Well, I got a nasty shock this morning when I woke up and found my website had been compromised. Someone had managed to get in and put .htaccess files in every directory so that when someone went to my site, they were error redirected somewhere else ( Read more... )

The Bench Grinder!


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I did my best cast yet. The additional vent holes made a little difference, but there is still a lot of steam cavities. Maybe I need to pack it less tightly on the bottom. The trick is to pack it lightly enough so that the steam can vent, but tightly enough to hold the form.


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It has been an eventful weekend for me and my wife. We had the usual chores to do, as well as swimming in the pool as it warmed up above 65. I mixed a new batch green sand and cast a small dowel. The top was very good, the wood grain evident, but I am still having an issue with steam in the bottom. I have to discover a better way to vent to fix it ( Read more... )

I finally got to pour my first casting. I admin, I hoped it would come out perfect the first time, but of course it wasn't. That's okay, though. It's a process ( Read more... )

I swapped the propane torch bottle for a 5 gallon grill tank of propane that my buddy Brian gave me to use as a new charcoal forge. It's higher pressure makes for better heat in the forge, but the red hot propane bottle crucible is too fragile. While I was tamping down the cut up disk platters, I sliced through two of the crucibles and molten ( Read more... )

Well, it worked great. I have a bit of tinkering to do. I think I will fill in the refractory a bit. There is a lot of space around the crucible and I think it prevents a good melt. From left to right:

The propane tank, the grassburner torch bent to fit, the forge, the crucible and the puddle of molten aluminum.


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I have a grand plan, that will require quite a bit of work. It's like the old says about the war being lost for want of a nail, or the whole in the bucket and the straw, Dear Liza. I want to build a windmill for my house, you know, to offset the power bill. Before I can build that, though, I need to gain some electric and machine skills. Before I ( Read more... )

Welding - I rented a stick welder last weekend to practice during the week we had off from class. It was well worth it. I think my bead will be better. For practice I welded together a dodecahedron. I'll put up some pics soon ( Read more... )

My last welding class was brutal. We were lap welding, which is, two places laying on top if each other, but offset slightly. I had a terrible time getting the bead right. Now we have two weeks off from class. I want to practice though, so I am going to rent a stick welder this weekend and work on my beads. For material, I am going to cut up this ( Read more... )