Yup, I am suppressing the gag reflex today. Ain't got nuttin to tawk'bout. I started tappin out a post about three times today and if it weren't a reflection of someone elses blog or just gettin gnarly about current conditions, it was hollow. Even the posts about those things were pretty hollow.
Maybe its a form of burn out. Dunno.
Don't care too much right now either.
Its hot, the air isn't moving much at all and believe me, when you are standing in front of a furnace melting metal (as I did for about 5 hours today) 100 degrees adds up really quick if there isn't a breeze. Granted, gettin away from the furnace made the ambient air feel like air conditioning for a few minutes. The real issue was not being able to shed the sweat through evaporation. Luckily, there is a really nice little creek running right there and sticking most of me in it on occasion made life completely bearable.
Up side? I now have 50 lbs of completely 'rendered' aluminum ready for casting when I need it. 1 1/2 lb ingots that stack really nicely in my new crucible. Cleaned using the degas/flux stuff I got (which is really cool to watch working!) and of course, LOTS of heat.
To say I am bushed is an understatement. Heat will kill your stamina quick like.
I will be back with something of substance tomorrow when my brain stops sizzling.
Showing posts with label hot metals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hot metals. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
New casting sand arrived today
I splurged and purchased some Petrobond casting sand recently. It finally arrived today.
I can tell from handling it that I will have fewer casting problems. The stuff I made was fine but it was temperamental as all get out. I had to re-temper it for every cast; whether that was a week apart or 5 minutes. Even then, there were some casts that failed due to sand issues. This new stuff should alleviate that problem. And its finer grained! Woot.
I am going to hang on to the old stuff since it works just fine for Foamcasting. I never had issues using that method. While it is a fine method for making one off parts, its rather sucks for multiple pieces. Hard to get consistent sizes. I know that GM was/is using that method for making aluminum blocks but they have a machine that makes the foam blanks.(you can see the foam bead impression on the Saturn engines. Kind of cool to look at if you are someone that enjoys that kind of things) Utilizing that, they won't have the problems of consistency. I am just a little guy that tinkers, no room for multiple pieces of gear for one end result.
Gonna take some pics of the project I am working on and post them here. It's a Press for working on the newer style compound bows. My cousin has paid well for it and is still getting a deal over a factory built one. The last parts needed will be the castings I am working on now.
Still working on the house though with the cold upon us, that has taken a bit of a back seat. Time enough for that when spring rolls around.
Not much to talk about from the political front. Same old same old. Feel like shifting gears for a bit and just talking about hobbies and skills. I am sure that once the new group of Cons swear in (with their fingers crossed behind their backs) things will pick up again.
I can tell from handling it that I will have fewer casting problems. The stuff I made was fine but it was temperamental as all get out. I had to re-temper it for every cast; whether that was a week apart or 5 minutes. Even then, there were some casts that failed due to sand issues. This new stuff should alleviate that problem. And its finer grained! Woot.
I am going to hang on to the old stuff since it works just fine for Foamcasting. I never had issues using that method. While it is a fine method for making one off parts, its rather sucks for multiple pieces. Hard to get consistent sizes. I know that GM was/is using that method for making aluminum blocks but they have a machine that makes the foam blanks.(you can see the foam bead impression on the Saturn engines. Kind of cool to look at if you are someone that enjoys that kind of things) Utilizing that, they won't have the problems of consistency. I am just a little guy that tinkers, no room for multiple pieces of gear for one end result.
Gonna take some pics of the project I am working on and post them here. It's a Press for working on the newer style compound bows. My cousin has paid well for it and is still getting a deal over a factory built one. The last parts needed will be the castings I am working on now.
Still working on the house though with the cold upon us, that has taken a bit of a back seat. Time enough for that when spring rolls around.
Not much to talk about from the political front. Same old same old. Feel like shifting gears for a bit and just talking about hobbies and skills. I am sure that once the new group of Cons swear in (with their fingers crossed behind their backs) things will pick up again.
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