Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1903-08-21
SEAMLESS BRONZE STATUES.
Newly-DiscOvereA Secret of Greek
sculptors Now Being Used in
Indianapolis.

The lost art of the Greeks, by which
they cast seamless bronze statues, is
being employed in Indianapolis, says the
indianapolis News. 1t was only a few
years ago that German sculptors, who
had been knocking at the door of the
secret for many years, found the key to
it and began to turn out seamless
bronzes themselves quite as perfect in
detail as the old Greeks themselves ever
turned out. Rudolph Schwartz, the In
dianapolis sculptor, who became tired
of sending his casts east, as all western
sculptors have to do for large castings,
last fall began to build bronze casting
furnace at the side of his studio. He i'm
ported German bronze casters and with
them the newly discovered secret of the
Greeks. Several small castings have
been made at the Indianapolis plant,
but it was not until the last month that
big ton, ton and a half and two ton cast
ings were made.
The big ten-ton 13-foot seated statue
of the late Gov. Pingree, of Michigan,
which is just now being completed in In
dianapolis for the city of Detroit is the
first big statue that has been true6 out in
Indianapolis and in the west by tb new
ly discovered process. By the process
the original cast in which the bronze
is generally poured is used in making
a perfect statue in white wax. Thu
mold is broken away and the wax is in
spected for detail lines and defects ART
corrected. Another moldHis made on this
wax cast. The material used in max
ing this mold is proof against heat and
when thoroughly set and dried on this
perfect wax statue a hole is made in the
base of it and it is placed over a slow
heat, which thoroughly bakes the mold,
and, heating the wax on the inside, re-
duces it to a liquid state so it will run
out OF the opening. When the wax is
thoroughly melted out a perfect hollow
mold is left for the bronze to run into.
This mold is nuried and tamped so that
every point has strong resistance. The
bronze is then poured" and when it
sets the mold is broken away and a
seamless bronze is the result.
In making as large bronze as the
Pingree statue, it was necessary to cut
it in several pieces. In doing this the
wax statue was of even greater service
than in making a single casting, as it
was cut in sections following the lines
tune. The quartering process can be
done so skillfully that when the cast
ings are made and the pieces mbled
they fit and dovetai1 into these natural
crevices in the statue and almost defy
detection.
Several Of the pieces of the Pingree
statue which have been poured dur
| ing the last week, weigh over 2,500
pounds. There is an element of danger
in this work for molds have been
known to break, turning the stream OF
molten metal loose. Many lives have
been lost in bronze-casting factories
but no serious accident has happened
in the new Indianapolis plant as yet
| The 'pourings,'' as a rule, are made
| in the evening and the scenes are more
spectacular than even those at iron
foundries. The process, in the rough, is
much the same, however, but requires
much more skill, for failure on 2,5O2-
| pound bronze cast means heavy loss.