Bell metal - dhokra art steps
Dhokra art Steps:-
- Finding the wet muddy clay from near river and making mold model structure of the piece that needs creating by mixing hay with the clay and drying it.
- Putting another layer of wet clay and drying it.
- Putting a final layer of mud to fill cracks and drying it.
- Finish polishing the model with sand/emery paper and other tools.
- Getting the beeswax and melting it with coal tar so that wax does not dry out and become hard, this soft wax is black in color and is made into threads of different sizes using various tools.
- Putting a layer of crushed lima bean leaves so the wax would stick to the clay model.
- Covering the model with soft wax and using different threads to create the intricate desired shape and design of the finished model.
- Covering the model covered in wax and threads with wet clay and dried.
- Making a funnel-like channel for the molten metal to go inside the model.
- Covering the model with red clay from termites home and dried.
- Covering the model with wet mud to fill up the cracks to reduce the spillage of molten metal disturbing the shape of the model.
- Melting the brass, nickel, and zinc together to create the molten bell metal in a furnace for hours.
- Heating the dried model in a furnace so the soft wax is evaporated leaving the space in between clay for molten metal to go inside.
- The model is taken out of furnace which is piping hot and red in color and putting the molten bell metal inside through created channel and covering the model for cracks that may have been caused during evaporation of wax and heating of clay model.
- The model is left to be cooled down for hours before breaking the layers of terracotta clay using the hammer and other tools.
- The remaining clay and impurities is scraped off using various tools such as iron brush and sand/emery paper.
- The model is then buffed using polishing tools to create the desired finish and shine into the products.
