You'd think that after waiting 30 years I'd not be so excited to see the result, but it's like the night before christmas.
Find out tomorrow I didn't video the pour, likely a good thing... a bit of the plinth was stuck to the bottom of the crucible and i didn't see it when i pulled. Went to sit the crucible down and it almost fell over. But I managed to hold it with the crucible tongs and slip the pouring shank under it ( one in each hand) nearly setting my tutu on fire in the process (bare foot over a concrete floor of course) None of that bothered me though, par for the course. What bothered me was the time I lost (or temperature) on an all ready cold pour. But I didn't spill a drop and the shell seems to have handled it well so i'm confident that one in the six came out LOL Take a look at the crack in the pouring basin.. I cant believe that didn't leak out!!
I'm glad you are comfortable mentioning your tutu. I generally don't advertise that I wear a tutu when I pour hot metal.
Melts at 2100 or so.. As long as the fiberglass strand doesn't burn up, it could do the job of preventing cracks........ Some experimentation might just be in order on this one. Let's check out the gargler first and see if anyone has done this before. Thinking aloud.... The cracks come during dewax or dePLA.... The glass will never see those temps, before you remind me what bronze or iron melts at. By the time the shell sees molten metal, there are no cracks and the danger of cracking is over.
That is an interesting looking arrangement for sure. The kiln keeps the mold hot? I am not really following the logic of this, but I have never tried lost anything either. If this turns out well I may consider it. .
Yeah, a pot of sand with a hot mold inside full of molten iron is a bit not normal. One slip during pouring and it's so long kiln. Unorthodox for certain.
The idea was to heat the sand and mold, then remove it from the kiln for the pour. But nothing went according to plan on this melt.... downing some coffee and heading out for the big reveal....
I dance with the girls twice per week. It used to be Zumba but we've changed to ReFit. I can't tell the difference. I always do an aerobic dance when my gloves get too hot.
Initial results are in and look very promising.. Looks like 100% fill on all the castings. Just need to finish cleaning them up and inspect them more closely.. The iron is much darker than what I'm used to seeing out of the sand. And they are still a bit too hot to handle...
That was one of the things on the list to experiment with, I believe I have a paying job in iron to try next. Need to perform a closer inspection and some destructive testing first though...
After further inspection, I see no defects what so ever. I expected to see some cracking of the shell in the corners but there is nothing to see. Honestly I'm pretty amazed. Broke one of the castings off the tree and the cross section looks pretty good..