On Oct 19, 11:43 am, Andy Dingley wrote:
On 18 Oct, 15:52, Clint Sharp wrote:

Brass is a pig to cast. Bronze is _so_ much easier.

I know bronze is fairly easy to work with, what are the pitfalls with
brass? I've been told it was fairly straightforward.

It's straightforward to "cast" it, harder to get a reliable pour in
such a long thin section as this.

It also depends on your brass alloy. It's easier if you have something
that can be taken to a higher temperature (without dezincing) and
remains fluid to a lower temperature. Tin bronzes will generally be an
easier route to this than zinc brasses.

The sample was cast. Perhaps it was cast upside down like this:
http://i33.tinypic.com/2ijpvr7.jpg

except that the middle part of the hinge is thicker than the wall so
the pattern would not extract easily:
http://i37.tinypic.com/23lftd2.jpg

I'd prefer to cast it. I'm still waiting for a photo of the real
original box.
If I could get a solid block of brass that size I'd just mill it out.