Bronzing Real flowers: Lillac

[@kathleenlundgren6450]

I love the memes you add into the video. The one with Creepy Joe really cracked me up!

[@Davesworkshop-j5h]

Brilliant and inspirational as usual. Keep them coming. 💪👍

[@seedless-bud]

you seem like A stand up dude, You are not only showing us that doing the unthinkable is rewarding, and that thinking out side the box is a beautiful thing... AND I have never casted ANYTHING in my life.... BUT YOU MY FRIEND, YOU are a BAD ASH PERSON! See you on the next one

[@Sludgepump]

Wow! Much better than I expected. I'm going to have to set up a vacuum system. This is just too good to miss out on. Nice going!!!!

[@kenclaro1806]

That is very kick la butt !!!! Great work sir!!!!!! Im wacthin and learning keep em comin!!!!

[@mevk1]

Glad you survived the heat and kick boxing. You did it -that is amazing! Capturing that heavenly smell year-round somehow would be a real miracle. If your casting needs strength, dipping it a time or two or three, in a quart of clear polyurethane would protect and strengthen since it's way thicker than spraying. Electroplating does sound fun, and would be a complementary skill to add to your growing repertoire - besides copper plating, maybe brass, bronze formulas exist too, not to mention nickel, bright zinc, silver, etc.

[@MadMatMetals]

I saw the FB post and I thought NO WAY! But I didn’t say anything out loud cuz I knew if anyone could do this it would be you. Thank you for being awesome!

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Haha. Yeah. When I posted that on Facebook I was looking for people that had done it before and how they got it to work. I think most of the people who commented hadn’t done it before.

[@Omnonymous]

Ive always loved lilacs being in season this time of year.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

The season doesn’t last long. That’s for sure.

[@67JGJ]

it's amazing how the casting can reproduce the flowers so clearly. It surprises me that the flowers on the branch can disappear completely like wax. But now it has been proven that it can be done. Keep up the exciting work

[@stromnessboy5171]

Absolutely amazing work! What a fantastic result. Thanks for sharing your video.

[@djpenton779]

Holy smoke, Lundgren, you are just getting better and better at that! Love it.

[@Gertjan1975]

well done mate, I'm happy to see how fantastic the result is, and never trust the internet, just trust your skills and try it out. I am a big fan of you, your sense of humor, your perseverance and simple way of working. love it.😊 as always greetzzzz from holland Gertjan

[@cindylundgren1924]

Super nice job!!! I love lilacs and you captured so much!

[@Nickscreativestuff]

I guess I would have been on the side of “not possible” before seeing your enthralling vid. Inspiring to watch somebody confidently pushing the boundaries of possibility. How about trying some origami sculptures now we’ve been shown paper thin castings are possible … Keep up the innovative work, great to watch … cheers … Nick

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I’m doing a feather right now. My third attempt seems to have finally worked. I maybe just got lucky on the lilac.

[@Nickscreativestuff]

“A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” - Jim Watkins … Look forward to seeing your Phoenix feather rise … N

[@rat_world]

First time watcher, love how these flowers turned out!

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Welcome to the show!

[@gregwenderski9147]

Incredible work!

[@jasondillard254]

Nice job Lucas

[@Gabriel-e5g3e]

I had no idea this was a thing people did. Absolutely beautiful.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Not many do it but it is a thing!

[@cindystevens6498]

Way to go Lucas! Been watching your videos for a few years now and how far you’ve come! I’m also a self taught bronze artist and I love seeing you push the boundaries and explore and try new things. And sharing the way you do, it’s soooo helpful! This is amazing!

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Thank you!

[@ryanf4106]

>walks in >it cant be done >does said impossible thing >elaborates fully >leaves.

[@NathanNostaw]

For the polishing, it may be worth finding a local wet media blasting workshop and trial it out. I suspect it will get a great smooth soft finish on the bronze as all the alloy car and bike parts Ive seen done come out looking amazing. If it works well, it may be worth making a wet blaster of your own for all the detailed and delicate castings you make.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Interesting. I haven’t heard of those machines before.

