Part 1 of 2 - Turning Dollar Store Balloon into Bronze Metal Sculpture
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
- In this first part of the lost wax foundry process, a dollar store balloon has a silicon mold made, wax duplicate created, sprued, ceramic shell coated, lost wax burnout and then finally cast in bronze metal. This is the first half in a two part series; next the Balloon gets sandblasted, de-sprued, welded back together, mirror polished and painted.
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0:00 Mold Flange
2:10 Silicon Rubber Mold
4:04 Mother Mold
5:22 Demolding
5:45 Pouring Wax Copy
7:14 Wax Chasing and Finishing
9:41 Spruing/Gating
10:55 Ceramic Coat Dipping
13:41 Prepare Ceramic for Burnout
14:21 Moving Ceramic to Burnout Furnace
14:46 Pouring Molten Bronze
15:59 Ceramic Shell Breakout
16:33 Completed Bronze Casting 
Хобби
Despite being 35, I am apparently 13 years old mentally, because I giggled every time he said "balloon knot".
Wow, major deja vu. I worked in a bronze foundry, and this the almost the same process, whether we cast a monument or a little figurine. I say almost because we used two vats of wax, each kept at different temps-one for greater detail, the other for creating thickness faster. But, yeah, you use great technique, and I should know.
It's a pleasure to see an artist with such skill
lol, “Dollar store balloon…” …and I thought this could only be done with the finest IMPORTED balloons!
And you get a bag filled with like 20 of them!
@@skraminc so you were basically just stating were you had bought them like if you got them from Harrods you would of named the video Harrods bought balloon turned into a sculpture
🤣🤣
@@batmanimal5993 yeah. It was just a sleight. Trying to contrast a cheap little throw away thing and make it into something a little more substantial
Wait!! You mean? I didn’t need the bull scrotum’s. No wonder the surfaces look melted chicken skin.
It's an interesting video but I would never use such Nice playing cards for a project like this
I love it when RUclips get things right!! Brilliant
Woww this video was amazing to watch the process.
I'm speechless. Lots of work and a beautiful result! Bravo!!
I teach Art Appreciation. Our next unit is 3D Art. I’m linking these videos for students to watch as a reference. I know several of them will find this really interesting. I have some students covering Jeff Koons for their final project. They will enjoy finding how time consuming the process of this type of sculpture can be. Wonderful videos. Thank you.
jeff koons uses a process that is beyond everyone's grasp (not to destroy your student's appreciation). he found global industry leaders to set aside R&D departments to help him create his sculptures. this is an extremely rudimentary, extreme budget version to accomplish his look.
This video has been in my feed for a long time. I finally decided to check it. Not what I expected but cool.
Hah sorry. RUclips randomly decided to push it on everyone recently, especially, after it sat for a year. Thanks for watching
This was great. I enjoyed finally seeing this process. Happy it was on Reddit
I had the opportunity to cast in bronze when I took Sculpture in college. This was so much fun to watch. You explained some things that I didn't even think to ask about. Like the fact that we cast our sculptures in a pit of sand. That's just how it was set up and I never thought to ask why.
Definitely. Next level sand pits are aerated so you can easily sink shells into them and then turn the air off to set them so if the shell blows out you dont lose all of your work and you only get a small flashing where the shell cracks open and spills. A lot of people still take the risk and cast in the open air, though. If you look up Polich Foundry in new New York they do gigantic castings so to lose one is a big deal so they take the effort to sink them
Love your work man.
At the foundry where I used to work, we used playing cards on even big monuments.
We used a card stock that was a little bigger for our specific needs but we had to wipe it with Vaseline. Playing cards come glossed so rubber won’t stick.
I am just playing with making small molds for jewelry and such. When you stop to think of how many steps are involved in this method it boggles my brain. It truly takes the scientific and artistic brain to see the possibilities. The further I go with my artistic brain with just a smidge of Science and Math, the more I realize I am exactly where I need to be in my art. But it is fascinating to see what you do. Going on to part 2. I’m not sure how long your channel has been around but you deserve many more than 2.37K subscribers. Hang in there. They will come. 🤟🏼🤍
Fascinating process, thank you for sharing!
I am just in awe. I absolutely loved this video and look forward to watching more of your content. Thanks for sharing.
Now I understand why the intricate bronze mirror I bought years ago is worth so much. I got it for $10. It's really cool. I'm working on getting the cheap lavender spray paint off of it so the bronze can come through again.
