Thinking and dreaming of things to make...

             

What ever the special part is that you dream about reproducing, chances are there will be a way that it can be done, as a rank beginner you may not understand fully about parting lines and many other foundry terms and jargon, but as you gain experience through learning it will become familiar to you. Start out with simple projects, when you successfully complete the project, then you can move on to more complex things. The original casting shown above (lower left Cnr ) was used as the pattern. RTV silicone  (explained in the RTV pattern ebook) was used to make a perfect reproduction pattern.

You have built the equipment, tools, and now you have learnt how to produce good castings...

                   
These door hinges above may look simple, but they are quite complex to cast, during the making of the prototype door hinge, much was learnt about pattern making and how important the draft on a given pattern is, if you get it wrong, the pattern just wont pull cleanly out of the sand, it is satisfying to ram up a pattern and then rap and remove to leave a clean, precise impression in the mould, which should produce a good clean casting. As you advance through the learning period every success will increase your confidence and skills, but you will also have failures, which can also prove to be more valuable than your successes as you will find out as you move along.                      

Now you move along to bigger and better things, you have the knowledge & skills to make almost anything you want within reason.
 
        
All of the above castings were produced in the home foundry using normal/basic foundry skills & green sand, which, by the way, I have been using for about thirteen years. You need to choose and evaluate the products you want to cast, with experience and additional skills you will be able to determine the type of pattern required and how you will go about making the pattern. One of the great things about foundry work is the never ending challenges that each job presents, but once you become a graduate metal caster you'll take everything in your stride, you will know not to rush, or take too many short cuts. If your system is fine tuned, you will more than likely have a good result 95% of the time. This is the exciting time of your journey, no more will you wonder how to do something.      

Feature Article:

The Graduate.

What do the above words conjure up in your mind? There'd be plenty of readers who would immediately make the connection with the old movie screen romp between Dustin Hoffman and Ann Bancroft, it was a great movie then, and it still is today if you enjoy watching the classics. But no, we are not here to discuss the movie in detail... sorry if I got your hopes up!

What we are going to talk about is the journey to becomming a graduate hobby metal caster. Which group do you think you belong to? I would bet your bottom dollar that every reader of this ezine will fall into one the following categories:


The Fence Sitter.
You've been thinking about it, haven’t made a move on it yet, you're watching others to see what they do, you would like to have a go, but unsure how to go about it or what you should do, I know there are hundreds of people in this category, and I understand why because I've been there (being a fence sitter) and doing that, but I'm glad to say, that was nearly three decades ago.

I'd read and knew about the foundry process, understood what it was, and heard that sand was used to make the moulds... but that's as far as the knowledge went. So how do you move on from this stage...that's simple, you LLLA... or Look.... Learn.... Listen... and Apply.

Now you may think that's easy for me to say that, but to make the move from fence sitter to actually doing something creative is just one decision away, and that all important decision is to make the effort to invest some money into buying books, or rebooks, or whatever it is you need to get moving. This thinking it over period (called procrastination) may take weeks, months, perhaps years before you finally make the move, but when the time is right and you take up the challenge, you will devote a lot of time and energy towards your new hobby, it becomes all absorbing, believe me.

The worst thing you can do is buy the knowledge, read it, sit on it and do nothing... I know for a fact that there are ebook customers who don’t have a hobby foundry set-up even up to twelve months after they have downloaded their ebooks, and for some there are legitimate reasons why, day to day circumstances can suddenly change for anyone and prevent you getting involved in your new hobby, if that has happened to you, I hope that you can find the time - energy and motivation to get going again. Don’t let the obstacles wear you down.You know, just a small investment in some practical knowledge will surely get you going, the best part is that it is only a mouse click away.

The Rank Beginner.

The Learner Metal Caster.

Congratulations you've decided to bite the bullet; you've invested some money into new knowledge & information, now you are going to make it all come together. This is an exciting phase, your mind is going at a million miles an hour, and the weekends don’t come around soon enough, simply because you are as keen mustard to get out there and into it. The learning phase can also be very satisfying for several reasons, but the main reason is that you are applying newfound skills, methods & techniques in ways that you have not done previously.

First off, before anything can happen, you need to build the equipment and tools miscarry to tame the beast. You'll need a furnace, blower, mould boxes, sand, various tools, a work or moulding bench, plus lots of other small odds and ends, every bit of info you require for your foundry gear right down to the dimensions (Imperial & metric) are supplied in the ebooks we supply. You are really going to make the workshop earn it's keep over the next few weeks as you progress through the building and setting up of the gear you'll need to churn out some good quality castings.

If you have friends with workshops, you will surely arouse their curiosity with your new mini foundry project that's for sure, they may even be able to give you a hand to do various things, heck I've even had blokes who happened to live in the same area and they've joined forces to build a nice little foundry share on various weekends.

The Semi Advanced Caster.

The Graduate Metal Caster.

Congratulations again, you have made the grade, you have bought the books, put all of the knowledge into practice, by now you are excelling at making good patterns & sand moulds, you know how to create great looking castings, you have finally put it all together. You'd be surprised at just how many people know that you do metal casting. Do you know what the next step is? Yep, now the of paid casting job offers begin to hit your door, they will start arriving out of the blue... what now?
You have two options, you either accept or refuse, there's no grey area here, a good idea is to accept the job on an appraisal and trial run basis... kind of like a no win no fee type of agreement. If you feel confident then just get on with it.

The graduate stage is an exciting stage; you will have an awakening to the real possibilities that metal casting will provide you; things that once proved to be a difficult barrier to you are no longer a problem. Once you know what makes this foundry beast tick you'll start making and producing things that you certainly would not have made in the early days of your journey.
So how does on become a graduate metal caster, that's simple, look, we are not handing out certificates here, the discussion today is a hypothetical scenario that every hobby metal caster will find themselves in, no one will come up to you and say congratulations on your graduation... but you will know within your self when you have arrived at this point, you wont be cocky telling anyone who'll listen that you are the best caster around, no, but the knowledge you have gained so far will certainly help you to make a decision, and maybe even help & guide others who are just starting out.

Remember you never stop learning, no matter how experienced your are, there is always something new to learn about, so strive to do your very best and produce qood quality work.

Good luck and enjoy the journey.
Col.