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Cast Bronze Plaques

K

kstrauss

Super User
Hopefully this is a good place for this question.

I am involved in a project that will require a dozen or so cast bronze plaques approximately 12x18 inches and with about 100 words of raised text on each. What companies (ideally in the Toronto area but definitely in Canada) should I contact for pricing info? Final decisions won't be until at least 2026 so I'm currently just working to prepare a list of potential suppliers.
 
140mower said:
@trevj any insight here? Is the foundry that you garnered those seconds from still in business?
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I'm pretty sure they were gone, well before I left Edmonton.

When I left Edmonton for Cold Lake, in 2004, there were still two smaller non-ferrous foundries operating.
Dunno if either survived the calendar time, but I would suggest contacting any of the Memorials places (gravestones, and the like) to see if they have any contacts.

Have to be cast? I used to make a lot of retirement and presentation plaques using a CNC Milling machine. It would not be too much of a stretch to get creative masking the plaque with CNC cut blasting mask, as is used to etch headstones, and shot blast the background surfaces to come out looking very much like cast.
 
trevj said:
I'm pretty sure they were gone, well before I left Edmonton.

When I left Edmonton for Cold Lake, in 2004, there were still two smaller non-ferrous foundries operating.
Dunno if either survived the calendar time, but I would suggest contacting any of the Memorials places (gravestones, and the like) to see if they have any contacts.

Have to be cast? I used to make a lot of retirement and presentation plaques using a CNC Milling machine. It would not be too much of a stretch to get creative masking the plaque with CNC cut blasting mask, as is used to etch headstones, and shot blast the background surfaces to come out looking very much like cast.
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The project is in the early planning stages so all options are possible. The plaques will be attached to brickwork, outside, subject to possible abuse by vandals and expected to last for at least several decades. Price matters since we will eventually need 50 or more plaques. Any suggestions where I could see an example of your suggested approach?
 
They are in demand here by thieves as Canyon Meadows found out as well as Statues due to the high copper content I’d change it for Aluminum/? and have it anodized or some other process so they will keep their grubby hands off it.
 
kstrauss said:
The project is in the early planning stages so all options are possible. The plaques will be attached to brickwork, outside, subject to possible abuse by vandals and expected to last for at least several decades. Price matters since we will eventually need 50 or more plaques. Any suggestions where I could see an example of your suggested approach?
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I cannot point you at any one site specifically, but I would be willing to bet that the Forums that cover CNC routers and the like, would be a good place to start. They may give you leads to possible avenues for making patterns, to, if you do choose casting.

What sizes are you considering? How many variations in the lettering, or all essentially the same, etc., as this will directly affect the actual costs to have made.

One of the nice things about going the CNC route (whether for production or patternmaking) is the relative ease with which you can customize or change the text between the different Plaques. You also have the whole of humanity's Fonts to pick through, if you want something other than plain block text... changing a CNC/ CAD file is relatively easy and cheap to do, while paying shop rates to have a guy painstakingly lay out different lettering for each casting, is going to add up.

Agree with @Tom O, as far as accessibility and street-rat thieving scum goes. Aluminum will sting a lot less to replace, as well as being substantially cheaper a stock to purchase. Brass or bronze would be far safer in a lobby or other area where access isn't really as easy to get...

Looking at the links you posted, their stuff looks pretty nice! Probably worth running your questions past them about where and how their stuff is made, you might find one of them meets your needs at a decent price.
 
Dan Dubeau said:
I don't know of any foundries that do bronze, but some here might.

Perhaps you could contact https://sculpturesupply.com/ and see if they know any that might do this type of work.
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The same folks that own SSC own MST Bronze. :)

Myros is a great guy, and was behind Metalcraft magazine back in the early 2000’s, if anyone remembers that. They do sand casting, as well as ceramic shell. Maybe other stuff?
 
Since I dug it up yesterday, and MST are great, here’s a finial they cast for us (my day job), to replace a missing one outside at Queen’s Park.

IMG_6856.jpeg

Two identical fixtures hang on the east and west sides of the building.

IMG_6572.jpeg

Couldn’t get the one existing finial off the bottom of the fixture, but I had it on a hoist, so I gave it a good coat of wax (maybe followed by a shot of mould release, don’t remember), and lowered it into into a Starbucks cup full of two part silicone mould compound. Let set, was able to peel it off without cutting, and they pulled some waxes from that to use as sand casting patterns.

IMG_6857.jpeg


Oh, and here’s a run of bronze sconces they just dropped off.

IMG_6855.jpeg
 
Your point about the value of aluminum versus bronze is very well taken. The plaques are planned to be outside and in a park. There will be lights and probably surveillance cameras but that won't deter the scoundrels. I suggested such at an earlier meeting of our committee and the others rejected aluminum. I'll try again with a pitch for anodized. Plus, with the tariffs, Canada may have a surplus of aluminum!

All plaques will be the same size (tentatively 12x18 inches) but with different text on each so no benefits of casting duplicates are possible.

I had considered making them in my home shop using my CNC mill to cut raised letters but hesitate to commit. Perhaps I'll change my mind if the commercial price quotes are too shocking.

Keep the ideas coming!
 
Aluminum and alternatives are worth looking into, but I think the theft issue is mostly a matter of how they are attached. If it's going to take more the a few minutes to remove one I would think that would deter most thieves, especially in a well lighted, surveilled area that is posted as such.

(Or, perhaps wire the back end of the attachment bolts to a fence charger that is triggered by excess movement, and put a well grounded platform immediately in front of it. :eek:)
 
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