[@wikusdp]

Awesome result! Greetings from New Zealand!

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Middle Earth!

[@FranklyWry]

Congrats, on your very well done piece and your attitude.

[@ToeCutter454]

gotta keep doing the impossible! that looks like it'd be great on a shelf behind a desk, i'd mount it on a nice piece of black walnut though!

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Black walnut would be nice.

[@Mistertbones]

Good job.

[@rjv2395]

nice work. I was also going to mention the hair spray or a paint spray before, maybe you need to find a material you can spray to add just a bit of thickness to the flowers so get a little more metal into it. great job, try some lilies or tulips.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

That’s a great idea.

[@henrikstenlund5385]

Again great job, dude

[@paulbragg7618]

I think you could polish delicate pieces like that by using a softer or finer medium in your sand blaster. Very skilled work, well done👍

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I’ve tried using baking soda as a blasting medium but I didn’t find the best results with it.

[@paulbragg7618]

@@lundgrenbronzestudios have you tried nut shell?

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

@@paulbragg7618 I have in a vibrating tumbler but not with a sand blaster.

[@mikesproject4704]

great job

[@Ppo__5]

I couldn't do this if I tried all my life 🤣 You are great ❤️

[@1967250s]

Outstanding! I doubt many people can do this! But now they will try! I hope one day I can do some of what you're doing. I'd like to try casting plastic model cars, maybe built, or cast the plastic parts while they are still on the sprues.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

It has to be the right type of plastic to burn out properly. But castable resin and a 3D printer might be a good option for that.

[@gppl77]

That's really cool! In theory, it's very close to a filigree casting, so definitely doable. But seeing it in practice it totally different thing:) Re polishing - there's such thing as a chemical polishing. Essentially you just dunk the item into an acid and then wash off the residue. With the right combination of acid, its concentration and polishing time it should be possible to polish even such fine casting. Anyways, keep pushing it, you're doing awesome things!:)

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Chemical polishing. I’ll have to look into that.

[@tomrudd530]

seems like from the cactus you cast, it might just work. I had doubts about that one, but full confidence in you now.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Oh I’m sure I will fail many more times but I’m not afraid to fail.

[@tomrudd530]

@@lundgrenbronzestudios I had one more thought about stainless steel ( I told you about the Irwin cobalt drill bits ) if you ever need to grind stainless look for the pink corundum bits for die grinder and dremels. I worked for a company that installed 18ga stainless plates on RVs that was all we used.

[@franklinneely3006]

Amazon like always brother you never disappoint

[@boxley]

Its great to see you successfully problemsolve. I thoroughly enjoyed this. If you were to attach a vent to your kiln to pull air through during burnout, might this help with oxidizing organics? These are routinely used in pottery kilns.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

That might help. I didn’t know that was a thing.

[@joshlintula9457]

Very nice!

[@4coryw]

Great job. I wonder if an ultrasonic cleaner and some media would give it any sort of shine. Also, it might be a decent way to remove some of the investment without sandblasting. I would be afraid of losing some of the detail with the sandblaster. Nicely done!

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

That would be a good thing to try. I know jewelers use those ultra sonic cleaners. I tried one but sent it back because it didn’t work well but it was a cheap one.

[@VistaViews]

2:36 lmfao 😂😂😂😂 Looks outstanding Sir. Personally when it came to putting a protective finish on it I think I would have used an aerosol clear but im far FAR from your skill level so pay no mind to me. Im glad i have someone so inspirational to look up to, whos willing to push the boundaries in the name of art. 🎉

[@rocketman5004]

lmfao indeed 😂

[@froggyman9588]

Great stuff man

[@sgvpotter]

to keep from shifting. you could use dental floss or thin thread tied to a popsicle sticks or bamboo skewers that can rest across the top of the flask. To "tighten" the strings to keep them in place you can just twist the stick and it will increase the tension. Once the investment is solidified cut off the sticks. string is so thin it shouldn't make a visible difference where it was attached. If your brushes are too stiff. my gunsmith (RIP) once showed me to take bronze wool and wind it in a thin metal rod with a slit in it like a cotton swab. its very soft and really gets into tight spaces. if you use regular steel wool it might remove too much material. I'm trying to make casting part of my sculpture class but the logistics are proving problematic with the class times and bus riders, it will probably have to be a saturday thing. Have you ever tried experimenting and making you own investment?

