Hi Roderick Contrary to John's advice, you do NOT need to cast bronze. You can buy bronze sheet in many thicknesses. You will need to go to a specialist metal supplier and it is quite expensive. The supplier that I have used for four sundials lists 12 different varieties of bronze. I cannot remember which variety I used, but I could probably dig it out for you from my files.
Bronze can be easily and accurately cut by water jet. (Don't try to cut with a hand saw - it is very hard). It can then be photo-etched, which gives beautiful results. The only significant issue with the material (like brass) is protecting the material from birds until the metal gets naturally patinated. This can be done by occasional application of micro-crystalline wax (e.g. Renaissance Wax). You can also chemically patinate the surface, but personally, I have not found a patinating colour that I like. I am presently thinking of CNC engraving a bronze dial, but - as yet - have not risked the expense of a botched job! Bronze or Brass.... bronze is harder to obtain and work but very durable. Brass (obtainable in 12 different varieties) is generally a more friendly material to work but less durable. Good luck Kevin Sent from my iPad > On 6 Jun 2017, at 22:35, John Carmichael <[email protected]> wrote: > > Brass is used when you need a metal that can be easily tooled and manipulated > (bent, drilled, hammered, cut, engraved and soldered) and is available in > many shapes and specialized pieces (rods, strips, tubes, angles, wire, cable, > screws, nuts, washers, finials, knobs, etc.). Your hardware store has a wide > selection of brass pieces and very little in bronze. Use brass if you want > to construct a sundial that needs these pieces and requires assembly, and if > you want to make it yourself. Bronze is used when a casting is required > without much assembly. It requires an expert to cast it, and it’s > expensive. (Like Chris Daniel’s cast bronze dolphin sundial statue in > Greenwich) > > There are other arguments for and against each metal, but I think these are > the most important ones. In my own view, The color of the patina is not > nearly as important as the other considerations I mentioned, since they both > weather well and aren’t damaged by rust. > > Best wishes > > > From: sundial [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > [email protected] > Sent: Sunday, June 4, 2017 6:58 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Brass or Bronze for Sundials. > > Hi all, > > For a sundial that will be out in the weather. What is the > advantage/disadvantage of using brass or bronze? > > Regards, > > Roderick Wall. > > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial >
--------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
