Casting
You are my density
It can be a bit tricky to determine the nature of a mystery metal, and in the home workshop it can be even harder to tell the purity of a metal. So I looked up the density of Aluminium and
Casting a flywheel – Melting metal
Prepare furnace There’s not a lot of preparation to the furnace other than plugging in the fan and connecting the pipe to the side of the flowerpot furnace. However, one key piece of preparation is to ensure is the layout.
Posted in: Casting, Stirling Engine
Materials: Aluminium
Casting a flywheel – Patterns in the sand
This year my main project is to build a small stirling engine, a project that’s been bubbling away since 2011. I decided to make a few customisations to Jan Ridders plans, one of these is to use a cast aluminium
Posted in: Casting, Stirling Engine
Tags: pattern, petrobond
Magnifier Lamp – Heavy metal, shiny metal
I did a test assembly of my magnifier lamp and at full extension it toppled over. So a quick redesign of the base was needed. I carved out the inside with drills and chisels, and filled it up with molten
Posted in: Casting, Magnifier Lamp
Tags: lead, sheet metal, stainless steel
3D printing a pattern for sand casting
In Model Engineer No 4329 July 2008 there was a set of plans by Jan Ridders for building a coffee cup stirling engine. I liked the model but had some ideas for adapting it to make it a little more
Posted in: Casting
Tags: 3d Printing, Stirling Engine
Pouring Temperature vs Melting Temperature
I was recently sent some documentation on a small electric furnace for melting and heat treating metal which is of a good size for hobbiests but still a lot more expensive than building your own charcoal furnace. One of the
Posted in: Casting
Materials: Aluminium
Tags: temperature
David Gingery on Kindle
Some of the David Gingery “Build your Own Metal Working Shop from Scrap” books are now available on kindle. The prices are not much better than the paperback versions but those can sometimes be a bit hard to get hold
Posted in: Casting
Wood Pattern-Making
I’ve been reading Wood Pattern-Making by Herbert J McCaslin. It’s the 1997 reprint of a much earlier book and I have to recommend it as being an interesting and potentially useful read for people interested in casting (or woodworking). Wood
Posted in: Books and Magazine Reviews, Casting, Woodworking
Tags: wood turning
Metal sculpture in brass, mounted on an 1800s French Coin
