The International Hobby Metal Casting ezine.
Brought To You By:
Col Croucher, administrator of: www.myhomefoundry.com
Australia.
Number: 66. April 2009.
I know, I know, I've been slack haven’t I... I mean, I have had several emails asking why the ezine has not been sent... some people thought they had been unsubscribed, others thought there was something wrong with their computer, all wrong, but it just shows that "a few" do indeed miss it when it does not arrive.
I apologise of course, cant do much else can I, what, that's you say... not good enough, I can see you’re wanting an excuse... Mmm, well Sir let's see, it's like this, the wife has been too demanding... no, better scrub that one!!
The honest truth is I have had quite large demands on my time from other business commitments plus family responsibilities, nothing more than that, and as you know, there is only twenty four hours in each day and I am well passed the age where you can burn the candle at both ends and get away with it, in the short term at least, and don’t kid your self, you cant do that forever... no matter what you take to keep yourself awake... and I am not into that mind bending substance crap.
A BIG welcome to the big number of new ezine subscribers, we only re-opened the subscribe form a few days ago and the server traffic has been running hot, I hope you enjoy the read.
So how are you travelling, still active with your projects? Or perhaps you are just starting out, either way, I hope you are still busy because even though the doomsayers have us all believing that the world is about to grind to a halt literally, it is important to keep up with your hobbies, even in a small way if the dollars are a bit tight, the therapy you will receive is way better than an expensive hour spent at the local shrink clinic.
But you know what, sometimes your hobby can be the saving grace when things are tough, I'll bet your bottom dollar that you know of someone who has made a great success from their little old hobby they run from the back shed... sound familiar, you bet it does, but then on the other hand you will hear others say, oh, they are so lucky aren’t they, they make these cool widgets and sell them at the local markets, or over the internet through their web page. Often times a niche hobby can be a real boost to the normal day job income.
I know that there are several Aussie's doing quite well with their hobby foundry, and probably just as many in the forty-eight other countries where our subscribers, clients and customers reside, I say, congratulations to them for putting in the hard work and having the persistence and passion to follow through to success. I know what you have been through, but don't stop there, keep it going.
You don't have to be highly educated to make a success of life on this little old round planet.
Have you noticed lately the plethora of old time stuff that has hit the bookstores and magazine racks since the economic implosion hit the world.... I cant believe the amount of old info & "how to" stuff that's available about a wide range of subjects, it seems that a lot of old time stuff from yesteryear is suddenly in demand again today... it is suddenly very cool to use lost pioneer skills to make your own things, grow your own food, manufacture stuff in your workshop... funny how the wheel turns isnt it.
Congratulations myhomefoundry customers you've been doing this old time stuff (foundry) for years... how come all the rest are suddenly waking up to the old lost art forms, crikey, I had no idea where all of this would end up when we made our first tentative steps way back in 2003 to launch a web site about hobby foundry, we've been online for almost six years now, that's quite a long time in internet terms, especially when you consider that web sites appear and disappear sometimes within the span of a few weeks, yeah, that's right, it's that easy to bang up a web site these days, but believe me when I tell you there is more to it than meets the eye... it's a whole new brave world out there, but you can have a piece of it if you want to.
Now keep reading below.
Col.
You can you know, all it takes is the desire, passion and a willingness to learn all you can about the methods and techniques required, one thing is for sure, you don't need an engineering degree to do what thousands of others are doing most weekends in their hobby foundry. If you have ideas you would like to turn into solid metal reality... we can help you to get started right now. Read More>>
The Two Hundred
& Fifty Dollar Hinge Set.
Image #1: View
of the underneath (Mounting face) of the boot hinge, holding studs
& the backed out (core) sections of the casting.
Image #2: Photo
showing the all important swivel sections, holes have been plugged in
readiness for moulding.
Image
#3: Another view of the front and rear sections of the hinge, parts are
basic with a nice profile which should make it easy to mould and cast.
How you might ask?
Reproducing a set of obscure vintage boot lid hinges.
This is what I am going to do.
I have this little old English car, and both of the boot lid (Trunk if you live in USA) hinges are broken beyond repair, the search for second hand hinges came to nought, they seem to be as scarce as hens teeth... the only alternative was to make our own, so that’s what we intend to do.
The original hinges were solid bronze castings, but we chose to cast them from aluminium, but while surfing the web I happened to find out that reproduction hinges are actually available from a supplier in the USA, but the price they are asking... no way, blimey, look, when you have the skills, know how & where with all, it is really not that difficult to make them for a fraction of the asking price.
Ah, the satisfaction of being able to make your own parts... for anything you can think of.
OK, a description (best you look at the photo above first) the bronze hinges consist of two parts held together with a simple swivel pin, there are also two 1/4" fastening studs inserted into each hinge casting, the studs can be inserted in two ways... set and captive cast into the hinge parts during the pouring of the moulds, or holes can be drilled and tapped into the cast hinge bodies during the finishing stage, both methods will work OK, but I prefer to drill & tap the holes at a later stage.
Lets' digress for just a moment. There are many people who are involved in the restoration of cars & motorcycles know that the process of procuring or finding obsolete parts can be a nightmare, not only does it cost you in dollar terms, but it also costs in time & frustration.
