Above 1200 Sq/FT Cleaning Up My Shop

[1/2 Cup]

Andy, its nice to do something different for a change, I am sure they all appreciated your company..

 

[drivesitfar]

Handy Andy: sounds like your son and grandsons (I didn't hear about a granddaughter so maybe she doesn't camp or shoot guns or is she in a different son's family?) had a good time and nice that you made time to go for a visit.

so when you mention "now there are seven" are you saying 2 new calves just showed up? does the bull come in to eat when the ladies and little ones do or do you have to feed him separate?

nice work on the muffin making which you are becoming very good at BTW.

hope you enjoyed your rest day (Sunday) cause i'm sure you've got a very busy week of Saturdays on your schedule this week while i'm GETTING ORGANIZED.

Cheers (thanks for the homemade ice tea)

 

[oldironfarmer]

Andy, its nice to do something different for a change, I am sure they all appreciated your company..

We all had a great time. I'm not much for "relaxing", but that was a good day.

Handy Andy: sounds like your son and grandsons (I didn't hear about a granddaughter so maybe she doesn't camp or shoot guns or is she in a different son's family?) had a good time and nice that you made time to go for a visit.

My granddaughter came, along with two foster children my kids are raising. They are new to being out in the country.

so when you mention "now there are seven" are you saying 2 new calves just showed up? does the bull come in to eat when the ladies and little ones do or do you have to feed him separate?

Two new ones just showed up. Where do they all come from?
The bull dines with his harem. Just as in the homo-sapien herds, a dominant female is the herd boss, the guys just hang around.

nice work on the muffin making which you are becoming very good at BTW.

Thank you!

hope you enjoyed your rest day (Sunday) cause i'm sure you've got a very busy week of Saturdays on your schedule this week while i'm GETTING ORGANIZED.

Cheers (thanks for the homemade ice tea)

Now that's it's warm weather I'll keep sun tea brewing for you.

It has rained a little, and more rain promised for today. This morning there was a stiff south wind so I called the fire department and told them I was going to burn. If they had advised against it, I would not have, but the main reason to call is so they can stay calm when willy nilly calls in my brush pile.

West of the shop we cleared about three acres a couple of years ago. Bob piled it up for me, about 30 ft by 75 ft pile.

So I lit it off with a little used motor oil.

Wind is my friend

Getting a good burn. Sometimes the leaves burn off and most of the wood is left. The wind made it hot today.

I lit a couple more small piles in the same area. They did not burn well, but here is a little panorama.

Down wind there is a power line. I was nervous but it was fine.

How was my carbon footprint today?

I guess you could call me bigfoot.

While I was burning a nice couple drove in the driveway and walked to the fence. He asked whether I was burning. I looked around at the fire and said I guess so. She said they were concerned it was a wildfire. I told them it was a good day to burn and they left. They could have left when they saw me out there.

 

[oldironfarmer]

While I was out in the pasture I saw some wood my woodcutter left. A lot to me.

Some in the distance, too. I have pointed it out to him before, but he seems unconcerned by leaving a little. It's a lot to me. But he gives me wood if I ask. He cuts a lot on my place, several hundred cord per year.

I picked this up while I was watching the burn. And used some to melt some aluminum

It was a nice day and we're getting rain now.

 

[power wagon]

but did the nice couple stayed to make sure it wasn't a wild fire,, iam sure they didn't lol

 

[oldironfarmer]

It was nice of them to stop by, for sure. We used to be able to burn regularly but the influx of new neighbors has made that impractical.

I had a nice day today, went to Tulsa to attend a monthly luncheon of old co-workers (the company is long gone) and saw some guys I hadn't seen in many years. They're getting old!

Then went to see my Zumba teacher to finalize my taxes.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Now I have ten calves. Where do the little buggers keep coming from?

Here's an indication of a new calf. The baby is the dark spot to the right.

That's afterbirth. It sheds naturally in a few days, if not it needs to be pulled out. That is never convenient. Later this morning she came into the cow lot so I was able to get close to her. Don't want to ruin a good glove so you grab the afterbirth bare handed and give it a tug. Most of it came out. Hershey was around so I called her over. She was interested in my hand and licked it... clean? Mostly.

I do this so people can eat beef.

 

[JohnDoeRSA]

Where's the "LIKE" button

 

[y'sguy]

Yes, cityfolk don't realize how romantic and lovely it is to live and work a farm everyday.

 

[Craptain]

I do this so people can eat beef.

As a devout beef eater, I thank you. Let me know if you need help.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[dreamingmuscle]

I thank you Sir. The beef burned on the barbee today was delicious!!!

 

[Bob Heine]

I do this so people can eat beef.

Andy my brother, I eat beef so you have a purpose in life. A tiny filet found my plate earlier this evening.

(Sorry, they don't have a dead steer to beat)

 

[Farmall450]

I have been away from this thread for far too long. Used motor oil is the best for starting brush fires, imo. And it is both sad and annoying how noisy/entitled all the city people that move out are. If you want to burn on your property in a safe manner that is your business and no one else's.

 

[Kim wrength]

That's so good.

 

[bolensboneyard]

Congratulations on the newborn!