You could probably have somebody sand blast or glass bead blast it for you for pretty cheap. Like 20-50 bucks. It would be a matte/semi matte finish like my balloon, just as it comes out of the sand blaster part of the video, and it will age/darken over time into some interesting patina. Also, there are tons of bronze patina videos or finishing videos you can do at home with simple concoctions, to give bronze its 'chosen' finish. Paint is not a great option for cast bronze unless youre on a very weird mission
LOVED WATCHING THIS TOO COMPLICATED FOR MY BRAIN
Wow! That is dedication and brilliance! I’m an artist but your dedication to your craft is 1000%. Amazing and thank you for sharing!
Thanks. Ive worked for artists for a long time
I had no idea the extent of the process. Beautiful work!
Take a stick with the end wrapped in fiber frax that is slightly damp and hold it onto the leak to stop the leak. It will not explode with the dampness and it works great. It also stops the leak fast enough to be able to top off the mold while the metal is hot enough preventing chill lines.
This is fantastic, thanks for sharing the process. I look forward to seeing how it's finished
I was so afraid that you were going to pull a bait and switch and show me some paper mache garbage so I skittered ahead until I saw molten metal. YES! Im in. Now watching full video. Thank you!
No tricks here
@@skraminc I've already watched part one and two. It turned out absolutely beautiful! Thank you for the video. 😊
Respect that is a lot of steps and a lot of chances for it to go back to square 1!
Nice work
That was brilliant, I want to see part 2 to see how you got the final piece, which looks superb!
This was awesome!
Amazing, well done
A M A Z I N G ! 👍🏻👍🏻 🎈🎈🎈
Wow nice results. .
The Saturn Planet brother👍👽
Bro.... I thought I was watching a channel with at least 50k subscribers... You're good at making videos, far better than me lol I gave up at 260 subscribers 😅
Just awesome!
I have a part 2 thats even cooler very soon
Very cool
Your new sub has arrived.
Amazing..
👍👌👏 Simply fantastic! What an incredibly huge effort and a lot of work. I'm eagerly looking forward to watch the next part.
Thanks a lot for making teaching explaining recording editing uploading and sharing.
Best regards luck and health to all of you.
a lot of work!
So much work and so very dangerous to achieve. ❤️
A dollar store ballon and thousands of dollars of equipment.
How do you just go for it without being nervous about effing it all up? That my biggest issue….confidence in wtf I’m doing
Ugh, that blowout. My heart sank for you. We used a centrifuge casting machine for small dental castings, and seeing that happen is always so disappointing.
We made the cup much deeper so that it would keep some bronze molten to prevent shrink-defects.
I have a question, why did you cut o random part of the ballon before casting?
I love liquid metal, but I'm very weak to work with. Great job!
Good that you did it in 2 parts, at least you lost 200k views on the 2nd part.
Is that good or bad
Good teknologi
First time I ever see someone making a correct mold on RUclips. Usually people waste rubber and in the end they make mold that is weak and lacks rigidity cause no matter how thick the rubber doesn’t hold it’s shape. Awesome work ! 👏
Ps.: would be nice if you would use cm or mm to tell us the thicknesses and not inches . Inches are just an imperfect measurement and it’s obviously only used in USA thanks a lot ❤️
Youre right. I watch enough youtube to know about the metric and imperial fights lol. Thats always a hot contention. Will do in the future
Koons would be proud. Find him on Master Class
I’m a lifelong sub now……if nothing else just so I can hear you say balloon nut
wonderful. Well done indeed. so much dedication and very clear and thorough talk through. is most of your work for sculptors/artists?
I have been a producer for artists for many years. Im doing an hobby, at home, garage version of things that ive done much better for established artists who have a few dollars to spend for the good version
So cool! Bubble some compressed air through the sand beds to fluidize them?