But Imagine then, if the people restoring old cars (or anything for that matter) had an introduction into basic metal casting techniques, now I know you will agree with me here, that once you get your head around the metal casting methods and skills, it does not take a lot of effort to reproduce as many parts as you need for the particular job in hand, (providing it is not beyond your skill levels) it is really quite simple, and if a person can save two hundred and forty dollars on a simple boot lid hinge project like this, imagine what the savings could be if spread over several projects in the long term, say a year, two years, or perhaps a lifetime of restoration projects, the savings could be immense to say the least.
You cant really put a value on the valuable practical skills that you acquire during your lifetime. And I come back to what I said above, when things get tough economically the people who can still do the things they want to are the ones who don’t have to hire others to do things for them, DIY today is more in vogue than ever simply because of the changed times we live in, does that make sense to you...I hope it does.
Now getting back to the broken boot, sorry (Trunk) lid hinges. We only need two pairs at the moment, but I am thinking that these items could quite easily be produced and sold on eBay (C),
there are many products that are required by restoration people like this that the small foundry jobbing shop can produce in small numbers to resell at a very good profit.
Over the past year or so there have been several skilled hobby casting people who have come to light, al have one thing in common which is melting & pouring metal, yes I will agree it is an addictive past time, and a highly rewarding one at that.
I will mention a few names here, there's an amazing bloke in Western Australia (Mike) on the gold fields who casts and produces parts for a home built aero engine, another WA fellow (John) has used his learned foundry skills to produce several special parts to complete restoration work on his antique oil engines, in Melbourne there is MHF member/ client (Simon) who emails me every now and again to tell me how busy he is in his hobby foundry, hardly a weekend goes by where he is not casting things, either for his own use or as a paid foundry job, & he really enjoys the challenge.
In the USA or the states as we call it here in OZ, there are countless MHF clients/members who are producing a constant stream of castings from small hobby foundries spread across the country or the world for that matter, here are some names of note: Roly B, Ray B, Trevor D, Dale H, Bob P, Jared P, Daniel P, Paul Q, Larry S, Jeff T, James W, Carl W. , Yes first names only, but they should sound familiar to you... if you remember them, they were featured in the casting masters of 2008 ebook.
Speaking of which... have you got your project plans in place for the casting masters 2009 event, we will be working on this in the not too distant future, if you would like the chance to be featured in the 09 book (And maybe win a prize or two) then get your thinking cap on now and start thinking/planning your submission.
OK, back to the hinge castings above, the only part of the old hinges that may cause a problem is the small return radius on the short hinge body, (See image #3) other than that using the original parts as patterns, there seems to be ample pattern draft on all sides, and after careful preparation of the original parts, the moulding and casting operation should be quite straight forward.... and a big saving on having to buy outside repro parts.
In the next issue we should be able to show you the finished articles.
Special Announcement:
The 25th of April is ANZAC Day in Australia & New Zealand. The Day we remember those who fought for freedom and made the ultimate sacrifice on the shores of Anzac Cove at Gallipolli & other war theatres. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Lest we forget .
Links: http://www.anzac-france.com/
http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/
Fun Ho! Toys
From the foundry furnace to finished product these unique tough aluminum sand cast toys are all hand made in the Fun Ho! National Toy Museum foundry.
Do you know where this traditional toy factory can be found? No it is NOT China.... the location may surprize you. Click Here to find out.
http://www.funho.com/index.asp
Well what do you think of that? Does that get the idea's churning around in your head, maybe you can make some toys for your kids, grand kids... what ever. Dont copy or steal the model ideas shown here, but use it as a launching pad for your own.
PB Engine Australia.
If you are a model airplane enthusiast then you would be familiar with the following brand names: GB, Sabre, Glow Chief and Taipan.
Australian model plane enthusiast Gordon Burford has built model aircraft and engines since his boyhood. He is the founder of GB, Sabre, Glow Chief and Taipan model engine manufacturing.
Godon's oldest son Peter is now carrying on the business family tradition.
You may read more of Gordon's unique and exceptional history, and about the plans that son Peter is taking the business by visiting the company web site. Read about the new & exciting PB 0.33 miniature diesel model airplane engine.
http://www.peterburford.com.au/history.php
I think this is fantastic, not only because the business is based in Australia, but to think a father and son can build a successfull business from the needs of their own hobby. Sure, when you look at the workshop Peter has today it is sophisticated & highly efficient, and I believe they even cast their own new engine block castings using the investment (Lost wax) technique ... it would indeed be fascinating to watch the manufacture process at work. I trust you will enjoy looking through their web site. There are several pictures and a couple of videos to watch also... have fun exploring.
The Above Projects Pumped Your Excitement Factor Up A Bit?
Want to take part in this fascinating world of hobby metal casting?
You can you know, all it takes is the desire, passion and a willingness to learn all you can about the methods and techniques required, one thing is for sure, you don't need an engineering degree to do what thousands of other practical pewple are doing most weekends in their hobby foundry. If you have ideas you would like to turn into solid metal reality... we can help you to get started right now. Read More>>
Till next time.
Col.
PS.
Have fun but be very careful with what you do.