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

That’s a good idea.

[@matthewwigley1613]

Thanks for the video, I learnt so much from it. Have you tried running ground walnut shell through your sand blaster, just shell no sand? You could also try bronze powder, salt, or pretty much anything softer than the casting. You can get a range of blasting media ranging from foam rubber upwards, some impregnated with a range of abrasive grades which would be ideal for gently polishing, or at least you used to be able to, it's a long time since I studied it. If you find any, or even make your own, I'd love to see a video of you using it. I've really enjoyed running through your play list and have subscribed to keep up with you. Take it easy youth, keep truckin', best regards, Matt from the Orkney Isles, Northern Scotland, UK.

[@stevewilliams2498]

Your American Lilock looks very much like our English Lilac. Ours smells good, too.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I wonder if the settlers brought them over from England.

[@TurdFergusen]

Will work.

[@madmartigan4141]

Looks great, I always wanted to try this with a rose, but didn't think it would work. The hair spray is a good idea. Perhaps I will try it...

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

It’s worth a try!

[@GoldMugu]

Wow !! So cool !

[@arimunic]

Not sure if you're familiar but for highly detailed and delicate parts you might be able to use vapor blasting instead of sandblasting. It leaves a far smoother surface finish.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I haven’t heard of that. I’ll have to look into it.

[@NORTH02]

Hello, I am wondering what kiln to buy for burning out wax and making certamic shell castings? Any advice on buying a kiln?

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I don’t know much about kilns but I just got a pottery kiln. They run off of 220 so you may have to do some rewiring if you are not set up for that.

[@NORTH02]

​@@lundgrenbronzestudios I want to cast a full sized skull, I have the skull and I need to make a silicone mold so I can get a wax positive of the mold. Do you have any advice on where to get a lot of cheap silicone? Also, where do I get cheap wax? Sorry for all the questions but thank you so much for your videos!

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

@@NORTH02 cheap is not a word that that goes with this craft. I buy my silicone from Sterling supply and it’s about $120 a gallon. The wax I use is more expensive per pound than the bronze. But on KZbin, the channel smooth on has a great tutorial on how to mold a bear skull.

[@NORTH02]

@@lundgrenbronzestudios ​ What silicone do you use specifically? In that video, he uses Dragon Skin 10 NV which is $200 a gallon. I have a Sterling supply in Minneapolis that I could go to, but if you could tell me the best silicone brand/model that would be great. I checked your Fisher skull video but it didnt say. Thanks again.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

@NORTH02 I go to that Sterling supply in Minneapolis. Get their tin silicone with the pink activator. They will recommend the best series. I think it 1000 series. But it’s just their regular tin bronze. They have a blue activator but they say the pink has a longer shelf life so I get that.

[@RonR2]

I love your videos, you do an awesome job as usual. Just a suggestion for polishing your fragile castings, maybe buying small buffing wheels for your dremel would help... along with some bronze buffing compound. I make miniatures, and it usually works.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I need to get some fine jewelry tools.

[@dontask8979]

Outstanding

[@lkjlkjlljlkjljllkj]

I have a suggestion that might help the shine stage: A very dilute polishing compound in an ultrasonic cleaner?

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I’m need a better ultra sonic cleaner. I tried a cheap one but it didn’t work well so I sent it back.

[@GuyMassicotte]

Really nice one ❤ I would surely try electroplating it.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I do need to get into electroplating.

[@JustAnotherCraftsman]

This is sick :D , it appears, that there is now limit to your casting skill!

[@awldune]

Really an incredible piece! IMO it might be worth trying some other flowers.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I might have to try some more.

[@waliza001]

Looks good. And very very fragile.

