Today the the University of Rhode Island had it's first Bronze pour....it was pretty cool to watch. next year one of those guys will likely be me


Five Replies to hot metal

Kelly Lee | April 30, 2010
Man, that makes me want to take a metalsmithing class.

Erik Bates | April 30, 2010
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Tony Peters | April 30, 2010
the flasks (stair stepped cylinder looking things) are molds being filled with liquid bronze that was melted in what amounts to a portable blast furnace....the metal and the gas to melt it probably cost more than the entire setup to do this. Think of it as an art school foundry version of Micro brewing beer. Bronze is the middle difficulty common metal pour. Aluminum being the coolest and easiest at roughly 1400 degrees Bronze at 2000 and Iron at roughly 3000 degrees. I have a friend who has done pours like this at his house/studio. to do this in a real foundry would probably cost 10 times the cost and non of us would be allowed to participate. THis really interested me because other than some wood carving I have been a two dimensional artist for most of my life

Jackie Mason | May 1, 2010
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Tony Peters | May 1, 2010
they (the real sculpture classes not us baby intro to 3D folks) made small wax sculptures. the coolest IMO were 3 Japanese Iris that one of the guys made took from flower to mold to wax and finally bronze, very cool I can't wait to see the final product....


vagabond-punk

The musings of Tony Peters, a perpetual child, no matter where I am I will find a way to climb something or go skateboarding Read more »

High temperature art

Well today was Bronze day......we poured liquid metal.....I made a belt buckle and a pendant for my wife very fun and just a bit scary...I'm Go »

A good day in the studio

In general this week was horrible I got Gastro and lost a half my remaining class days to finish the pair of sculptures I'm working on.......however today was good I got about 3 hours of alone time in the studio, just my my tools (a pair of angle grinders with wood cutting/shaping disks) a block of wood and a dust collector......... I put about 5 inches of chips in the dust collector and got a good start on the last piece. Go »

Change 3

a 07:30 phone call saying ooppsss uimmmm well it turns out that you are gonna have to go after all and we are gonna have to send 2 teams is not that way I wanted to start the day. Neither is sweet talking the travel clerk who's day we ruined yesterday to redo all the work she did yesterday....however other than cancelling my New Years plans, a ride with my dad and a climb with my brother, this on again off again travel thing isn't too much of a burden. Go »

the next grand adventure..........

as a retired sailor I really thought nothing of deploying and leaving my wife with the cats and dog at home while I went off to fight wars, fix submarines and otherwise earn a living.......now the shoe is on the other foot. I am in school fulltime taking care of the cats, the dog the house and whatever else pops up while my wife and best friend moves to DC to take her dream job. Go »

more liquid metal

My sculpture Professor decided that the burner we use for melting metal wasn't working out well, since it was designed for a forge and not a furnace he had a furnace burner made.....it used to take hours to melt 20lb of bronze, it took us 40 minutes yesterday. I have never seen the crucible as hot as it was. Go »

got a new drug

2 weeks ago I sold my BMX cruiser with the intention of shedding a toy to buy a bike better suited to commuting to work, at one time I rode a racebike and i really wanted to start riding one again except with the simplicity that I enjoyed on my cruiser....so I bought a fixxed gear, no not going through a mid life crisis I have ridden a fixxed gear before and I know what's involved, it arrived last friday and after a scramble to assemble it (and switch the brakes to motostyle) I rode it to work, I have ridden to work every day for the last week (because it only rains on my day off) and my legs are just starting to adjust I have aches in places I haven't felt in years but I feel better and judging by the way my pants feel I'm sure I'm starting to look healthier too. No riding a fixie is not for everybody, I have people who give me terrified looks when they realize what I'm riding but it works for me and thats what is important, besides when the weather is nice I can leave after work and ride down to the beach and back on a 20 mile loop and still get home in time to make dinner for my wife and I. Go »