Found Dreaming

Another new guy checking-in. I've come back to home-foundry stuff after a very long break: many years ago back in the UK, a local high school gave me all their foundry equipment, which got me making everything I could from aluminium castings.

Now, in my retirement, I have no such equipment but just as much fun making parts for my steam-engines, gadgets, all sorts of odds 'n sods as the fancy takes me.

My set-up is incredibly crude, being a charcoal-fired Thai-style cooker, which is blown with the fan from a hair-drier, a stainless-steel saucepan as crucible, and some local sand modified with the addition of cat-litter. My kitchen 'donated' an electric whisk to stir the sand, and a couple of flour sieves - when moulding, I try to sieve ALL the sand and put the lumps to one side for crushing at some later date. One day ..... maybe.

I live in the East of Thailand, far from Bangkok, but the locals, most of whom think I'm crazy, are very decent about giving me scrap aluminium from their motorbike-repair businesses. In a country where the standard of driving is appalling, there are plenty of bent wheels etc!

I'm pleased to have joined this forum and hope someday to make some useful contribution in return for the things I learn from kindred souls.

Geoff P
Thailand

Hello Geoff and welcome to the form. glad you decided to sign up, seems to be a more focused forum then MCZ

welcome Geoff glad to have you in the group. I'm quite sure you have a trick or two up your sleaves you can show us.

Welcome Geoff, have you made any "Glass Aluminium" lately?
Yes, I'm the guy that analysed those samples for you. Interesting mix, if I can find the paper again.

Interesting mix of new members here lately, cool to see you guys coming in as a little more activity certainly makes the forum a more interesting read.

A little crazy is good in my book Geoff, helps in the creative department to look outside of the box at times. Would like to see some pictures of your cooker, sounds interesting to me. Not really a fan of melting in a metal crucible but when it comes down to it you can make some great stuff with the simplest of setups. The availability of cast wheels is a big thumbs up in my book, start with a good alloy and you dont have to worry about that part when diagnosing any kinds of problems. I just dont understand folks who melt cans after reading even a little on the subject, at least here where I am you can turn in cans with their redemption value for more than what the recycler will sell wheels for.

Welcome Geoff, your find a great bunch of blokes here and from damn near every corner of the globe

Mike

Hi Jammer - I remember it very well. In fact, seeing you (and David) on here made me want to join.
Regards, Geoff

Mainly to Harry: over here I have to melt whatever I can get, be it cans, frying-pans, wheels or ali extrusions. It happens that my chum with a bike-repair shop can supply wheels in exchange for me machining pistons - some of his customers want super-go-faster engines made from bog-standard Hondas, so we modify the pistons to clear blooming big valves. Up to them, as the saying goes.

As for cast wheels being a good alloy, well it depends how much the farmyard dung has got into them - there is an awful lot of oxide in some of them but what's a bit more dross? The non-cast wheels are easier for me to handle, though the anodising also creates dross and sometimes I need a lot of heat just to get the melt started.

I've read, with great interest, Dallen's articles re a furnace to melt wheels. Looks like fun but I simply saw the wheels (and anything else) into smaller chunks on my wood-saw, which has carbide teeth. My specs (glasses) have had a few 'dings' from the bits coming-off but hey-ho this is the land of 'if it ain't dangerous, don't do it'

Geoff

Welcome to the forum geoff