Helping Fellow Members

[mite5255]

Hi all
A few months back I received a PM on my Facebook from one of our Aussie members (Bunyip) aka Trev . He wanted to pick my brain about brass gassing off when melting, now I just happened to have CW Ammens book casting brass, so I offered to post it to him in South Aussie, he gave me his postal address and it soon arrived down that way.
I went to check my Post Box on Saturday and this nice amulet was sitting in it, photo below.
Thank you Trev, that was a wonderful surprise The finish is excellent, I would love to sit and watch you Richard and Frank do your stuff, I would learn so much

[Jammer]

That's a nice casting. The smaller stuff is much harder to do than larger items.

[Rasper]

The smaller stuff is much harder to do than larger items.

I'll second that. I have found that tin bronze or 85 three 5 fill thin castings better than Everdur does. I have never tried yellow brass.

Richard

[bunyip]

Thank's for posting Mike & thank's for the comments fellas. Richard, this is tin bronze but have also cast them from 70/30 cartridge brass with good results.The sand was fairly fine petrobond using Polybutene as the binder. Trev.

[mite5255]

Hey Trev, your very welcome, did you make the umm clasp for want of a better word and also the cord

[bunyip]

Yes I did Mike, bone pin & synthetic cord I get from ebay which I plait.

[F.C.]

Sorry I haven't been around much the past couple years. Life's been a whirlwind of "issues" I've had to deal with.

What I've done in the past to capture fine detail on bronze casts that small (as well as fine detail on lettering of cast bronze plaques) is to apply a small bit of aluminum atop the bronze melt just prior to pouring (after you degass and skim off dross from the bronze in preparation to pour). The aluminum will instantly liquify and provide a thin skin atop the bronze melt which you would then pour through as you fill your mold. The aluminum will create a micro thin skin to each face of your bronze as you pour thereby providing a micro thin skin that will insulate your bronze from it's reaction to the moisture in your sand enabling the bronze to fill thin or small casts more thoroughly capturing more finer detail before it chills in the mold. After you break out your casts from the sand that thin skin will look like a thin powdery scale and will easily brush off and give your bronze cast a much brighter wire-brush-like finish (without the typical red-rust-like surface appearance) and will also enable your bronze to capture much finer detail. Also note, it will not effect the bronze's ability to take on a patina. An ex-Navy foundryman taught me that trick.

[mite5255]

@ Trev. The whole set up just blew me away:-) by chance do you know how to flat plat four pieces of say No 8 or 10 wire together
@ Frank. I remember you saying that before, problem is I forgot:-( .
On another note, here in Australia, as far as I know, BBQing brisket is not overly popular ( I could be wrong ) can you people that have BBQed brisket give me your favorite recipe, preferably ones that are not so spicy, wife cannot handle spicy food, cooking times and temp would also be handy for a gas BBQ

[dallen]

On another note, here in Australia, as far as I know, BBQing brisket is not overly popular ( I could be wrong ) can you people that have BBQed brisket give me your favorite recipe, preferably ones that are not so spicy, wife cannot handle spicy food, cooking times and temp would also be handy for a gas BBQ

this is how I cook a brisket, other people do it different ways.

I'm assuming that your talking about Beef Brisket, right.

when I cook on I like it to be around 12 pounds and untrimmed, you can buy them trimmed but trimmed they cost more, can't see paying the butcher for what I can do with a knife and when they trim one the cut the good part off and put it in the hamburger grind.

get yourself one of those throw away aluminum pans one of the big ones, this is to marinate the brisket in.

make yourself up whatever kind of spice misture that you like and use lots of it to run the brisket down with, just buy whats on the store shelf that I like. Just be sure to really rub it in good and use lots, a 12 pound brisket is about 4 inches thick so it will take a lot of spice.

once you get it all spiced up, put it in the pan, now pour in about half a pint of Whiskey (whatevers on the shelf in the kitchen will work, remember to save a shot or two for the cook. Add in a couple squeezed lemons, around a 1/4 cup of Teryaki sauce, some liquid smoke (don't know if its avaiable in Oz or not.

you can use about any kinds of marinade that you like, just don't forget the whiskey,

let soak in this overnight, turning a couple of times.

Ok now fire up the grill and throw the brisket on it with a real slow smoky fire, if grills big enough push the coals to one side and put Brisket on the other. I have a big pipe smoker that I built so I can do all of the cooking in it. Anyway let the brisket in the grill until it gets a nice heavy coating of smoke on it. about 3 hours.

We did save the liquid in the pan, if you throwed it away its not eh end of the world, just pour in a bottle of beer, we need some liquid in the pan, ( use a big electric roaster). Put the brisket in the pan, cover it with some aluminum foil wraping the foil tightly around the rim of the pan. put it in the oven (reason I use a big electric roaster) turn the oven on about 225 F. close the door and cook for an average of about an hour per pound keep covered and watch the liguid level in the pan cause it will increase and you don't want to mess up the wifes oven.

Thats how I cook Brisket.

[dallen]

forgot to mention that with brisket like pot roast you have to cook it for a long time at a low temp, around 225F, this take about an hour per pound, if you cook it really fast say 3 hours it will be all tough and dry,

Brisket is one of those things that you put one in the early morning and cook all day, I usually let it go all night in the roaster.

You also want to watch which way you carve on of them up. Be sure that your carving it across the grain, cut off of the long side not the end just watch which way the grain is going when you carve it.

you also want to remember 225 degrees F. it can be hotter but not a lot, I would out on the grill shoot for a temp range of say 225 to about not over 280 degrees F. which is roughly about 100 to 150 C.

Anyway hope that helps, just remember long and slow.