Coming out of my ‘shell’

On Thursday, we melted out our shell cast moulds so that we could cast them in a couple of weeks time. The process requires a makeshift kiln elevated over a pool of water so the wax can melt into it and be recycled.

The kiln is turned off and removed when all the wax has melted off and the shell cast itself is fired until it is really strong and solid. When the kiln is removed you can see the objects are glowing red hot. Where lines are shown on the shell are weak spots and are liable to burst when the molten bronze hits it. Hopefully this won’t happen to my shell as I’ve spent ages on it and love it to pieces!

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