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Original
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Found: Ool (Maas), Netherlands
Age: 1000-800 B.C. For the 4th metal workers weekend in Archeon, I took the challenge to attempt to cast bronze swords using only bronze age technology. This was succesful, though the casting had many imperfections. For the 5th metal workers weekend, I tried again to get a better result. |
Model
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For the mould I used the same model as last year, with some adjustments to improve the shape. |
Mould
| The was made by first applying a mix of clay and sand to one side of the model. The edges were given a separating layer of sand, and then the other side was covered. One of the halves was carefully removed, so that the model could be taken out. The removed half was placed back, and the mould allowed to dry to leather hard for one or two days. The inside was then touched up. The mould was then wrapped in a mixture of clay, sand and horsedung. This is a very robust mixture, which easily fires without cracking or breaking, which is particularly critical with such large moulds. After drying, the moulds were fired for a day in a loam oven, with wood and charcoal up and between the moulds. Contrary to last year, I fired the moulds slower this time. I did this to prevent any retaining moisture inside the mould from boiling, which damaged the internal of the moulds last year. |
Casting result
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The casting is a lot better then last year. The internal of the mould stayed whole, which resulted in a smooth casting. Unfortunately though, the casting has porosity. So this is a point to improve for future castings. |