The Pour Floor

Madd Castings heats their metal with electricity by using a 125 kilowatt solid state induction furnace made by Induction Technology, a company based in California.  Using electricity prevents any unwanted gasses to be pulled in to the melted bronze.  The castings are cleaner than the traditional gas- fired furnaces. Also, the time it takes to melt the bronze is much faster.  It takes only 22 minutes to melt 300 pounds of bronze.  The shells go into the kiln to be heated back to 1600 degrees because it takes 30 to 45 minutes while the metal is being melted.  When the bronze and the kiln are at the required temperature, the kiln is opened and the shells are removed and placed in the pit. The pit is a steel box filled with gravel used to retain heat and allow us to prop the shell up.  The transfer crucible allows the staff at Madd Castings to get the molten bronze from the melting coil into the hot ceramic shells. The transfer crucible is heated to 1600 degrees and is then placed into the shank handles which are locked down.  It takes two people to operate the shank handles.  One person holds two handles and is in control of the pouring while the other person holds one handle and operates the crane that pours the bronze out of the melting coil. The melting coil is a square box that contains the heating coils and crucible that pivots to allow the bronze to be poured out.  The molten bronze is poured out of the melting coil and into the transfer crucible and then poured to fill the hot empty shells.  The shells are covered to control the rate that the artwork is allowed to cool.  After 45 minutes the bronze filled shells can be removed and taken outside to cool further.