Bespoke Products
Photo is of a teddy bear mold in a pool soaking with many other molds.
Bronze Betty has been making bespoke bronze, copper and brass products since we started. Our very first products were created for a business who wanted a unique corporate gift for their customers.
There is things we can make are only limited by your imagination, you could consider our product range as showcase of what bespoke products we could make.
You can commission us to create the entire product from scratch, which you approve at every step or you might want to design the master mold yourself and have us create it in bronze, copper or brass. You might as one customer requested want to provide the metal that goes into the castings or you may want your brand and words laser etched onto your bespoke pieces.
You can commission us to make a one off piece all the way up to 100,000 pieces. We make bespoke pieces for business to sell to their customers. We make bespoke pieces as trophies and art work. We make display pieces for foyers, shopping centres to roads and museums.
We work with over 500 experts to create our bronze and brass pieces. From artists to mold makers to metal casters, experts in large castings and experts in small castings. Some of our people have families who have been working in bronze casting for centuries.
If you would like to know if its possible to make something, just send us an email or call us. One thing we have learned in this industry is: you will never know if your idea is possible until you ask.
If something bespoke is what you or your organisation are after, the next step is to get in contact with us.
Process to create your bespoke product
Step 1:
Creation of a model from which all future production will be created. Think of this as the most important component of the entire process. A mistake here flows through to all other processes and may result in us having to start from scratch.
Step 1a:
If you have the exact model in the exact size you want, we are able to use that to create the master model.
Step 1b:
If you do not have the exact model you want to create, our artists it drawn in 3D from photos, drawings and descriptions. We then print it in 3D using either plastic or metal. Alternatively, we get artists to create the master model by hand from wood, cement or any material that works. As long as it's a strong material that can handle transport. This model is likely to be destroyed in the process of making the master mold and all other master molds.
Step 2:
Creation of master mold, usually made from styrofoam and wax like the teddy above. This is used to create the master mold for the wax molds. This mold will be used to create any new master wax molds should the master wax molds become worn out from use.
Step 3:
Creation of the master mold for the wax molds. A singular product can require several different master molds for each wax component. For example our 20cm crab requires 5 different molds to make each wax mold.
Step 4:
Creation of the wax molds that will be burnt away in the lost wax process leaving a void that we can fill with bronze/brass whatever other metal they want.
Step 5:
Coating the individual wax molds in multiple layers of clay and sand, with each layer becoming coarser and coarser. The first layer is less than 0.5mm thick. By the time the process is complete, the layers can be up to 5cm thick.
Step 6:
Firing the wax and clay and sand molds to burn off the wax. The process heat the molds up to approximately 1000 degrees celsius so the molten metal pours into them freely. Cold molds solidify the molten metal before they can be filled and they will often explode from water being inside them.
Step 7:
Mixing and melting the bronze, brass, copper, aluminium, zinc, tin into the specific recipe your bespoke product requires.
Step 8:
Pouring the molten bronze, brass or whatever metal you want into the 1000 degree celsius clay molds the instant they come out of the furnace.
Step 9:
Waiting for the molds and metal to cool down and then removing the clay and sand surrounding the pieces.
Step 10:
Not every cast works, some are rejected and will be recycled into the next batch, some can be repaired and some will come out of the molds exactly like we planned.
Step 11:
Now its time to finish each piece. For a gold finish, there is lots of sanding and polishing. For a matt gold finish there is less polishing. For an antique finish, once they are polished to a high shine gold finish, they are then chemically treated and heated to give the brown look. There are many ways to finish the raw bronze.
Step 12:
Some pieces require painting and its now that we will do that.
The above is just a quick overview of each of the steps required to create unique, recyclable forever bronze or brass pieces. The process isn't cheap but you are getting a product that has been created to last forever and can be recycled forever.