Burt Munro.
Indian. Legend Of Speed. By George Begg.
ISBN No: 0-473-08906-8.
Available from your local book store or online through Amazon.

Here's a short excerpt from page 24.
Burt's aim was to cast a cylinder head:

>>"First a foundry was approached and asked how to go about making a pattern and core boxes for casting a cylinder head".

You need a pattern to give the outside shape of the head and as you have to be able to get it out of the moulding sand, it is usual to make this part in two or three pieces. As the cooling fins for instance protrude from each side and from the top you can't just pull a one-piece pattern out of the sand. It has to be removed in sections, one part at a time so as not to disturb the sand in the mould.
A core box is needed so that a passage for the inlet tract is cast into the head to let the mixture of air and petrol get into the cylinder past the inlet valve. Another core box is required to cast in the shape of the exhaust port, which like the inlet port is curved, into the head. These cores, made in a core box, are a mixture of sand and a bonding agent so that they can be placed in the mould and retain their position while the molten metal, cast iron in this case, is poured in.

Casting something like a cylinder head requires a high degree of skill, both by the foundry-man and the pattern maker, as an air cooled cylinder head is one of the more difficult objects with the close spacing of cooling fins and the bosses and projections to mount rocker boxes, carburettor and exhaust pipe. Pattern making is a skilled trade of its own, and to have been able to make these patterns and core boxes shows only one of the diversity of high-level skills Burt needed to acquire.
The patterns being made of wood, and Burt, being reasonably skilled at woodwork, at least had a head start over most laymen.

Doubtless he had his fair share of setbacks, but that is what kept him going. The more difficult the obstacles, the more determined Burt became. The foundry man would no doubt have said to Burt, when he tried to make a mould ready to cast, hat he had this or that problem, and so the pattern would have to be modified, but this is normal in such work.<<


Short excerpt from page 110.
>> Burt had many remarkable attributes that stand him apart from the rest of us mere mortals. Any one of them would have been enough to distinguish him in any society. He was a very skilled rider in a world where there are few. He was a gifted salesman and a gifted designer, being able to visualise the shape of a part and what would happen if he made a modification or designed a new way of doing something. 'Lateral thinking' is I think the modem term.

But the one attribute that stands him alone from most people who knew him was his sheer dogged persistence by never admitting defeat and never saying that something was too difficult for him to do with his limited workshop equipment or never saying he didn't know how to do a task, whatever it was. If he didn't know he just set out to learn. Whether it be a pattern to cast a cylinder head, to make a die to cast a piston in, to design and make a fibreglass streamlined shell or even how to ship a motorcycle to America and then tow it for thousands of miles to reach Bonneville at a minimum cost, it was all just a challenge.

To Burt, the only way to overcome any obstacle was by persisting and learning, and then persisting some more. <<

Note:
I have taken the liberty to reprint the above small portions of text from the book. I found that from the moment I started to read it I could not put it down, if you can acquire a copy, I bet your bottom dollar you'll do the same.

If you have moved on from being a novice to an advanced metal caster, you will understand only to well what Burt went through in his quest to cast - machine and manufacture is own parts (At minimal cost) for his wonderful old Indian Scout, it just proves that if you stick with it and don't give up on your dream, it will become a reality. I hope you can find a copy of the book, it is a great read.

It is called:
Burt Munro
Indian. Legend Of Speed. By George Begg.
ISBN No: 0-473-08906-8.
Available from your local book store or online through Amazon. And no, I'm not making a cracker from recommending this book.

You could be just like Burt Munro... just waiting to get stuck into some kind of project in your workshop.

Perhaps you need some more info to take you to the next step. 

Check out the library page -

We have everything you need to make your start in the art of hobby foundry.
You can make the start NOW.

                
          
CNC machined automotive water pump module, machined from marine grade aluminium alloy.     
                          

         
                   
Custom hand machined green sand cast alluminium slave cylinder.                   
     

CNC machining is a great way to produce ten or more of the same size items, once the program has been set and tolerance checks have been made it is virtually full steam ahead. With general custom machining, the operations have to stop frequently to check tolerances of diameters both externaly and internaly, etc. It takes much more time to manufacture things, but if you are making only two or three identical items, then the above method is fine. Burt Munro was definitely a custom machining man, everything he made was virtually a one off special.                   

Home Machine Shops.
By Kevin Stith.

A profession or hobby that uses a power-driven machine tool such as a lathe or drill to shape metal, is known as machining. The person specializing in its use is called a machinist. A machine shop that is run from home is called a home machine shop.

Most machining operations are those that remove metal from an item or those that add metals. There are typical tools that are used in home machining. A lathe is a machine tool that creates sections in circles by rotating a metal work piece. A drill or punch press is used to remove metal in the form of a hole. Some other tools that are used in machining are saws, grinding tools and milling machines.

Advanced machining operations make use of electrical discharge, electro-chemical erosion and laser cutting to shape metal work pieces. Many car restorers have good home workshops and a wide array of tools. There are also individuals who build up a home workshop with the scheme of building some project in the long run. They eventually get sidetracked into building the machine tools and their accessories themselves.

There are magazines that provide advice on ways of solving problems being faced in the home shop. It is also possible to get information about a used lathe and other machine tools, in case the owner's manual is missing. These magazines and sites have a list of operating instructions on the various tools used. They also give detailed information about various manufacturers and their details.

Information about various new technologies that are being used, are also discussed. New techniques such as computer aided manufacturing processes, which have brought about a revolution in the machine shops, are also discussed. Home shop machinists can use this type of technological software to get the desired product results.

Machine Shops provides detailed information on Machine Shops, Automotive Machine Shop Repairs, Automotive Machine Shop Services, Automotive Machine Shops and more. Machine Shops is affiliated with Casting Molding Machining.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Stith.
http://EzineArticles.com/?Home-Machine-Shops&id=407748

Useful Information About Machining
By Ross Bainbridge.