The four dragon parts must now be cast in silicon bronze.

The large upper quarter was reassembled in wax from the two moulded parts. This piece was cast in my large 5×10 inch steel flask which requires about 4.2 kg of investment. The pictures below show the preparation to cast one half of the skull. The lower quarter fit into my 4×10 inch steel flask that requires 2.5 kg of investment. The bronze required for this half of the skull is about 1.2 kg.

The parts, when cast, are assembled by braising or welding them together with bronze coloured silver solder. This is a hard solder that melts at 766 degrees Centigrade. I separated the teeth slightly from the original model so as to show an open mouth. The brazing silver solder was applied to the joint at the back of the skull.

The two halves are assembled into a complete skull. When the top of the skull was assembled in wax the alignment of the wax parts was not exact. This led to a slight gap in the front of the skull. This will be filled with additional metal.

Once the skull is repaired and fully chased it will be cleaned and polished. The next posting will show the finished skull and the mounting of the piece into a work of art.