[@azuritet3]

Defiantly, like, a 9/10. I'd love to see more experimental stuff. You dipped the feathers in wax and that seemed to almost work. Maybe flowers would work even better dipped in wax.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

That would be worth a try.

[@docolemnsx]

Too bad some of the flowers started taking off with the second blasting, but pretty cool result for just experimenting. Love it when youtube recommends me new content from a growing tuber and I actually enjoy what I see and hear. Good luck going forwards my dude!

[@dannydyer3074]

Wow that's sooooo cool 1

[@Atanar89]

Copper electroplating might work if you want a shine.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

That would be fun to try.

[@mevk1]

@@lundgrenbronzestudios Does sound fun.

[@rocketman5004]

does your investment dissolve in strong acid? if so, that might be better for removing it from sensitive parts than a sandblaster. to avoid dissolving your model (if it does before the investment), you could try putting an electric current on your model. charge the model negative and put a positive graphite anode in the acid to keep a charge flowing. i dont know how well this will work, but hcl is really good, even at lower concentrations of 8%

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

No it doesn’t react to acid. It’s a gypsum based plaster so it doesn’t react to HCL.

[@ThomasFleissgarten]

Hallo mich würde interessieren, wie heiß ist die "flasche" beim Guss, bei welcher Tempertur wird die Si-Bronze gegossen und welche Vakuumpumpe wird verwendet? mfg

[@alibahar74]

Hello i hope you have a good day , i have a question about attaching a bronze piece to a stone , i wanted to know is there any good and safe way to attach these objects since you are pro in bronze work , i taught you could help me...

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Brazing is one option. Welding is another. But thin pieces are very tricky because they melt so fast.

[@alibahar74]

@@lundgrenbronzestudios unfortunately i don't have these options because both of them damage my stone and it's very risky.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

@@alibahar74 oh you meant actual stone. I see. One thing I’ve thought of but have never tried myself is a clear epoxy with bronze filings in it to match the color. Or in this case maybe stone dust. But like I said I haven’t tried it myself. Just a thought.

[@alibahar74]

@@lundgrenbronzestudios do you have a email that i can send you a picture of my product , i tried epoxy too it's not working...

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

@@alibahar74 yeah. [e-mail]

[@chrisjames6349]

The butterflies? They’re on every other Lilac bush, just not yours because they know you’ll try to cast them 😂

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

😆 maybe you’re right. I grew up in the country and now I live in the city. I think that might be part of it.

[@jackfntwist]

We were talking on Instagram about the cactus and all of a sudden I stopped getting responses. What happened?

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Let me look I haven’t been on instagram in forever.

[@Бакстерр]

Очень круто бро, я из России и теперь смотрю есть возможность перевода на мой язык комментариев.Ещё бы твою болтавню ,как перевести.Очень шикарно получилась отливка даже по началу сказал нет,но видимо вакуумник очень мощный, всё получилось,весчЪ

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Hello! Yes tha vacuum chamber is what makes it possible.

[@sgvpotter]

sorry, i added this but you replied before that, not sure if will let you know so i'm trying this. If your brushes are too stiff. my gunsmith (RIP) once showed me to take bronze wool and wind it in a thin metal rod with a slit in it like a cotton swab. its very soft and really gets into tight spaces. if you use regular steel wool it might remove too much material. I'm trying to make casting part of my sculpture class but the logistics are proving problematic with the class times and bus riders, it will probably have to be a saturday thing. Have you ever tried experimenting and making you own investment?

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

No I’ve never tried making investment. I figure I let the professionals do that part and I’ll focus on the metal casting.

[@X3msnake]

You should try eletropolishing for this

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I would like to get into that.

[@X3msnake]

@@lundgrenbronzestudios my tip is to start with bought solutions for learning and buying propylene 1micron filters or some type of filter for the anodes

[@dcmotive]

Awesome. I avoid forums as much as possible. Just always full of 2nd and 3rd hand opinions pushed as facts and useless trolls. Amazing results! I always wonder what an expense running a kiln that hot for that many hours costs. Electricity here is terribly expensive.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I’ve never tallied it up to be honest. But thankfully in America electricity is a lot cheaper than most places.