 

[drivesitfar]

HANDY ANDY: congrats on the new calves. you do know they sell cheap gloves for $1 so you don't have to use your bare hands or a nice pair of gloves for the AFTER BIRTH JOB? in any case thanks for the down and dirty on keeping your cows and calves reproducing so you can keep up your daily routine of feeding them and talking to them.

nice to hear you have a monthly get together with guys you used to see daily years ago.

looks like it's not only SUNDAY, but it's EASTER.

have a restful or HAPPY EASTER!!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Where's the "LIKE" button

Yes, cityfolk don't realize how romantic and lovely it is to live and work a farm everyday.

It is, and on a wonderful still morning, the opportunity to get close to your livestock is a true joy. And a good dog is worth her weight in gold.

As a devout beef eater, I thank you. Let me know if you need help.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Help as in pulling out afterbirth? I offer a very attractively priced "Introduction to the Care and Feeding of the Bovine Species" if you're interested. You are guaranteed to learn things you never knew you wanted to know.

I thank you Sir. The beef burned on the barbee today was delicious!!!

Hmmm, you live close enough to buy some home grown beef. Do you fatten your own?

Andy my brother, I eat beef so you have a purpose in life. A tiny filet found my plate earlier this evening.

(Sorry, they don't have a dead steer to beat)

Being the world traveler you are I figured you were having equine filets. Thank you for giving me a porpoise in life. I'll build a pool.

I have been away from this thread for far too long. Used motor oil is the best for starting brush fires, imo. And it is both sad and annoying how noisy/entitled all the city people that move out are. If you want to burn on your property in a safe manner that is your business and no one else's.

I suspect new motor oil is just as good, but I'm too cheap.

Twenty years ago there were three farms on this square mile. We could get together and burn when we wanted. Then the west 320 was broken up, maybe sixty families. Then the northeast 160 sold off 12 to 15 five acre lots along the roads. Several years ago a lady who had moved to the north side of the mile let a fire get out. I went to see, and the other landowner was there. We tried to convince the fire department since the wind was out of the south to just let it burn into the wind and when we had enough fire break we would set my place on fire at the south and burn across the open land. Their job was to put out fires, not avoid more. The lady came over and listened, then apologized to us for letting the fire get away from her. She refused to understand we wanted it to burn and just enjoyed her guilt.

That's so good.

I was looking the other way. What was good?

Congratulations on the newborn!

Thank you, Bobby. As of this morning I think we're up to eleven.

HANDY ANDY: congrats on the new calves. you do know they sell cheap gloves for $1 so you don't have to use your bare hands or a nice pair of gloves for the AFTER BIRTH JOB? in any case thanks for the down and dirty on keeping your cows and calves reproducing so you can keep up your daily routine of feeding them and talking to them.

nice to hear you have a monthly get together with guys you used to see daily years ago.

looks like it's not only SUNDAY, but it's EASTER.

have a restful or HAPPY EASTER!!

I have nitrile gloves in the shop. But this is never a planned job, just when it is needed and the opportunity arises. It really was not worth a trip to the shop (500 ft or so). And Hershey relished her job.

They've been doing the monthly thing about ten years now. I've been four times. I really need to get out more. It is good to see old friends, but I'm a little distressed that several of them seem to be doing nothing except waiting to die. I did not work all those years for that kind of retirement.

Sunday, Easter, and April Fool's Day all in one. Of course the coincidence of Sunday and Easter seems to happen every year. Easter lands on a particular day every 11 or 22 years. I was born on Easter Sunday and have had my birthday on Easter only about four times. Next is 2022 then 2033. What was your question?

Thanks for stopping by guys!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Saturday I got around and put Bob's bucket on instead of the bale spike and collected firewood. This is some he fell but did not cut up.

Clearing the trees has let the grass start growing. And wildflowers by the millions.

Not a bad haul of firewood for an hour's work. Now I need a splitter. Or get my home made one operational.

Here's my first aluminum wrench. It's for the Craftsman wood lathe chuck nut.

Still needs some cleaning up.

I cast another trivet today. Did not make a good impression. But Bob says I never make a good impression.

I think my sand was a little wet. And the S did not fill out completely.

The back.

This one is good enough to use until I make a better one so I cut through the gates and will clean it up. i'm thinking black paint with lettering sanded to bright metal.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Andy, that is a decent load of firewood, how long does it take you to go through that and is it your primary source of heating?

Now that is a fine example of a wench.

With your trivet black and highlighted letters would look good..

Regards

 

[Guster]

Scanning the page to see where I last read up to and I saw the brush fire photos thinking "oh no... not again". Relieved to read that you were just clearing scrub.

Good to see your casting coming along too. Definitely time to test a trivet!

I had need of a forge this weekend but not enough time to work on mine. Just a small job making a new cam lever for the lever cap on a Stanley #60 block plane. Really need an anvil too. Stacked a few firebricks on the workbench to make a small cavity to fire the LPG burner into... worked well enough and my dad was happy with the fix.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Andy, that is a decent load of firewood, how long does it take you to go through that and is it your primary source of heating?

Now that is a fine example of a wench.

With your trivet black and highlighted letters would look good..

Regards

I have a ground source heat pump in the house and electric resistance (portable heaters) plus the wood stove in the shed. The shed heats pretty easily and have only had about ten fires in the new wood stove.

