Gating up and a dip

I'm going to the foundry weekly to check on things and make sure things are looking good and that we are progressing on the sculpture.  This week I saw that many of the waxes of the praying man were gated up. This means that wax rods were put in place for the gases to escape. Pouring cups were added as well. Then each of these pieces are dipped, many, many times. Depending on the humidity this can take several days. Other molds are having wax brushed in them. Still others are almost ready for a metal pour.  The many pieces of the sculpture are in various stages of the foundry process.

The gated up pieces  of the praying man wait on a shelf.
They must be dipped many times. 

The floor is gated up and ready for pouring. The wax
sits in their molds while they awaiting the dipping. 

In another area the wax arms of the chair are waiting my approval. 

The inside of the bible and bottom of chair receive
many coats of wax.  

This video shows the dipping process of another sculpture. I was not at the foundry at the time they were actually dipping the praying man sculpture. The sculpture is dipped in the slurry mixture and then covered with a sand mixture. A shell is made both inside and out. The shell must hold the detail of the sculpture, and be strong enough to withstand the metal that is poured into it.