Lomax, Lawrence2010-10-202010-10-202010-102003Lawrence, L 2003, 'A practical method to determine meaningful permeability values for ceramic shell moulds used in the bronze casting process.' South African Journal of Art History, vol. 18, pp. 58-63.0258-3542http://hdl.handle.net/2263/15050Article digitised using: Suprascan 1000 RGB scanner, scanned at 400 dpi; 24-bit colour; 100% Image derivating - Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS3 - Image levels, crop, deskew Abbyy Fine Reader No.9 - Image manipulation + OCR Adobe Acrobat 9 (PDF)This paper proposes a pragmatic means to evaluate the degree of permeability of different ceramic shell moulds using a low cost practical method as compared to a more sophisticated hot permeability method. The proposed method makes use of a blind riser as a "barometer" strategically attached to a mould to measure the different heights attained by molten bronze when poured into the mould in question. By arithmetic calculation the height of the bronze column in the blind riser gives an indication of the permeability of the ceramic shell mould under investigation. The permeability values thus obtained could be useful as an indicator to determine the number of risers that will provide sufficient air-vents for the moulds during a bronze pour.6 pagesPdfenArt Historical Work Group of South AfricaArtBronze casting techniquesPermeability of ceramic shell mouldsLow-cost bronze-casting methodsSculpturePottery, South AfricanPottery moldsShell molding (Founding)CeramicsBronze foundingBronze castingsArticle