PROJECTS ON THE GO

I created this page to educate all you WOODCHUCKS out there frolicking about in the Enchanted forest. There is another medium to work with other than wood ,they call it metal!

Here are a few pictures of projects I currently have on the go. I am in the middle of building a 6x20 metal lathe with screw cutting capabilities (pictured below). I put this project on hold for a couple of years (as I am notorious for doing) to seek out other creative adventures, I already own a Taig jewelers lathe which is a mere 9" between centres ,a gem of a little machine but too light for the type of work I have elevated to.

I recently completed a foundry furnace/forge , I am able to melt 10 lbs of aluminium in 15 minutes from a cold start , my homemade crucible is fabricated from 2x2x1/4 angle iron with a 4x4 piece of flat bar welded to the bottom it holds approximately 1/3 cubic feet of molten metal , that doesn't sound like a lot but it's 60 lbs ,and that's a challenge to lift by yourself when hanging in the end of a 4' rod at 1400 degrees Fahrenheit . I'm using 125 mesh silica sand and fireclay for my green sand it is mixed 22 lbs clay, 100 lbs silica, 6 lbs water. My first casting was plain and simple ingots from a muffin tin they weight exactly 8 oz that's 1/2 lb pretty handy measurement eh? My burner is made from 1 1/4" gas pipe 12" long with a 2" - 1 1/4" reducer I am using propane for a fuel source . Here are some pics and one of a melt in progress. There are some very informative web sites out there regarding metal casting. Just be careful this stuff is DANGEROUS with a capital D!!!!!

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