The International Hobby Metal Casting ezine.
Brought To You By:
Col Croucher, administrator of: www.myhomefoundry.com
Australia.
Volume:5. Number: 60.
Hello.
Well here we are, this is ezine number sixty, that would have to be some sort of milestone, wouldn't it? If you are a long-term ezine subscriber did you ever wonder if this ezine would last that long?
I wont deny that in some instances it has been a bit of a slog, some issues have been a bit late at times, but there is more work than you realize in the production, and the project has been one giant learning experience along the way, but I think the effort has been worth it.
To be truthfull, I was not too sure when we started the ezine if the people would accept it, enjoy it, and learn from it. but I know from all of the feed back that we get that a very large majority of people do enjoy the ezine.
Every back issue of the ezine can be read from the MHF members area, this is a handy resource and referral area for our ebook customers. And as you know FREE membership is granted to every ebook package download and CD order, we provide the free membership area as a valuable learning resource & special bonus and also as a thank you for being an ebook customer.
We did have some issues with the membership software a couple of months back and several people emailed to let us know that they could not access the members area, the problem was corrected, but it was partly due to an upgrade software version installation; if you are still in the no access category send an email to us for new access links. Note: You will need to forward your original pay pal or clickbank receipt number for proof of membership eligibility, the membership is for full package ebook customers only.
We are still working on a special project at the moment, this will be a big surprise to a lot of people, and should create a bit more interest in home metal casting. More on that a bit later.
The past few weeks have seen considerable turmoil on the world financial markets, I trust that you have not been affected too much from the fallout, If you are alert and quick to take advantage of opportunity where you can employ your practical skills to help others out while making some extra income at the same time, in hard times people are always looking for ways to cut costs, and to make things last longer, if you have the skills and you have the facilities to: weld metal, cast metal, fabricate metal, in other words, perform what unskilled people may call minor miracles with metal and mechanical things, you will do OK, take a look around your local neighbourhood, see what you can find, maybe you can place some small adverts in the local paper, community bill board, letter box drops etc can be very effective in building your micro engineering/repair/maintenance business.
We have several customers who tell us that they have built a small hobby/microbusiness with their hobby foundry, one Aussie metal caster has told us that he is quite amazed at how much extra cash he has generated using his foundry skills... by just doing one paid foundry job per week, and that is after a long slog at his normal day job. Now that's what I call getting off your Bum and being productive.
Take a look at Paul Quyle (See article Below) and the kind of work he is producing in his home foundry, imagine paying to have all of this work produced commercially, would set you back a dollar or two for sure? It really does not matter what kind of economic climate exists there is always demand for people with good practical skills to build - create - fix & repair.... Is that food for thought? Do you know of anybody that might require the help of your skills and expertise?
You've heard that one before I'm sure.
And When Is The Time Right?
Today - Tomorrow - Next Year?
Why wait, when we have the Perfect Solution.
Here's The Big Daddy Package Of Them All.
60 Hour- 60th Birthday Celebration.
Go Check It Out Now
Take
some raw scrap metal or Ingot.
Melt
the scrap/ingots in the home built furnace.
You'll never forget
your first metal casting experience, and you'll wonder why you took so
long to give it a go... I know I did.
Pour The molten metal into the sand mould.
Article Contribution:
Simon Milner.
Dental Metal Casting Flasks.
Choose Your Scrap Metal Source Wisely.
Col.
I had a couple of things that I thought you might be interested in. A contractor came into work today after a conversation last week regarding metal casting.
This chap used to work in the dental trade making special fillings using liquid gold. He left me with one of the bronze flasks that he used to make these fillings with. Somehow he used plaster to pattern the tooth then pour the gold into the flask using centrifugal force to spin the molten gold into the filling.
The flask still has some of the plaster remains in it from when he used to work with it. I thought it might make an interesting different take on metal casting.
The other thing is the difference in scrap metal choice for metal casting. This question has been asked on numerous occasions that I have read when doing research relating to casting metals.
Until now I have exclusively used marine cast alloy for all my castings, with beautiful results every time. Working in the marine game allows access to plenty of this wonderful alloy, but recently I have been working with fit up's on new alloy plate boats for some time and have never kept any of the scrap off- cuts from these jobs.
In the last few weeks I have collected a couple of kg of sheet metal alloy from these jobs and decided to do a casting to see if I could use this as additional stock.
