11-22-2012, 04:23 PM
Theres no reason to limit yourself in materials or technigues, lost wax is good for castings with undercuts effectivly there would be no seams but is time consuming for complex objects unless you can produce the waxes by casting them, for mass production the moulds themselves may have been two piece and used more then once for some items(clay moulds are no good for casting wax), see Tortoise brooch moulds in "Ribe Excavations 1970-76"(again early Medieval but some mention is made of similar iron age moulds)
Masters could be made for press moulding in any easily worked material, any kind of metal although lead/alloy is the most obvious, any finished bronze item without undercuts could act as a master, some kinds of wood, bone, Antler(including moulds), some kinds of wax, some types of stone, soapstone is good for some basic shapes(also for basic moulds)
In more recent times slate was used for moulds for highly detailed white metal flats(two dimensional toy soldiers), this method is at least as old as the Viking age town of Birka... and not forgetting cuttlefish bone...
But some materials are obviously more suited to the work depending on their availability, what you want to produce and what is known to exist in the archaeology.
Masters could be made for press moulding in any easily worked material, any kind of metal although lead/alloy is the most obvious, any finished bronze item without undercuts could act as a master, some kinds of wood, bone, Antler(including moulds), some kinds of wax, some types of stone, soapstone is good for some basic shapes(also for basic moulds)
In more recent times slate was used for moulds for highly detailed white metal flats(two dimensional toy soldiers), this method is at least as old as the Viking age town of Birka... and not forgetting cuttlefish bone...
But some materials are obviously more suited to the work depending on their availability, what you want to produce and what is known to exist in the archaeology.
Ivor
"And the four bare walls stand on the seashore. a wreck a skeleton a monument of that instability and vicissitude to which all things human are subject. Not a dwelling within sight, and the farm labourer, and curious traveller, are the only persons that ever visit the scene where once so many thousands were congregated." T.Lewin 1867
"And the four bare walls stand on the seashore. a wreck a skeleton a monument of that instability and vicissitude to which all things human are subject. Not a dwelling within sight, and the farm labourer, and curious traveller, are the only persons that ever visit the scene where once so many thousands were congregated." T.Lewin 1867
