This year has been filled with project after project. Long term and short term so no time for casting (I should have 40 pieces in the shop by now for winter days finishing). On top of running my business, I have been tasked with being the maintenance man for my mother-in-laws restaurant. I was there fixing something and was informed a bathroom stall door had broken off. I checked it out and they were die cast pot metal hinge mounts. I brought them home, hit the shop, carved a beefed up version of them and coated them with mud. Next morning at daylight I set up the foundry and got at it. I used a Satanite coated pouring basin and poured. No smoke, no flame and I'm waiting for it to flow. The basin's full and I'm thinking no metal went in. So I'm hovering over it with the crucible, waiting for a burp and gulp...nothing. The melt starts to skim over so I pour ingots and cussed. I finally dumped out the sand, thinking I'd have to re-carve another set. Glory hallelujah, there they were. It took so little metal I didn't notice it went in. I'm breaking down the foundry, wife sticks her head out the window...they've got a problem with the deep fryer. Off to the restaurant, fix that, plunge a backed up toilet and fix the flapper, get a floor drain flowing, replace 57 light bulbs in two dining rooms with LED's. Go to my business, escort a travel trailer into the Park and get them set up. Get a call from daughter, can you watch the kids while we go to dinner? Sure. That's the way life has been this year. Next morning I get back on the hinges and finish them up. Faster than an Amazon delivery (if I could have found them online).
I have to say Bonz, that was exactly the experience I had when I started using my reusable offset pouring basins for my LF castings. Although I do still get an occasional burp or flash, it usually justs sits in the cup, and with larger castings, you still get the classic pause, but pours are tranquil and uneventful. I was (and am still) amazed at the improvement over a kush cup the offset pouring basin made. The round/cylindrical cups aspirate air. Next thing you know, you'll be cutting back your sprue size.... Best, Kelly
The first pour using the basin I had the hole too small so I reamed it out. The sprue is sized to the hole now and thought I would keep it long for sand pressure but that was probably over kill. But it worked.
