He shut off the gas and
unplugged the blower. "The top," he said, handing Oliver a pair of
heavy gloves and pointing. Oliver worked the top over one edge of the
drum, tipped it down, and rolled it onto three bricks.
George reached into the furnace with the long tongs. He lifted the
crucible from the furnace and walked with careful steps to the flask.
Holding the lip of the crucible over the flask, he tipped his body to
one side. The bronze poured like golden syrup into the hole where the
wax had been, quickly filling the mold.
George lowered the crucible back into the furnace. After the roaring,
it seemed unusually silent. "Intense," Oliver said. "Now what?" George
picked up the hot flask with the second pair of tongs and dropped it
into a bucket of water. There was a burst of sizzling and bubbling, and
it was quiet again.
"The temperature shock weirds out the investment. It changes state--to
a softer stuff that we can get off the bronze." George poured the water
into his bathtub and refilled the bucket with cold water. "Still hot,"
he said.
They drank wine while the flask cooled. When George could hold the
flask, he pushed the investment out of the cylinder and chipped at it
with a screwdriver.
Pages:
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38