have patience for that. looking forward to the bronze… doris

  3. Tamara Bonet says:
    January 19, 2009 at 9:09 pm

    Hi ZD and Doris,

    Thanks for your comments. :-) All the work will be worth it when I get the 2 bronzes finished. Hopefully next time I can get better wax pours from the foundry.

    ~Tamara

  4. Daryl says:
    May 29, 2009 at 7:55 am

    I have been doing wax chasing for almost 15 years and would like to say your work is very nice. On your wax chasing, I know it is hard to get good waxes from a foundry. they are into production and you can get lost in their schedule unless you do a lot of work with them. I pour and chase waxes and would be interested in doing this for you if possible. I also have two foundries within 10 miles of my house that the waxes could be poured and finished at. Just a suggestion. I know that I could save you at least a third of wax chasing time for you and no lose of quality.
    If interested, please contact me.
    Thanks
    Daryl

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