Leave the porch light on for me.

Discussion in 'Lost wax casting' started by Jason, Jun 1, 2019.

  1. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    Looking good! Maybe you could TIG an extension onto the top of your boil-out pot?

    Jeff
     
    Jason likes this.
  2. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Glad it went ok but man its still so weird to see you do boil-outs.

    How long does it take 5g to boil? I'm guessing an hour? Lot of propane for that I'm betting.

    Sounds like a crazy flight. Glad I don't have to fly through storms and fight other pilots haha.
     
  3. Jason

    Jason Gold

    That's a good idea Jeff, it'd be easy if I could find another aluminum pot the same size. I don't want it any wider that's for sure. I priced out some taller pots last night and the prices get steep real fast the taller they get.. Maybe it's time to think about a small oil drum. I could load it full of bricks to cut down on the volume of water I have to boil. The wax ends up at the top anyways.;)

    Zap it takes about 20mins to get it to a boil. I don't even know how many gallons that pot is. It's 16" x 12" it's probably close to 8gallons. Now there is math problem. Water temp starts at about 75 and ya gotta raise 8gallons to 212. I agree, it is disconcerting to plunge all that hard work into a pot of boiling water. This is only the second time I've boiled shells and if I get my texture, I'll be sold on it forever. These three shells had 6layers and a couple more just around the cups to beef them up. Each shell takes about 10mins to boil. Ya know it's done when ya quit seeing wax come out from the cup. Then ya know for sure it's empty when the kiln doesn't smoke out the neighborhood!:eek:

    The weather is pretty much the worst part of this job. Ya gotta be really careful when dealing with storms. Pilots are weather junkies, we have to be. Many have minors in meteorology. Students are funny, they will spend hours on the computer to take a 10minute flight to the practice area. Ya want to know what the weather is? I'd tell them to go the F outside and look up!:D
     
  4. I think what Zap was getting at is just get some thin aluminum plate and roll it to match, then weld the round seam and long seam.

    That weather took a good friend's like several years back just east of Dallas. He was commuting to Hobby weekly and got caught coming home Friday night. A safe conservative pilot.
     
  5. Jason

    Jason Gold

    If I tried rolling some aluminum, I'd make a pig's ear of it. It'd be easy for me to hack the bottom off another pot and extend mine.

    I went at this with a torch. She cracked in a few spots. No surprise there. The thing is over 2ft long and an inch thick. Too much area to heat with a single weed burner. I got it to the work bench in one piece so I should be able to patch it and press on.

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    Sorry to hear about your friend Andy. Flying is some risky stuff and Texas storms are brutal:eek::(;)
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2019
  6. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Porch light is in the kiln. Stinking like hell, must not got all the wax out. No surprise.:rolleyes:


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    Hi tech around here. I'm more like broken crayon functional. ;) No time for pretty, that's for retired old farts.

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    Last edited: Jun 12, 2019
  7. Jason

    Jason Gold

    There is lucky and there is good. I'll take Lucky anyday. My dad would have said seeing this.... "You must live right"

    More photos in a bit. Still breaking out.
    Everything looks like a winner for now...
    (for the guy that doesnt cast metal)

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    20190611_231940.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2019
  8. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Here is some more shots. No video, sorry.

    Shells in the kiln. About 1600 degrees here and finally stopped stinking up the neighborhood.
    20190611_205841.jpg

    Windows cooling down.. about 10mins after pour.

    20190611_213549.jpg


    Windows on breakout. Anyone know why I get a real light grey surface? (Richard)
    It knocks right off with a brush. I've got no porosity at all. Beautiful metal everywhere. I think it has something to do with the shell. Glad it goes away easily.

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    This is the mount that covers a junction box. Still cant believe this came out. I had it sitting in the aluminum pot. My pressure cooker is no more. Bronze melted a hole through it. 3dollar garage sale find. Oh well.
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    Crazy the sprue had a leak just above the parts I needed. I pored the shell to the top. Waited a second, looked good and dropped in an ingot for the next melt. That's when I looked back at this shell and the bronze was disappearing in front of me. No way could I try to top it off with a cold ingot in my crucible. I said shit happens and pressed on.
    20190611_232656.jpg
     
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  9. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    Haha, survived the boil-out and looking good so far!

    Jeff
     
  10. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Thanks Jeff. I'm still not sure why the crack and leak happened. The crack was buried in that rats nest of sprues. I wonder if I had it strapped to my dewax frame a little too tight? Sucks I couldnt see it after dewax or I would have patched it.:( Oh well, live and learn.:D Amazing that I'm not losing detail by boiling the shells. Remarkable really, this stuff is water soluable.:eek:
     
  11. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Looks like it all came out well, But what is the tall piece for exactly??
     
  12. Jason

    Jason Gold

    nice try...:p
     
  13. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    That was actually just a question, I dont see how it fits in with the current castings....
     
  14. Jason

    Jason Gold

    it doesnt.
     
  15. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    Very mysterious... I'm not gonna ask questions.

    Jeff
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2019
    Jason likes this.
  16. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    Outstanding pieces, especially that roof top (way too cool).
    You could sell those for like miniature kiddy troll doll houses or something.

    Edit:
    Cast toys use to be a really big thing.
    .
     
  17. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Funny you say that Pat... I must confess, inspiration for the whimsical comes from watching some of the crazy craft channels on YT.
    You gotta see what this one lady is making in her spare bedroom. It's a gnome home. All told, she's probably got about 300bucks in this
    thing. All tin foil, masking tape and paper towels saturated in glue. She's pretty crafty and knows how to mimic tree bark much better than me.

     
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  18. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    The tree bark comment reminds me, the model railroad/tanks and tabletop miniatures-gaming hobbyists have figured out tons of good tricks for modeling and sculpting miniature terrain and buildings, which you might be able to adapt as well. That's where I got the idea for using boxes made of Lego to cast my plaster coreboxes in, but if you look around a bit you can find a thousand tutorials for making tiny trees, rocks, buildings, etc., that look super realstic.

    Jeff
     
  19. YakTriangle

    YakTriangle Copper

    That's looking really good chap - love the design of the roof section. Hope the cast works out well.
     
  20. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Oh man that came out great! I started orientation so I missed the casting posts.

    I think the grey is from pouring on the hotter side. When I pour at 2200 to 2300 I get a black finish, when its poured at 2150F its grayish and at 1800 F it's a bright shiny finish with no scale.

    So now the windows. Hmm I think that will be the tough part.
     

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