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While
the wood sculptors were busy in the field, Mike Davies
worked with pupils from the three schools in Caerleon
to produce moulds for an iron pour.
As
the pour was to take place on Friday 13th, superstition
was the chosen theme.
During
the design stage pupils sketched out their ideas.
Mike, Tenby based sculptor and blacksmith, guided
pupils with the technical aspects of achieving successful
open moulds.
Next,
patterns were made with modelling clay and foundry
lettering. Moulds were then made with fine sand and
bonding agent. These were hardened with a special
gas. The final stage of producing the mould involved
coating it with a graphite shell to prevent the iron
adhering to the surface of the sand.
All
that was needed now was some molten iron to pour into
the moulds!
Friday
the 13th lived up to the weather forecasters' predictions...
but the heavy rain did not dampen Mike's determination
to see the project through. With the aid of a team
from the West Wales School of Art, the furnace was
successfully fired up and the molten iron was poured
into the nineteen moulds.
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