But my new bulk metal melter (bottomless 55 gallon drum) uses 2/3 of a drum of wood with every heat. That's what I collected this wood for.

I need to resand the trivet (had a dirty sanding disc) but it came out OK. I need to do a better job on the green sand molding, I think it was still a bit wet and didn't conform to the small letters very well.

Hopefully I'll get better not bitter.

Scanning the page to see where I last read up to and I saw the brush fire photos thinking "oh no... not again". Relieved to read that you were just clearing scrub.

Good to see your casting coming along too. Definitely time to test a trivet!

I had need of a forge this weekend but not enough time to work on mine. Just a small job making a new cam lever for the lever cap on a Stanley #60 block plane. Really need an anvil too. Stacked a few firebricks on the workbench to make a small cavity to fire the LPG burner into... worked well enough and my dad was happy with the fix.

I tried lost foam casting today. It is incredibly easy. Using the pink building foam (or blue) I cut two pieces, glued them together, put it in the wood lathe and turned a shape for a hand wheel handle. Then paint on some thin drywall joint compound, let it dry, bury it in dry sand and just pour hot metal into it. The foam evaporates and burns and we're left with the shape of the foam. The building board makes a lot better result than Styrofoam. Here's a picture of the finished casting. It had a foil funnel on the left, the right end was down in the loose sand. The sheetrock mud holds the metal in and pops off when dunked hot into water.

Just needs to be cut off and have a hole put through it. A really quick process. I'm going to gear up to make lost foam castings!

A few fire brick and a propane torch works great. As you know

What did you use for an anvil? A piece of heavy plate in a good vise works pretty well. Wish I could send you a piece of railroad rail.

Thanks for the visits, guys!

 

[TwoBytes]

Hopefully I'll get better not bitter.

That's a lot of F words mate!



Looking good.

The sheetrock mud holds the metal in and pops off when dunked hot into water.

I'm following along closely, with great interest, but you lost me there.

Where was the sheetrock mud?

 

[Guster]

I tried lost foam casting today. It is incredibly easy. Using the pink building foam (or blue) I cut two pieces, glued them together, put it in the wood lathe and turned a shape for a hand wheel handle. Then paint on some thin drywall joint compound, let it dry, bury it in dry sand and just pour hot metal into it. The foam evaporates and burns and we're left with the shape of the foam. The building board makes a lot better result than Styrofoam. Here's a picture of the finished casting. It had a foil funnel on the left, the right end was down in the loose sand. The sheetrock mud holds the metal in and pops off when dunked hot into water.

Just needs to be cut off and have a hole put through it. A really quick process. I'm going to gear up to make lost foam castings!

A few fire brick and a propane torch works great. As you know

What did you use for an anvil? A piece of heavy plate in a good vise works pretty well. Wish I could send you a piece of railroad rail.

Thanks for the visits, guys!

Nicely done. Almost like cheating eh?

Foam is also really easy to machine on a CNC router and cuts easily with a hot wire too. So many ways to make stuff like that. I dipped mine in plaster but that's before we had sheetrock mud so that is worth a try. The plaster really helps transfer the detail too.

I used that comically large sledge hammer head of mine as an anvil. I wasn't really beating on it either as the part was small and easily distressed.

For a while here it was illegal to own a piece of rail road iron. Scrappies weren't allowed to take it or other things like man hole covers unless it was from an listed government contractor. Wouldn't even know where to get a piece here if I tried. I'd only seen a few smaller pieces sold online but I think they were the smaller tram or mining rail or something.

Cheap old anvils tend to be worn really badly or missing the strike face altogether else I tend to be outbid by over twice what I can afford. Saw one bought like that by a designer who tried to drill holes in the hardened face in order to fit a glass panel to make an upmarket side table. Friend of his asked me if I could weld nuts on the face for him instead. Told him I could but that it was entirely against my moral fibre. By this time it had been 'dressed' with a large angle grinder to smooth out the 'look' (and hide the drill marks) before being painted.

I'd buy a new one but it is hard to tell if they are worth the money compared to a large chunk of scrap 1045.

PS. Reminds me I need to make time to send you something this week.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Andy, nice work on the foam mould..

Its great to see you trying new methods all the time..

 

[Vieux]

Very cool!

 

[86turbodsl]

Wow, those are some nice castings you're turning out! Very impressive!

 

[oldironfarmer]

That's a lot of F words mate!



Looking good.

I'm following along closely, with great interest, but you lost me there.

Where was the sheetrock mud?

The mud is painted on the part you are casting. It seals the surface and helps pick up details. When you take the casting out of the sand the mud is burned and adhering to the aluminum. A dunk in cold water and it is shed.

Nicely done. Almost like cheating eh?

It is like cheating, and not getting caught.

Foam is also really easy to machine on a CNC router and cuts easily with a hot wire too. So many ways to make stuff like that. I dipped mine in plaster but that's before we had sheetrock mud so that is worth a try. The plaster really helps transfer the detail too.