Yup. Gigantic tubs, too
VERY INTERESING ...DONT HAVE THE PATIONS...SO I WILL BUY
Thought this was gonna be done with all dollar tree products 😂
Your mold making process (thin silicone layer and a fibre-reinforced plaster shell) looks like an efficient use of materials. Silicone is expensive, and making solid silicone molds like most people seem to do costs a lot. Is there a loss of dimensional accuracy with your method? Obviously not important for art pieces but could be a problem with machine parts.
the silicon mold i use (smooth on mold max 30) doesn't lose any that i can recognize. it doesn't have a heat function for curing so it doesn't expand and contract. the problem comes with the wax. casting waxes are made to minimize their volume change during temp changes but they still expand and contract when you heat/cool them. that's where you'll find most of your problems. then you get more when the actual metal cools. i think a lot of industry uses sand casting to knock one of those (using wax) out of the process and then they mostly cast blanks and machine them to the correct size
smooth out wax now or smooth out bronze later? hmm... which would be more work??
Half and half. You have to do the metal smoothing no matter what but you need a sort of rough wax surface for the ceramic shell to hold on to in the casting process
Such a great demo! What smooth-on product are you using?
The pink rubber is smooth on mold max 30 but any medium hardness rubber on their other lines will do the same thing... i use a harder rubber because round, smooth shapes get warped if you use softer/pliable rubbers and if they get pieces of plaster between the mother mold it can push the rubber onto the surface of the wax making divots... with thivex added for thickening.
@@skraminc Fantastic! Thank you so much. I tried making a balloon cast about 5 years ago and it was a dismal failure as I could never get the tied end to cast properly, I was using alginate.
@@skylarb.3363 alginate is great for some very simple things but it doesn't have any hardiness. it tears and disintegrates and falls apart really easy and leaves bad detail. there are tons of silicone rubber molding videos and silicone is pretty accessible, you can get tons of smooth-on stuff from amazon or they have a lot of regional dealers, maybe there's a place near by where you can pick it up. it's just a little more expensive but the outcome is like 10x what you can do from alginate
Just wondering about the super glue on the balloon . Howcome it didn’t make the balloon pop ?
Not sure. Never even thought about it so maybe luck? I dont think its necessarily bad for the rubber though. Didnt have any outtakes where any balloons randomly popped
Wouldn't it be easier to mold the balloon in half by going the opposite way as you did so the knot is the bottom and that way you only have 2 molds?
yeah, i think you are right. i was just too focused on the balloon knot and isolated to be separate it it in fear.
How about filling a balloon with water? It makes balloon heat resistant and more sturdy. Maybe it would be possible to apply molten bronze directly onto its surface? 😁
filling a balloon with water is a huge P.I.T.A. LOL. i knew i only had like 24 hours with an air filled ballon so i just dealt with the air. the entire molding process is so i can have a central core shell so the balloon bronze casting can be 3/16"-1/4" thick. without the molding process you have to do an entire other thing to introduce a core in the center of the balloon skin so the balloon doesn't end up being completely solid; it would weight like 30 lbs without some intervention
@@skraminc Well, it was my first silly thought. After watching the whole process and the amazing result I'd say: you know better 😊
It can also be made from bronz metal sheet instead of doing this heavy work.
i challenge anyone to try it. just to get a small sheet bronze delivered is going to cost you 400 dollars off the top
Very nice! Where can i find/order this special wax that is heated before casting? What is it named? Best! Gerjon
The red wax version of the balloon? Arizona Art Supply, they have a web store. 2ab44 red wax and brown casting wax. I mix red and brown together so its not too soft or not too brittle
@@skraminc Thanks a lot! Will order it at AAS. Have a nice day! Gerjon
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Maybe I’ll just buy a gold balloon from party city
How did you keep the center hollow?
What do you mean?
@@skraminc hi when you did the balloon it’s not solid. Did you fill the center with sand?
@@tacllemtacllem7679 the rubber balloon is just filled with air. the bronze balloon has a "window" cut into the wax, so you can see during the ceramic shell process, this allows there to be a continuous layer that attaches to both sides of the plain of the wax and hugs only the thickness of the wax so that it doesn't have to be solid
do you have a material list so I can start this process
Do you have any specific progress parts that you want to know about? Or parts of the video
Interresting - but what is a bloon? 😉
Did i spell something wrong somewhere? Or just said it weird
@@skraminc just sounded like bloon instead of balloon 😁 but really interresting video! Thanks.
4:00 you skipped demonstrating the construction of the keys on the silicone.
Way way waaay too much work! Exhausted just watching it
💀💀💀😅until pouring molten bronze part I was like "hmm maybe I can find these materials and try with small scale"
Lol yeah the title is a bit oversold
Sweet! Do you sell these?
