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FR Bronze
Thanks you for your interest in our fine quality bronze sculptures.
We have over 3,000 of the world's finest bronze sculptures. F&R Bronze strives to bring you the largest selection of bronze statues anywhere on the internet. Bringing some of the world's finest bronzes to you from around the world. In addition to the bronzes we make and U.S. made bronzes, we also sell bronzes from various places around the world. Please read below to learn more about the origins of our bronze statues. If you have any questions about any of our bronze sculptures, please feel free to contact us.

Bronzes Sculptures That We Make
F&R Bronze has the ability to do custom pieces  for clients. We currently have 6 different artists that we work with. We can custom create any piece that you may need. We have many products that are available exclusively through F&R Bronze Company. For information on these products or wholesale pricing please contact us.

Bronzes Cast in U.S.
F&R Bronze buys and has contracts with 4 different foundries in the U.S. The benefit to U.S. cast bronzes is that we are able to maintain high quality control and can quickly customize and deliver a quality piece to a customer. The cost of a U.S. cast bronze can be a little higher than those of Mexico or Thailand. Anytime you buy a U.S. made product you can always be assured it is of the finest quality, and that it will come with the satisfaction of knowing you have bought an American made product.

Bronzes Cast in Mexico
Some of the finest quality bronze castings come from Mexico. The foundries we do business with in Mexico are owned and operated by American bronze companies and business owners. This is great for the American consumers as these owners are able to maintain the high quality standards that you find in any American foundry while at the same time saving on the cost of labor; saving the consumer almost 40%.  We are also able to maintain a close eye on production and can easily customize pieces to our customers needs and have them cast and delivered in under 6 weeks. Custom works can also be done through these Mexican foundries, if you are an artist that needs work done, please contact us to see if we can help you.

Bronzes Cast in Thailand
All bronzes marked with an asterisk* are cast in Thailand. Bronzes cast in Thailand are made using the original lost wax casting process. All of these bronzes are hand made and hand finished. The benefit to the consumer is the fact that the labor is cheaper without a loss in quality to the product. The fact is bronzes have been cast in China and Thailand for over 3,000 years. Bronze casting began in the U.S. only 130 years ago. We buy only the highest quality import bronzes made by some of the most reputable foundries in the world. If you have any questions or concerns about import bronzes please feel free to contact us. The main benefit with import bronzes is the savings to the consumer, the consumer can get a large life-size child or animal at about 1/10 the cost of an American casting. These bronzes have been being sold and used throughout the U.S. for over 100 years. One prime example is our limited edition life-size Reagan bronze. This high quality piece is cast in Thailand and is proudly displayed at the the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California.

The Original Lost Wax Casting Process
The following is the step by step process of the “Lost Wax Casting” method. After reviewing this process, which normally takes approximately 3  to 4 weeks to complete a single sculpture. There is a lot of time and labor involved in each piece, each bronze is hand finished once in wax and then again in metal. It takes very skilled artists to complete this process, there is a great misconception that bronze is just poured into one mold and then you have a product this is the furthest from the truth. To learn more about this in depth process please read below.

Please Note: There are those that claim 22 to 30 steps in the lost wax casting process, this process can be broken down into over a 100 steps if you want to get technical about it. We try to keep simple and easy to follow.

STEP 1 Making the Mold:
This step is by far the most critical. All the detail which appears on the sculpture must be captured in the mold. The mold (depending on the size of the sculpture) is cut into sections for casting.

STEP 2 Making the Wax Casting: Molten wax is poured into the mold to form layers of wax. This wax model is an exact duplicate of the original casting.

STEP 3 Chasing the Wax: The wax is pulled from the mold and hand chased (re-detailed) by a skilled artisan. Although the artist reproduces the original artwork, each piece may slightly differ from the next.

STEP 4 Spruing: Wax rods (gates) and pouring cup are attached to the wax casting in just the right positions. This will assure a full pour.

STEP 5 Casting the Ceramic Mold (Investment Casting): In a temperature controlled climate of 72 degrees Fahrenheit, the wax casting is dipped into Investment liquid several times. On the first dip a fine powder is applied. On the next dip of course, ceramic sand will be applied. This step is repeated several times, each increasing the coarseness of the material to create the ceramic mold. Between each dip, the ceramic layer must cure (dry) before another layer can be applied.

STEP 6 Burn-Out: The ceramic shell is placed in a kiln and fired. The shell bakes and the wax is melted (lost) from the shell. This creates a hollow ceramic shell mold. Thus the term “Lost Wax.”

STEP 7 Casting: The ceramic shell (mold) is removed from the kiln and immediately the molten bronze is poured into the shell. At the time of pouring, the bronze is 2100 degrees Fahrenheit.

STEP 8 Break-Out: After the casting has cooled several hours, the shell is carefully broken away leaving the unfinished bronze.

STEP 9 Sandblasting: Any fragments of the ceramic shell are removed by sandblasting. The sculpture is also carefully inspected at this point.

STEP 10 Assembly: At this time all the pieces of the sculpture are welded together by our skilled craftsman.

STEP 11 Chasing: All the weld marks are chased and re-detailed.

STEP 12 Glass Beading: This is similar to sandblasting. The glass is extremely fine to ensure an even bronze finish.

STEP 13 Polish: The raw bronze sculpture is now hand polished in preparation for the patina.

This wonderful video shows the complete process of the true and traditional lost wax casting process from start to finish. This
complete process takes 20 to 30 days and requires a massive amount of labor, energy and resources from start to finish.

It is commonly thought that bronze sculptures are simple to make and all that is required is hot molten metal that
is poured into a mold. This video gives a great example and is a great educational tool. This gives a greater
understanding and respect for the entire process to get to the final product or finished bronze using the traditional lost wax casting process.




A special  thanks to AP Casting - bronze sculpture art gallery in Israel
for this great video

 

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