3 results for “bronze casting”
Just quoted a small bronze casting, maybe 10 pounds of metal. The foundry's minimum charge is $1500. That's before any finishing work. I had to tell the client it's going to cost more than the actual metal. It’s hard to make a living on these small pieces when the overhead is the same as a much larger job. You end up losing money or scaring people off with the price. Anyone else struggle with this on smaller commissions?
First pour out of a new shell mix went wrong in March. Cold shut on one shoulder, whole piece scrapped. Rebuilt the pattern, remade the shell, and today the sprue cut off with a hacksaw and a chisel and the casting underneath was sound. No porosity, no chasing to hide anything. Thirty years and I still hold my breath on that cut. You never really know what's under there until you're through. Foundry man said it was the sand. He's probably right.
Raised my bronze prices 12% this spring. First real increase in about three years. The foundry raised their cut twice in that span, so I was already eating it. Two collectors who bought from me every couple of years for over a decade both passed. One said "maybe next year." The other just didn't answer. I know that's the math working the way it's supposed to. I still lay awake doing it over. Sixty-seven hours in a piece I sold for $4,800 last year. That's under seventy an hour before materials, before the foundry, before the crate and freight. Raising it to $5,400 should feel like nothing. It felt like I was the one being unreasonable. I keep a ledger from my apprenticeship days. First bronze I ever had cast, the foundry charged me $180. I sold it for $900 and thought I was rich. Same foundry, same size piece now runs me $3,100. Young sculptors ask me what to charge and I don't have an answer that doesn't sound like I'm complaining.