The CNC router is waiting it's turn. The stuff is really easy to shape by hand, and easily sanded. I love it that everything I try you've done it. Your breadth of experience is great. I have some nichrome wire on order to make a hot wire cutter. I'm assuming it leaves a better finish than an edge tool. Plaster has a short pot life where sheetrock mud just has to be kept wet. I believe the mud also lets more vapors out into the sand than does plaster.

I used that comically large sledge hammer head of mine as an anvil. I wasn't really beating on it either as the part was small and easily distressed.

That's an anvil: anything with a significantly larger mass than the work so the work take the licks. The eye of the sledge would make a nice hardy hole. Methinks you've got your anvil.

For a while here it was illegal to own a piece of rail road iron. Scrappies weren't allowed to take it or other things like man hole covers unless it was from an listed government contractor. Wouldn't even know where to get a piece here if I tried. I'd only seen a few smaller pieces sold online but I think they were the smaller tram or mining rail or something.

The railroads here are pretty jealous of their property, but we have lots of private lines and some of the smaller ones buy scrap rail to use. Then they don't take a good care of it. To mount my caboose I got four 30 ft (10 yards, everything is yards here, 110# rail is 110#/yard) sticks from the refinery I worked in for the caboose. It was abandoned and in a grove of trees and the junkie would not take it. They gave it to me for removal. I only used three under the caboose so I have one stick left. However I've had people give me several short pieces. I think I've made four anvils out of rail. It's OK, but so is a sledge hammer head. What do you do with a stick of rail? (rolled in 1887)

Cheap old anvils tend to be worn really badly or missing the strike face altogether else I tend to be outbid by over twice what I can afford. Saw one bought like that by a designer who tried to drill holes in the hardened face in order to fit a glass panel to make an upmarket side table. Friend of his asked me if I could weld nuts on the face for him instead. Told him I could but that it was entirely against my moral fibre. By this time it had been 'dressed' with a large angle grinder to smooth out the 'look' (and hide the drill marks) before being painted.

A very sad story...

I'd buy a new one but it is hard to tell if they are worth the money compared to a large chunk of scrap 1045.

I have a 45 lb ASO from China someone gave me. I use it a lot in the weld shop area. Didn't want it, didn't think I'd use it, but I do.

A horn is handy sometimes, but you can make a stake to fit in your hardy hole to do most any horn work.

PS. Reminds me I need to make time to send you something this week.

Will I be happy?

Andy, nice work on the foam mould..

Its great to see you trying new methods all the time..

Thank you!! It is pretty amazing that it works so well. I have seen Styrofoam casting on YouTube and had no need to duplicate the efforts I saw. However there are automotive engine blocks being lost foam cast. I see some really good uses.

Very cool!

Thank you, my friend.

Wow, those are some nice castings you're turning out! Very impressive!

Thank you!! I hope this is just the start.

But today I was the bug. (Some days I'm the windshield).

I made a foam pattern to clamp to the hoist pipe at my foundry furnace.

Very pleased with the fit. So I coated it with sheetrock mud and set it aside to dry.

Then I rammed up a sand mold for another trivet, this time for a friend GKF. While I was doing that I put the foam pattern in the toaster oven set on 150F to dry the mud. When I smelled it the foam had all crumpled.

Since I'm using a snap flask for the trivet I've been removing the flask to pour. The mold was about full when I saw the aluminum level go down so I tried to finish filling it. To no avail, the metal had blown out the side of the sand form and leaked out. Here's what the trivet looked like.

A little hard to see, but the mold had filled then a lot of it ran back out, even from the far side. I didn't think to take a picture before moving the mold inside. It was on this concrete cap block.

I was the bug.

Tonight I made a new foam patter, one for each side of the pipe. (If I had a 2" leak clamp I could use it)

Added sprues to them

They'll get painted tomorrow. It is Studebaker Girl's 16th birthday tomorrow and we're going to celebrate in Mustang, OK.

Thanks for the visits!!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Andy, that's a shame that you had a blow out on the mould.

Nice work on the clamp pattern..

 

[driftpin]

Andy, you sure have a lot going on, working a farm. I like your investment casting work. I recall metal shop in junior high school. We did sand casting. I made a nameplate from the hall-pass that the shop teacher had us make for the bathroom trips. I liked reading about your hot work, building the furnace, and operating it.

I didn't read all-through every page from the beginning but I've read a lot from the beginning, and also some at the end.

One of my friends ran a motorcycle aftermarket sales shop for probably 40 years, he's now retired, north of Palm Beach Co. FL. Your brother's about in the middle between him and me, in-terms of distance.

My motorcycle shop owner friend used to run a furnace where he would throw-in all the scrap aluminum from the motorcycles, and melt it and pour the molten material into ingots. He had something that looked like a pinwheel that rotated the ingot molds into position under the sluiceway for filling, it kinda looked like a silk-screening rack for t-shirts, where the shirts are on a round flat rack. I'm probably not using the specific exact metal worker terms, so I hope you understand my attempt to describe it.

He would have all this molten metal in the crucible, and as he poured the aluminum, if he saw a steel bearing race, or some other piece intact in the pour into the ingot, he'd just 'fish' it out with a pair of tongs or a J-hook. Once he got the cooled ingots loaded onto a pallet, he'd go to the Port of Miami FL or Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale international port, at-whose doorstep he practically-was. but I think Miami paid better) and sell it. I suppose it went to India or the Far East. I always thought of that e.e. cummings poem about our sales of our scrap iron to Japan coming-back to us during WW II, not in a nice-way: "it took a nipponized bit of the old Sixth Avenue El in the top of his head, to tell him...".