Well I think the results speak for themselves in the picture. The plate alloy (left side image) has a very porous and flat finish compared to the marine grade cast alloy, which used only flux and no degassing tablet. I think this would be interesting to other casters to be aware of when finding materials for their casting jobs. It is always better to try and find previously cast scrap alloy!
All the best Col.
Regards,
Simon Milner.
Cast aluminium Ingots from different grade
of scrap. Ingot on the left cast from Al extrusions. Ingot on the right was cast from high quality marine grade alloy scrap. |
Three-Part
Bronze
Dental Flask.
|
Flask Opened. Note: The register tags on the cope & drag. |
Flask Pulled Apart.
 Flasks pulled aprt to show how they assemble. |
Paul B. Quyle.
In a previous email that Paul sent to me, he mentioned the following:
Most of the casting I do is very uninteresting parts to keep our antique obsolete clay working machines running. Auger blades, filter press plates, Etc, nothing of interest to most people. Clay is very abrasive, and machines have a continuous need for replacement parts. I gave one class here in my shop for the California Blacksmith Association in simple green sand casting.
Every participant went home with a cast bronze belt buckle. At the request of My regular blacksmithing students we are planning a second class soon for Aluminum casting.
 Pattern for auger blades for the pug mill, cast in iron |
 Pattern for a handwheel, cast in iron, to restore type casting machine circa 1838. |
 Pattern of hand for hitching post. (Very Nice Pattern) |
 Cast hand on hitching post. |
Editors note: On the contrary, I'm sure that many people would be extremely interested in the casting work that Paul has displayed here, It is not hard to see that Paul is a very talented metal caster and pattern maker, but the equipment Paul uses is similar to what most other experienced hobby metal casters use, IE, equipment that is self-built to the individual requirements of the home foundry. Paul was one of the many people who submitted this cast hand project for the metal casting competition we ran a couple of months back. You will be able to see more of Paul’s work and that of other metal casters very soon, we are putting together a special ebook to showcase all of the submissions.... watch this space as they say, we will announce the release.
Did You Know?
About The Illegal Charcoal Making Business.
Threatens the habitat of the Mountain Gorillas in the Congo.
As the region around the Virunga Volcanoes (Congo - Rwanda Region) is very densely populated and no forest is left outside the national park, firewood is always rare. Making charcoal from the mountain forest trees in the Mikeno Sector is a multi-million-dollar business - and a severe threat to the national park (including the gorillas).
28th August: Rangers try to crack down on those who are making charcoal in the park. Despite being a difficult trade to hide - the smoke indicates where there is an oven making charcoal - many people are able to profit from the instability and continue with charcoal production. The rangers destroy the ovens.
Many of the women involved with charcoal in the park are the wives of Congolese military who pick up the scraps of charcoal so that they can cook for their families. The military are not paid by the government, so their families do what they can to get by. The majority of men making charcoal in the park come from Rwanda.
There it is illegal to make charcoal, so many Rwandans enter Congo to make it here instead. They take advantage of the fact that the Congolese military are not paid, and pay the military protection money to enter the park. Large trucks come out of the park, full of charcoal, and it is assumed that there are powerful networks in place.
The men are arrested and taken to the main station at Rumangabo. They are questioned and, after being reprimanded as well as fined, they are taken back to the Rwandan border. The rangers have received many threats, and one of them was attacked by the military, because of the progress that they have made.
13th December: Rangers estimated that in September 50 people entered the southern sector of the park to make charcoal; that number is now estimated to be at around 500. Donations to provide firewood to the refugees are needed urgently.
Article source:
http://www.berggorilla.org/english/gjournal/texte/35virunga.html
Footnote:
Amazing to think that something as benign and basic as charcoal which is used as a fuel to fire cupolas & other hobby metal casting furnaces in the western world could create big problems like this, but after reading an extensive article about the threat to the Mountain Gorrillas survival you understand why they are trying to prevent this illegal trade. The illegal charcoal trade is a multi million dollar business.
Micro Gears & 3D Digital Equipment.
This is nothing to do with foundry work, but is extremely interesting.
Hirox. The Pioneer of the 3D Digital Video Microscope System.
Also Portable and Handheld Digital Microscope.
Watch flash movies of the following:
- Micro gear.
- Gear Hob.
- Micro Motor Gear.
Dont Forget to check out our HUGE 60 Hour - 60th Birthday celebration Sale.... Not To Be Missed.... And won't be offered again for a long-long time.