[@dcmotive]

@@lundgrenbronzestudios Oh man not here. In CA im paying on average over $300 a month and hardly use it. Its terrible. When I lived overseas in Asia, it was like $15 a month for heated floors and running A/C all day. I think its cheaper in the US where they are getting some sweet 'hydro' power.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

@@dcmotive oh yeah, in the, communist country of California everything is super expensive. I live in Minnesota, it’s not that expensive here.

[@DougAskin]

Telling someone they can't do something only makes them more determined to achieve it. I wonder if glass beads polish it, someone told me it does

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I tried some gentile (baking soda) abrasive in the sand blaster but it didn’t seem to work very well. I haven’t tried glass beads.

[@Urathear1434]

Personally, you may want to experiment with glazing with coloered glass.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

That would be an interesting option.

[@leulgedion6446]

ya you can do it

[@konstantinosgnaf]

Awesome, so basically there is not limit on how thin you can cast in investment

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

There is but it’s thinner than a lot of people think.

[@konstantinosgnaf]

@@lundgrenbronzestudios I mean how thick the flowers turned on their thinnest point?

[@noviceartisan]

Would you like me to make you a fancy kiln controller so you can regulate the kiln properly, and control it over wifi with your phones. or via an lcd with buttons? :)

[@noviceartisan]

Btw, I use a big ass ultrasonic cleaner to remove all the bits of investment from my things, and it works extremely effectively. No need to use a sandblaster! For Bronze polishing of fine onjects, i've found using a chemical method is not too bad, just need something to dissolve the outer layers a bit (that and a drop of voltage applied whilst it's in the bath of acid) I've had good look with phosphoric acid adn sulphiric acid, but it's far from a refined thing, they do work well. The NAUGHTY method tho, that will give 100% shiny every time is to cheat like a mother fucker and just give teh outer layer a light electroplated layer of copper (with "brighteners", i think midas is the one you'll have easiest access too), it's very cheap to make the solution up and chems are cheap (copper sulphate, sulphuric acid, water.. brightener and a power supply you can adjust, i use a few but cheapest are like £10 and can control the amps/volts to like 30/5 i think, dont quote me haha) then you can patina over that and then protectaclear. That makes it so shiny you'll go blind from the reflections xD

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

I tried a ultra sonic cleaner but it didn’t work well for me. It was a cheap model. What kind do you have?

[@noviceartisan]

@@lundgrenbronzestudios I skipped the cheapest ones. I've actually got two, ones needing repairing again (bought defective and fixed it once, it worked for years then died with new fault, so got another for now) I get the ones going by litres, the small one I had and used for the last few years is the smallest I was willing to buy due to power and size, a 3l one, and my new (2nd hand salvaged from a skip xD) one is 27 litres xD I very frequently see the larger model ultrasonic cleaners (15l-30l) on eBay and Amazon going between £100-£200, vs the usual price of £3-400+, I think it's cos nobody buys them at that price, so they dump to clear stock. It's just not worth getting a small one if for like 50 more you can get one with 5-10x more capacity, so look around and get the biggest you can. Brands don't really matter on the whole, they're all pretty much the same inside, and fairly easy to repair (and equally impossible to get spares or even repair manuals from teh "official brand" sticker brand that's on them lol)

[@HawkWorley]

I saw the post and it was awesome to see your cast after all the "it won't work" replies.

[@MickTee2k]

Not a bad result for "Won't work". The finished product looks too fragile for practical purposes so maybe you should consider embedding it in a nice deep-pour epoxy.

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

That’s would be a good option.

[@Kinetic.44]

Instead of cremation or a tomb... imagine organic casting

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Lost organics casting.

[@JohnJones-oy3md]

It'll never work and silicon bronze doesn't exist. ;)

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

😆

[@brittanylamb375]

Lol you say "Lie-lock", we say "Lie-Lack"

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

😆 regional accent.

[@albertreed966]

Learn to pronounce the name of the flower...LILAC, not LILOC!

[@lundgrenbronzestudios]

Not where I’m from. Where are you from? Must be regional accent.