I wanted to relate a funny story about a college classmate of mine who lived in Detroit city proper when he was starting his family. It has to do, in a way, with your calf afterbirth retrieval.

He and his wife had a son, who was probably about age 5 at the time. He would play with the neighborhood children, and as parents do, when a meal was on the table, someone would go to the stoop, and holler for their child to return home.

I was visiting, and I heard the neighbor calling for her child. At-first I wasn't sure what she was saying, but after hearing it repeatedly, I asked my friend's wife, "what is it that she's saying?"

She laughed, and told me, "yes, you're hearing correctly. When I heard it for the first time, when they came home with the new baby, I had to ask, how-did you choose such a distinctive name?"

The proud new mother told her, "I overheard the doctor talking, and I liked the name, so I chose it!"

What I heard the mother calling to her child: "Placenta! Placenta!"

Now I have ten calves. Where do the little buggers keep coming from?

Here's an indication of a new calf. The baby is the dark spot to the right.

That's afterbirth. It sheds naturally in a few days, if not it needs to be pulled out. That is never convenient. Later this morning she came into the cow lot so I was able to get close to her. Don't want to ruin a good glove so you grab the afterbirth bare handed and give it a tug. Most of it came out. Hershey was around so I called her over. She was interested in my hand and licked it... clean? Mostly.

I do this so people can eat beef.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Andy, that's a shame that you had a blow out on the mould.

Nice work on the clamp pattern..

It is, of course, part of learning. I was taking the flask off to avoid burning it. Now I know why to leave it on. And won't make that mistake again. time is all that's lost, and a bit of propane.

Did better today.

Thanks for stopping in!

Andy, you sure have a lot going on, working a farm. I like your investment casting work. I recall metal shop in junior high school. We did sand casting. I made a nameplate from the hall-pass that the shop teacher had us make for the bathroom trips. I liked reading about your hot work, building the furnace, and operating it.

I didn't read all-through every page from the beginning but I've read a lot from the beginning, and also some at the end.

One of my friends ran a motorcycle aftermarket sales shop for probably 40 years, he's now retired, north of Palm Beach Co. FL. Your brother's about in the middle between him and me, in-terms of distance.

My motorcycle shop owner friend used to run a furnace where he would throw-in all the scrap aluminum from the motorcycles, and melt it and pour the molten material into ingots. He had something that looked like a pinwheel that rotated the ingot molds into position under the sluiceway for filling, it kinda looked like a silk-screening rack for t-shirts, where the shirts are on a round flat rack. I'm probably not using the specific exact metal worker terms, so I hope you understand my attempt to describe it.

He would have all this molten metal in the crucible, and as he poured the aluminum, if he saw a steel bearing race, or some other piece intact in the pour into the ingot, he'd just 'fish' it out with a pair of tongs or a J-hook. Once he got the cooled ingots loaded onto a pallet, he'd go to the Port of Miami FL or Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale international port, at-whose doorstep he practically-was. but I think Miami paid better) and sell it. I suppose it went to India or the Far East. I always thought of that e.e. cummings poem about our sales of our scrap iron to Japan coming-back to us during WW II, not in a nice-way: "it took a nipponized bit of the old Sixth Avenue El in the top of his head, to tell him...".

I wanted to relate a funny story about a college classmate of mine who lived in Detroit city proper when he was starting his family. It has to do, in a way, with your calf afterbirth retrieval.

He and his wife had a son, who was probably about age 5 at the time. He would play with the neighborhood children, and as parents do, when a meal was on the table, someone would go to the stoop, and holler for their child to return home.

I was visiting, and I heard the neighbor calling for her child. At-first I wasn't sure what she was saying, but after hearing it repeatedly, I asked my friend's wife, "what is it that she's saying?"

She laughed, and told me, "yes, you're hearing correctly. When I heard it for the first time, when they came home with the new baby, I had to ask, how-did you choose such a distinctive name?"

The proud new mother told her, "I overheard the doctor talking, and I liked the name, so I chose it!"

What I heard the mother calling to her child: "Placenta! Placenta!"

They say ignorance is no excuse, but Placenta's mom only has that for an excuse.

The motorcycle guy must have had quite a furnace. The Lazy Susan ingot mold holder sounds like a great idea. I need to get my scrap melting improved.

Thanks for your detailed comments!

 

[shortykorte]

Well I think Placenta moved to Tallahassee. It’s been 10-15 yrs ago but there was (is) a lady here named Placenta. Yep I had same reaction.

Andy, the ability to cast parts sure opens up things that one can build. Thanks for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Guster]

The CNC router is waiting it's turn. The stuff is really easy to shape by hand, and easily sanded. I love it that everything I try you've done it. Your breadth of experience is great. I have some nichrome wire on order to make a hot wire cutter. I'm assuming it leaves a better finish than an edge tool. Plaster has a short pot life where sheetrock mud just has to be kept wet. I believe the mud also lets more vapors out into the sand than does plaster.

