It occasionally happens that a section of a larger piece is so badly cast that it needs to be cast again. This is a real pain, but what's to be done? Many times a piece has flaws that can be fixed with out the time and expense of recasting. I usually go by the rule if it is 95% good, we will fix it. this one was totally shot. I have had to recast very few times, maybe 1 in 50 casts. That's the art foundry business for you.
Fortunately this piece had two adjacent parts that came out well. This makes getting a new wax to cast much easier.
To
make a new wax for casting that will fit nicely together, I mark the mold using
the adjacent bronze sections. Here you see the bottom section in
place. You will notice the line at the top of the mold where I have
already marked the top section. This is a little trickier than it looks
since the bronze has shrunk in volume from the original wax.
Here is the
mold half marked for cutting the wax. I now do the other side of the
mold. A new wax is made and the ends are trimmed to these lines.
This is the
recast wax section laying in the mold.
Now I
carefully trim the wax for a very good fit using the bronze.
A
shot from the side.
Fitting
the bottom. Now I go through the casting process as usual.
Gating, shell building and casting. The second cast came out
perfectly.