In anticipation of increasing my iron pouring capacity, I am lengthening the bar 16”on my trolley to provide more lifting leverage. Now the bar is 84” overall length from tip of crucible hoop to handle. I am also adding 5” stub-handles to the cross-bar that I currently grab. The handles will be more ergonomic and provide better application of rotational force. And I making a new crucible hoop to fit the 25 crucible I will be using. My current crucible is a 20. I am really liking the accessory stub handles that I welded to the the existing handles. I did not realize it prior to attaching them, but they allow a much more comfortable grip while rotating the crucible to dump it. With the crucible vertical and the grip bar horizontal, the straight “bicycle handlebar” works great. But put 50 or 60 pounds in the crucible and rotate it to 45 degrees and now your wrists are starting to be kinked into an odd position and down-force needs to be applied half by simple downward pressure on the bar and half by grip/friction on the bar. At 80 degrees most of the down-force is applied through grip and your wrists and upper body have to contort to make the motion needed. It is a different ergonomic story with the stub handles. No contorting the wrists and shoulders to make the motion and and down force requires no grip force. Of course, I still grip the handles pretty firmly. But down-force does not depend on grip to be accomplished. This makes a surprising difference. The longer lifting beam will take a few pours to get used to. There are no problems with it, really. But the handling of the trolley is just a little different than before with a bit more lateral movement to accomplish a given amount of side-to-side movement as before—-a trivial adjustment actually. Here is the added segment:
I've got to get my cart welded up. But I have time since no new projects on the horizon. Being in a creative slump has its upside I suppose?
When I set my cart up, I wanted it to be able to be used in the grass, and rolled over rough ground easily. I also wanted it to be able to handle up to perhaps a #70 crucible. And I did not want any rubber tires to go flat or melt. Here is my cart, and it works pretty well. I had someone sit on the front of it, and I could still roll it around, so I think it has some good capacity. It rolls every easily with the big wheels. Some people have laughed at the rims not having the rubber tubes on them. I laugh at the people who laugh at me. If you have ever done foundry work, you don't want rubber anything next to a furnace. The bearings are tapered needle type, to make turning the shaft very smooth and easy, even when the cart is loaded.
Zap can tell you all about rubber, heat and fire! Did you rob some old lady's 3 wheel bicycle for those wheels? My grandmother had one of these in the 1980's I rode that thing all over her trailer park hiked up on two wheels.
Nice cart, Pat. Ya, I wondered about the tires. But, after 100 melts and pours, no flats or even significantly burned rubber. My day may come. I have run over a few splats of molten iron but they just made a little indent in the tread. I’ll replace them with metal if there is trouble. I think the splat melts in alright, but the surrounding rubber keeps the tire from making progressive contact and therefore failure. A big spill might be a different story. Worst case, I can still roll a deflated tire a short distance. Denis
That is a great bender. I need one of those. My ring has adjustable retainer tabs in it for various crucible sizes, but I am thinking of adding a socket on the end so I can plug in various ring sized (for various crucible sizes), sort of like a trailer hitch receiver with pin. .
I use a 1” round stub welded to the ring. It fits into a corresponding round pipe and I’d held in place with a roll pin (spring pin). That has been a clean, secure, easily changed arrangement. Jason, the bender is 4 feet long. It is not hard to bend that 1/2”x3/4” bar using it. Since the pins —- 5/8” bolts—-are removable, it can be used on a closed ring if need be. Denis
Cost me 8 bucks in materials and an hour welding, drilling and deburring. Works well enough for me. Denis
“ If you can post some more photos of that thing, i'd be interested in seeing it. ” I would also like to see some more details. It looks like a very nice bender. Joe
The rectangular tube is 1/8” wall 2 x 1.5” steel The legs are 3/8 x 2” hot rolled 1018 The bolts are 5/8” dia and long enough to get unthreaded portion to span the legs. Spacing between holes 1.75” All dimension were simply what looked “right.” The rectangular tube would easily accommodate an extension handle if so desired. A crook in the handle so that it bends 45 deg near the welded-on legs might be an improvement. Another set of legs with different hole spacing might be a nice addition to the other end of the handle. One or both of the bolts could be sleeved to effectively reduce bolt spacing. This tool is beefy enough to take all that an average man might throw at it. It can take MORE than I can throw at it! Denis
Avery nice simple bender. I don’t know why but I originally thought it had a hinge and back plate. I will certainly make one for the shop. Thank you. Joe
Thank you! (Red cheeks) I can only design things as complex as I can understand. Nope, a lever and 2 bolts. Denis