I have tried a few things in my attempts to learn my way into doing things before the internet came along. Some success and some comic failures… but always learning.

Small batch investment plaster is also just plaster and fine sand with some additives to improve fluxing and thermal stability when fired. But I’m told the sand makes it breathable too which is important for investment casting as it helps when applying vacuum to the flask which helps draw the molten material into the mold cavity which helps reproduce the fine detail. I frequently added sand to bulk up plaster just because I never had enough plaster but I learnt that the sand improved the thermal stability of the plaster significantly. The larger investment stuff use “technical sand” containing zirconium and other fancy minerals in a ceramic slurry but those are required to sustain the temperatures required for steel etc. so it is understandable.

I do like the idea of sheetrock mud as it is handy and very easy to apply compared to plaster. Plaster can be kept fluid longer while it is agitated but also traps moisture which has to be baked out slowly over time which can be frustrating.

You don’t even need nichrome to make a hot wire cutter either. I mostly used musical(piano or guitar string) wire when I was a kid but now use stainless MIG wire as it is way cheaper than nichrome and about as durable as musical wire compared to nichrome. Lot of my more artwork style detail was done with a needle or shaped coathanger wire held in an old electric soldering iron. It does produce a very nice surface with a steady hand and works with templates and other gizmos too. Stiffer(thicker) wire will also hold a shape or profile like the silhouette of an object with which you can make strips of trim mouldings or even used to cut a profile into a round object like a form too on a lathe. Once combined finer wax detail on a foam core to hast a pewter goblet exactly that way. The goblet itself was made in a fixture on a woodlathe… turned by hand against the profiled hotwire.

That's an anvil: anything with a significantly larger mass than the work so the work take the licks. The eye of the sledge would make a nice hardy hole. Methinks you've got your anvil.

The railroads here are pretty jealous of their property, but we have lots of private lines and some of the smaller ones buy scrap rail to use. Then they don't take a good care of it. To mount my caboose I got four 30 ft (10 yards, everything is yards here, 110# rail is 110#/yard) sticks from the refinery I worked in for the caboose. It was abandoned and in a grove of trees and the junkie would not take it. They gave it to me for removal. I only used three under the caboose so I have one stick left. However I've had people give me several short pieces. I think I've made four anvils out of rail. It's OK, but so is a sledge hammer head. What do you do with a stick of rail? (rolled in 1887)

I have a 45 lb ASO from China someone gave me. I use it a lot in the weld shop area. Didn't want it, didn't think I'd use it, but I do.

A horn is handy sometimes, but you can make a stake to fit in your hardy hole to do most any horn work.

Yeah I have used that hammer head a few times but I would love something a little larger sometimes. I am conscious that it might divorce me from family and neighbourhood or limit me to working while they mow lawns etc.

A chunk of rail road that large would work well indeed. I’ve seen that steel sought after for making powerhammer dies, swages and hammer heads amongst other tooling. The older stuff especially as it used to be much better quality. I doubt you could use it up in your lifetime though even if you made a strike surface for every flat surface in your workshop!

I’m quite happy to settle for an import anvil. But I also know it is not practical to own one right now either. I would love to move out of the city when the kids are through school. It is easier now to work from home but I could happily settle for a bread and butter income running a small fab and repair workshop. My wife would love to keep chickens again too.

Will I be happy?

All signs point to yes!

 

[oldironfarmer]

I coated the pipe brackets with sheetrock mud early this morning so they were ready when we got back from the birthday party. A feed cone made from aluminum foil works well.

It's a plastic bucket. I need to learn to keep the pouring spout in the middle of the bucket.

My second successful lost foam casting. When pouring I poured too much and the spill ran to the edge and caught the bucket on fire. Looking for a steel bucket.

I need to check measurements, however. The top face was sanded smooth before being coated. Certainly not smooth after casting.

The other half will get a pin to hold up a warming tray. On the trip today I got to worrying that I made the boss too small for a decent sized pin so I modified the pattern: made a little foam doughnut and glued it to the boss then reglued the sprue on and recoated all.

One of the beauties of lost foam, the patterns are easy to modify.

They fit very well!

These are aluminum castings

I can't wait to get them machined and installed. This is just scratching the tip of the iceberg for what is possible with the lost foam process. I need to learn to seal the joints between sheets but the assembly is strong.

Thanks for the visits!!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Well I think Placenta moved to Tallahassee. It’s been 10-15 yrs ago but there was (is) a lady here named Placenta. Yep I had same reaction.

Andy, the ability to cast parts sure opens up things that one can build. Thanks for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm just going to be really surprised if there are more than one Placenta, unless it has become a cherished family name, of course.

Having a machine shop, welder, and blacksmith shop I could do lots of things, but with a foundry I'm limited only by my time. And I'm really feeling it. Most cast iron machine parts can be made of aluminum or brass or bronze (or aluminum bronze). I have an old blacksmith post drill which needs a table. Cast aluminum painted black would make the mark, but brass polished would do just fine too. I think small cast iron parts were overbuilt to simplify casting and aluminum is adequate in it's place in the same dimensions.

Thanks for the visit!

I have tried a few things in my attempts to learn my way into doing things before the internet came along. Some success and some comic failures… but always learning.