Never really intended. The video editing, plus the materials plus the time makes it really expensive for what people usually expect to pay for something like this. If someone gave me a decent offer i might sell it but to ship/crate it is another big fee and whole other thing on top to make sure it doesnt get damaged by a courier or whatever.
@@skraminc Understand completely. Who knows maybe something to look into in the future if you could find a way to manufacture faster and cheaper?? I know I would buy one :)
@@barnabascollins4625 yeah a lot of people ask and i always feel like im insulting them by not giving a cost or whatever but this youtube video with 230k views paid more in ad revenue than what most people offer for the actual sculpture so it just hasnt made sense yet. Also im not like a famous artist or anything, just some random so justifying costs gets harder.
@@skraminc Ah, good point re: 230k views paid. Well you’re very talented and enjoyed watching :)
Where do younbybthe plaster??????
They sell plaster of Paris at Lowe’s and Home Depot but I’m sure any hobby place has it as well. It’s pretty common. Maybe even walmart
Yeah forget what I said, I get why you did the stem separate.
Both of your ideas are right. Its just the problem is the balloon knot when its in wax and its super soft and gets messed up easy while demolding. Its like a necessary evil to seperate it off so it can be handled more gently
forbidden chocolate
With hopes to not seem as a smart arse... Please allow me to share a small experience that you may benefit from the next time you take such a mold.
Whilst taking body/large casts with as viscus layers.. after the initial coating we would include strands of hair onto the mold.... Sometimes horse hair.. sometimes doll hair...
If the mold was via alginate: this was usually doll-hair (something synthetic... so as to not hat have the material effect the curing speed through absorption). For silicone: it wouldn't matter much. Just some long THIN strands (If you would use wool or such... You would best comb it out first into its fibers)
You want to somewhat evenly gap them out before you lay them on the talent or prop (actor/ess or object you are molding) as you do not want to modify the elasticity but just enhance its durability to its dedicated thickness.
This process was literally a MUST for alginate molds since the mold would tear apart by its own weight. But for silicone molds: it was mostly to prevent the silicon from running off though it increased the sleeves lifespan and usability immensely.
I so hope this was useful... Thank you so much for sharing your process.
Everything about it was soothing and the experience: beautiful.
I have a synthetic silicon thickener. I just dont use it for the first two coats so the rubber runs into all of the small areas and picks up more detail. I want it to run a lot and be as thin as possible for first coats. With the thickener it spreads on like cake frosting. also have an accelerator to cure it quicker. I just use them on the later coats that isnt really shown in this video
Nice. It's not a diy project for a novice.
Who is paying for all this???
me. it's pretty expensive. like and subscribe.
and share
Ugh...seems too complicated
What da fk was that
Good or bad?
Whoa..waaaay too much mess, products, work.. I’ll pass on watching Part Two, but thanks for posting .
I see this is not DIY project.
not for everyone. there are a lot of people on youtube who only cast ingots with junk metal so i wanted to do something a little more interesting.
You're obviously not turning a balloon into anything close to a metal sculpture... You're simply using it to start forming a mold. Clickbait at its best.
Lol
Dear sculptor, I have followed your video with interest. But my comment can only be completely negative. I find it really absurd to spend so much time, so much effort, so much money to produce an object so insignificant, devoid of any aesthetic, formal, cultural message. The final balloon has no difference from the initial. So much work worthy of a much better cause.
More important like what?
@@skraminc No offense. It's a comment and it's my opinion. But I don't think that many people are willing to recognize messages, creative contents, suggestions and emotions in that object.
@@MrGioviano lol this video is about foundry and casting metal
Don't try this at home!
Idols 👎🏽
?
Why don't you drop the completed casting into water when it'd still hot to fracture the mold and make it easier to break out the casting without damaging the bronze surface with a hammer?
Dropping castings in water to break the shell is an aesthetic pleasure
@@skraminc Yes, not only is it SATISFYING it gets rid of ll that drudgery. I can't believe he did it that way they've been dumping partially cooled molds in water for CENTURIES< maybe MILLENNIA, robust casts weren't even cooled
Dont use baby powder, use baking soda instead. its much faster and safer than talc
For which part?
@@skraminc For gluing the cards together. Talc often appears next to asbestos and they look bizarrely the same in the mining process. Johnson & Johnson got a class action lawsuit for $100m for causing cancer.
@@uniqueprogressive9908 it is not talc. It is baking soda
@@skraminc ok