my first pour, a miserable failure.

I have improved since my first attempt. I tried to pour copper into standard muffin tins. The copper melted through the tins and spread across the concrete popping and spitting as it spread out.

 

Whoops....

 

No, no, you've got it all wrong. That's a frog.
Muffin tins and dog food cans are good for aluminum and that's it. Even if your metal is cool enough to not burn through the metal the steel will braze to the melt and you'll have to peel it off or turn it off on a lathe. I've had to do both. And I've had burn-throughs just like you've shown above. I had 3 cans filled and subsequently drained befor I realized what was happening and ended up using a needle scaler to get all of the embedded limestone out of a 10 lb bronze cow pie. Even thick steel ingot trays will hang on unless there is a good coating of iron oxide and your weld seams are reasonably smooth. The first time I used my ingot trays I ended up drilling and tapping the ingots for 1/4-20 bolts, heating the ingots up one at a time to redhot in a forge and levering them out. Now, after I've preheated them and let them cool a bit, I spread a layer of petrobond in the weld seams of the molds. Works a treat.
Just a word about the (potential) Teflon on your ingot trays. Burning that stuff will make birds literally fall from the sky. Best grind as much as you can off before using it. I'm no safety weenie, but it's nasty.

Pete

 

yeah well I've learned my lesson, from now on all metal muffins will come from cast iron muffin tins

 

If you weld, stick some flat steel on the ends of some 2" Angle iron and pour in those. Much safer than dollar store muffin tins.

 

I'm going to try a skull, i have a foam skull left over from last year. I'm going to attempt resin sand because the clay isn't readily available. Even the clumping cat litter isn't using the clay anymore.

 

lol... Here we go!

 

I'm guessing that this is a hot button issue?

 

We've just seen a lot of guys take the same path. I'm getting my popcorn ready.

I do make sand molds for brass ingots. When the brass brazes to a steel mold it's a good fit.

Tobho Mott is a skull maker too.

Cheap cat litter from Dollar General is still bentonite. Or grab some motor oil and make petrobond (not for me).

 

You also may have good success with any local sand which also has a little clay in it. Just learn to do a clump test.

Worst come to worse I'll send you some bentonite.

 

I got some from dollar tree but it doesn't say what the ingredients are.

 

Indeed, good idea, I have exactly the same.
But dry it thoroughly before pouring any metal in it, otherwise any moisture (usually within rust on the steel) will splash metal out ! Usually I dry it above the vent hole of the furnace in two steps to vover the entire length (mine is 70cm == 28") and check with an infrared pyrometer gun that the temperature of the bar is well above 100 C.

 

I think the skull thing is because most of us aren't soy boy eating beta males. We are men that drink beer, F women and cast skulls. We like our music loud! We are risk takers, do dangerous shit and aren't afraid to get dirty or suffer a few cuts and burns along the way.

So get outside, scratch your balls, crack a brew and pour yourself an entire GRAVEYARD of skulls! Rock on!

 

You need some assertiveness training, Jason. Quit letting people push you around. Try to come out of your shell and approach issues directly instead of walking behind an umbrella with some weirdo beating on a drum to keep you motivated. Learn a little self motivation for a change. You're just too much of a follower...

 

lol Andy. Is that what it is?

 

What's the deal with the can? What's the purpose?