The farther I go the less I know.

Small batch investment plaster is also just plaster and fine sand with some additives to improve fluxing and thermal stability when fired. But I’m told the sand makes it breathable too which is important for investment casting as it helps when applying vacuum to the flask which helps draw the molten material into the mold cavity which helps reproduce the fine detail. I frequently added sand to bulk up plaster just because I never had enough plaster but I learnt that the sand improved the thermal stability of the plaster significantly. The larger investment stuff use “technical sand” containing zirconium and other fancy minerals in a ceramic slurry but those are required to sustain the temperatures required for steel etc. so it is understandable.

I do like the idea of sheetrock mud as it is handy and very easy to apply compared to plaster. Plaster can be kept fluid longer while it is agitated but also traps moisture which has to be baked out slowly over time which can be frustrating.

The chemically bound moisture in plaster which must be cured out slowly makes for a long preparation time and the possibility of catastrophic failure The sheetrock mud is quite porous and works well with vacuum on the bottom of the bucket (and a plastic sheet over the top).

You don’t even need nichrome to make a hot wire cutter either. I mostly used musical(piano or guitar string) wire when I was a kid but now use stainless MIG wire as it is way cheaper than nichrome and about as durable as musical wire compared to nichrome. Lot of my more artwork style detail was done with a needle or shaped coathanger wire held in an old electric soldering iron. It does produce a very nice surface with a steady hand and works with templates and other gizmos too. Stiffer(thicker) wire will also hold a shape or profile like the silhouette of an object with which you can make strips of trim mouldings or even used to cut a profile into a round object like a form too on a lathe. Once combined finer wax detail on a foam core to hast a pewter goblet exactly that way. The goblet itself was made in a fixture on a woodlathe… turned by hand against the profiled hotwire.

Thanks for this dissertation!! I had not considered anything except a straight hot wire. Now you've made me realize how narrow my thinking has become. I've been thinking up ways to make a foam cylinder or cone. A hot ring would surely make a cylinder, and a straight wire with a piece of foam turned on an inclined axle makes a conical section.

I wanted the Nichrome wire to avoid high voltages to get the heat. Through ignorance. I'm wishing I'd tried some of this when I was a kid.

But the cost was nominal, 100 ft of 26 gauge (12v over 24 inches to get 600F) was $5.79 delivered. Unless it only lasts for a few cuts.

So if the hot wire cutting makes for a nice surface, I wonder if I can smear and smooth the surface with a hot putty knife? A paddle on a soldering iron.

I need to get some wax. I have some modeling wax that melts at about 137F but the sheetrock mud would not stick to it. I think I need to try it again anyway (it was on the pattern I melted in the toaster oven).

Yeah I have used that hammer head a few times but I would love something a little larger sometimes. I am conscious that it might divorce me from family and neighbourhood or limit me to working while they mow lawns etc.

A chunk of rail road that large would work well indeed. I’ve seen that steel sought after for making powerhammer dies, swages and hammer heads amongst other tooling. The older stuff especially as it used to be much better quality. I doubt you could use it up in your lifetime though even if you made a strike surface for every flat surface in your workshop!

I’m quite happy to settle for an import anvil. But I also know it is not practical to own one right now either. I would love to move out of the city when the kids are through school. It is easier now to work from home but I could happily settle for a bread and butter income running a small fab and repair workshop. My wife would love to keep chickens again too.



All signs point to yes!

There are reasons I don't live in town, and making loud noises late at night are several of them. I love keeping chickens but have not had any for years.

When you come to visit please plan to stay three months.

 

[dkmc]

Gosh I can't believe there are people out there that watch TV with thread content like this. I haven't in about 8 years now. I'm just grinning each time I check in (daily) and learn a bit more about foundry work, along with all your other interesting exploits. Thank you Andy for taking the time to share your adventures with all of us on this site. It's entertaining, inspiring, and educational.....I'll even say calming and somewhat mesmerizing....without any commercials. Let the big 3 top this.....I dare them. They don't have a clue.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Gosh I can't believe there are people out there that watch TV with thread content like this. I haven't in about 8 years now. I'm just grinning each time I check in (daily) and learn a bit more about foundry work, along with all your other interesting exploits. Thank you Andy for taking the time to share your adventures with all of us on this site. It's entertaining, inspiring, and educational.....I'll even say calming and somewhat mesmerizing....without any commercials. Let the big 3 top this.....I dare them. They don't have a clue.

This much appreciated comment brought to you by Hershey, who will give you a good licking if you don't keep her down. Thanks for commenting!!

 

[y'sguy]

Andy, Great work or should I say FUN on the casting process. It's been fun to watch and learn along with you. I did a little bit of aluminum casting in college and we also used foam as our model. I wasn't going to mention foam to you because I thought what you were doing was supposed to be better. So, I am still reading, watching and learning from you. We are far to swamped with packing and moving to our new/old house with new garage and studio but someday soon I still hope to visit. On order, 2 brooms, a hammer and anything else you may come up with. Also I hope to be able to contribute to the aluminum stock pile. We will see.
You have mostly rekindled my interest in casting too. I'm an artist/designer so I may be drawing and thinking through some design ideas.

