Sleight of hand

Discussion in 'General foundry chat' started by 3Dcasting, Jan 10, 2022.

  1. 3Dcasting

    3Dcasting Copper

    Or how to drop half of a full crucible of molten metal in your equipment and not have a serious accident.

    Casting is easy: open lid, carefully place tongs around crucible, lift the crucible full of very hot metal, place on resting plinth, lift it with pouring tongs, pour metal in molds and reverse the process to secure it in the furnace.

    Done it more times than I can count without a problem, until last time...

    Just another day to pour some molds, and make some sinker molds. Sand molds ready, aluminum melt went smoothly, opened the lid, took the crucible out, WHERE IS THE RESTING PLINTH??, attention lost, crucible drops above furnace... The jolt sends half of the molten aluminum behind the furnace, some inside the furnace, some on the lip, some on the protective thermal blanket that guards the burner, some ends up near the cables...

    The drop was minimal, maybe 10 cm?, the tongs lacked grip and it fell on the furnace lip. I instantly grabbed it firmly since it was still inside the tongs and placed it in the furnace.

    Could have been much worst. The cables were missed by a centimeter, I moved them seconds after I put the crucible inside the furnace. Some splashes hit them but cooled quickly since the weather is cold. The propane comes from the orange lines and are above ground as seen in the photos...

    IMG_20220108_153536.jpg


    IMG_20220108_153545.jpg


    IMG_20220108_153557.jpg

    Where was the plinth?
    The plinth is always set in front of the furnace, with the pouring tongs around it, ready for casting anytime. It can be seen in the third photo, upper right corner.
    This day the plinth was not where it is supposed to be. It was 10 meters away...
    I never move it and no one goes near my foundry.

    Except birds. I found evidence they move things around. One time they drilled through the lid of the furnace as it is soft aerated concrete (YTONG). They removed chunks and made nests. Another time the removed the glass thermometer from the wall leaving the plastic casing hanging. The thermometer was found on the floor 5 meters away.

    Those f....g birds did it again.
     
  2. Foundry Rat

    Foundry Rat Silver

    I have elves that come into the shop at night and move stuff around.
    If I could get them to molding...
     

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