Antique Restorations, who have been friends of Woodworkers Auction for awhile now, have a division called Brass Foundry Castings. Their line of hardware for restoring those wonderful antique pieces you occasionally find is amazing. They sent us a catalog of their collection some time ago and we have spent hours pouring over it. The work is fascinating. At the end of this article I'll give you a URL for their catalog, or you can order one from the catalog page of our site.
In addition to a great catalog, they were kind enough to agree to let me use any of the information they display on their site. For some time now I have wanted to tell you about the wax process they use to make this authentic hardware, and finally here it is.
Their brass fittings are produced by the lost wax process, also known as cire perdue. It has been used throughout antiquity to create finely detailed objects in metals ranging from bronze to gold.
Each component is individually made in wax and encased in plaster. The wax is then melted out, and molten metal is poured into the cavity. After cooling, the fitting is broken out of the plaster and hand finished.
The castings are mostly direct copies from the original fittings. The blemishes and inconsistencies to be found in the cast reproductions form the character and charm of the collection, and have deliberately been reproduced. Some minor variations may also occur from one casting to another due to the hand made process.
All screw threads are cast in brass unless otherwise stated. Brass Foundry Castings strongly recommends that pilot holes are drilled, and the thread is pre-cut using a steel screw before screwing in the cast fitting to avoid shearing the thread.
The mixture of tin, zinc and copper is made up to a consistency to match the yellow to be found in 18th and 19th century fittings. Each casting is hand polished to a bright finish on highlights, leaving a contrasting matt surface on low relief areas and is supplied without lacquer or wax finishing. The bright finish will naturally tone down to a desirable yellow-gold colour after some months and may indeed have already done so if held in their stock prior to dispatch. Various heat or chemical treatments should be applied to prematurely age the fittings. They tell us that in order to obtain a green-gold antique colour, the brass will fume very well if the catalogue instructions are followed.
All of these castings are done with restorers in mind, and it is understood that some modifications may be required by the client.
You can obtain one of their great catalogs by visiting this URL http://www.brasscastings.co.uk

You can visit their main site at http://www.brasscastings.co.uk. And, do yourself a favor and get a catalog, it's a rare find!
Dave & Gloria
--- sawdustone@earthlink.net
--- http://www.woodworkersauction.com

From: David K. Eller
To: woodworkersauction@topica.com
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2001 12:44 AM
Subject: WOODWORKERS AUCTION UPDATE-8/22/00

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UPDATE TO LIONSPAW FOOT REQUEST

You may remember when Joan asked in the last newsletter where to find lions
paw feet for an antique bowfront cabinet and a replacement leg for a 30's office
desk chair. We missed a very good resource for her. Thankfully, Brass Foundry Castings from the UK read the newsletter and graciously responded
reminding us of their fine line of restoration hardware and supplies. They are
listed in our Link Directory, but you can find them at
www.brasscastings.co.uk In addition, they
have offered to allow us to reprint some of their antique appraisal and restoration information for the newsletter and the Woodworkers Auction. We will be bringing you that valuable information very soon. In the meantime, we
have received their catalog and are totally intrigued with it. We will keep
you updated.

From: David K. Eller [mailto:sawdustone@woodworkersauction.com]
Sent: 28 February 2001 05:55
To: woodworkersauction@topica.com
Subject: WOODWORKERS AUCTION UPDATE-2/27/01

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