 

[Guster]

The farther I go the less I know.

I feel the same way. More I figure out the more I need to learn... or the more I learn, I realise the less I know.

Talking about TV... TV is is much more fun when you can watch Youtube in style. My wife had a good laugh watching Andy hooning in his show truck on the big screen!

The chemically bound moisture in plaster which must be cured out slowly makes for a long preparation time and the possibility of catastrophic failure The sheetrock mud is quite porous and works well with vacuum on the bottom of the bucket (and a plastic sheet over the top).

Thanks for this dissertation!! I had not considered anything except a straight hot wire. Now you've made me realize how narrow my thinking has become. I've been thinking up ways to make a foam cylinder or cone. A hot ring would surely make a cylinder, and a straight wire with a piece of foam turned on an inclined axle makes a conical section.

I wanted the Nichrome wire to avoid high voltages to get the heat. Through ignorance. I'm wishing I'd tried some of this when I was a kid.

But the cost was nominal, 100 ft of 26 gauge (12v over 24 inches to get 600F) was $5.79 delivered. Unless it only lasts for a few cuts.

So if the hot wire cutting makes for a nice surface, I wonder if I can smear and smooth the surface with a hot putty knife? A paddle on a soldering iron.

I always forget you guys have access to things at a scale we struggle to obtain. $5 gets me roughly 4m of nichrome here in NZ unless I find more obscure sources for it. Depending on the length I think the straightest cylinder would come from using a straight wire in a jig like a lathe but for short sections a round wire would be great. Setting the wire angle compared to the bed angle on the lathe would cut cones for days. Many guys make a hotwire setup like a bandsaw and cutting discs would just require a tack on the table like a circle cutting jig on a bandsaw. Alternative is to make two wooden(HDF/masonite works well if you sand the edges smooth) discs as profiles on the ends and follow it with the hotwire - this is basically how I cut the profiled core for my XPS core surfboards and glider wing cores. I'm starting to run out of cat skins(skinning the proverbial cat here)

I have an old home build wood lathe that I sometimes use as a rotary fixture for things like this. Never had a motor fitted or used for actual wood either. First used it to make NERF rockets from solid poolnoodle(EPP) stock using thicker stainless TIG filler wire bent to the rocket profile(bit like a football shape with a tail coming out of it) and glued on EVA foam fins for fletches. Also cut spheres out of it that way to make cheaper NERF ammo for the guys who play scenario paintball(rocket launcers and bazookas). Different colours for different teams etc. Made some bullet shaped ones too but they had unpredicatble flight trajectories. Been toying with the idea to make a rifling tool and fixture to produce 2" rifled ABS barrels for them.

My stainless wire hotwire cutter is 24V max and running a 750mm hotwire at around 12VAC if I recall. It is just a 24v stepdown transformer on the other side of a mains light dimmer. Cheap and easy and if I crank it up the wire glows which burns of the stuck foam gunk.

They make a really nice hotknife used for crafts that is basically a 1"x6" heated blade and used a lot for making foam patterns. I can try and find a link to one for you if you are interested. The other tool using a wire loop to scoop sections out of the surface like a clay texture tool. Used that a lot when making stuff for stage set and parade float type stuff. Probably not as usefull here unless you need to hollow out the styrene block when doing very large castings. Otherwise you can basically use anything you can make to work. My first polystyrene meat tray gliders were made using a needle heated over a candle.

I need to get some wax. I have some modeling wax that melts at about 137F but the sheetrock mud would not stick to it. I think I need to try it again anyway (it was on the pattern I melted in the toaster oven).

I used to ad a little beeswax to my wax to make it sticky enough to use with foam. Again not having access to anyhting like modeling wax I concocted my own depending on what I wanted to do with it. Also found it easy to melt and cast the wax into different shapes to make up the components of the object before modeling it. Found if I painted the cooled but still molten beeswax onto the foam I could get other wax parts to stick to it better too. Nowadays we also have things like superglue - would have loved superglue as a kid. Though the plaster had to go on a bit thicker on the wax parts if I recall as the wax was its own release agent and the watery plaster had surface tension issues on it. I use to wait till it gets a bit gloupier before lathering it on.

I'm told PLA(cheap 3D printing plastic) can be used like lost wax too. Though it leaves crud on the casting if poured direct. It can be burnt out of the mold in a furnace when doing investment style casting. It is very popular with investment casting crowd and another reason I'm keen on making a small electric furnace - other than being able to anneal, harden and temper things too.

There are reasons I don't live in town, and making loud noises late at night are several of them. I love keeping chickens but have not had any for years.

When you come to visit please plan to stay three months.

That would be awesome though 3 months would fly by with all the stuff we'd get up to. You might run out of aluminium too fast and would definitely need a technical writer like Bob to document it for us on GJ.

Almost Saturday here and might be time for a GJ update having started on my 3D printer build.

 

[tym]

Well I think Placenta moved to Tallahassee. It’s been 10-15 yrs ago but there was (is) a lady here named Placenta. Yep I had same reaction.

I give a vast deference to thoughtfully chosen names.

 

[dchance]

Andy casting looks good and it is interesting to watch the lost foam.

Things a person learns as they watch.

Dwight