Monday, May 9, 2011

mind whupped

My crucible came in this morning. Can't wait to get a good melt. Have to 'season' it first but then, Look out! Dio is gonna make sumpin!
I also picked up another 50 lbs of casting sand so needed something a little better than a couple of 5 gal buckets to keep the stuff in. I decided to make my sandbench before the stuff got here so I would have something to put the new sand into, straight away. This is said bench. That is half of a 55 gal drum (old antifreeze drum) and a mess of 2X4's. After I took the pic, I added a shelf to it and put a lid on it (to keep cats and bugs out of the sand). It's gonna live life outside under cover.

From another angle and Ol' Blue is in the shot. Yuppers, thats the MIG I acquired a few years back. Beat to hell (was in a box in pieces when I got it) but runs and will weld 22 gauge up to 3/8" (and With patience could do 1/2")



And here are the lifting tongs for the new Crucible. This is the first go round. I wasn't real happy with my original idea when it met reality. That, and thinking that I am going to want slightly larger rods for the handles. A 4lb crucible and 10lbs of Aluminum that are hovering around 1500 degrees, better safe than sorry. I will cut these apart and make something else out of them later. (maybe fire tongs or something)


Thats one aspect about my 'hobby' that I love. There is really NO waste, ever. The dross biscuits make great paving stones, the clinkers from the furnace end up as gravel in the drive; something doesn't quite measure up, in the scrap box, not the trash. It will remelt, bend, cut, or be incorporated into something else later. The only trash I have are chips and grindings and those all go into a different boxes for recycling. (aluminum separate from the iron!!!!!!! trust me on this one!)(I have tried to remelt aluminum chips but they generate WAY too much dross from all of they oxides they have ) Even wood will get reused, either to heat the shop or melt something if it doesn't get used as a something else. No waste. (though I am sure that the EPA would say otherwise since I use coal for my furnace. LOL)


NO politics or situational analysis today. I have had my head figuratively in the sand today. Will play catch up tomorrow.

1 comment:

Spud said...

Yup, those look a bit lite for the job, Don't hurt to overkill on safety.