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Design Resource
Dhokra Shilp
The Bell Metal Craft of Bastar
by
Traditional Lost Wax Technique
Traditional Method:
When the craft was not in its present commercialized form, the method of pouring liquid metal was different. It’s still followed at many places in the interiors of Bastar.
While making the model, a separate pot filled with a sufficient amount of brass scrap is made. One side of the pot is kept open, which is then joined to the channel of the model and is fixed permanently with clay. It is then kept in sun to make it dry.
It follows the same process of casting and firing. When the model becomes red hot, it is lifted from the wooden furnace and turned upside down, which makes the liquid metal flow inside the model.
It is then cooled, broken down and cleaned to give it a finishing look.
This traditional technique is supposed to give more intricate results than the commercial one.
