Question about switching from sand to ceramic shell molds for our bronze pours

Our shop in Tacoma switched from traditional sand molds to ceramic shell investment casting for our art bronze work about 8 months ago. The before and after on surface finish is insane. We used to spend 15-20 hours per piece on chasing and grinding out sand texture. Now, the as-cast finish is almost ready for patina right out of the shakeout. The detail we can hold on fine features like lettering is way better. But the ceramic process added nearly $3k to our monthly material costs and the burnout cycle is longer. Has anyone else made this switch and found the trade-off worth it for high-detail work?

2 comments

2 Comments

brians271mo ago

Heard a buddy in Portland say the same thing, that the crazy detail was worth the extra cost for his gallery pieces.

milarodriguez1mo ago

My friend's gallery in Seattle uses a local printer for that. They charge about 15% more, but the color matching is perfect every single time.