Helping Fellow Members

[latzanimal]

When should I arrive Dave? I'll bring beer....

[Jammer]

Aww Dave!! Now I have to go buy a brisket. I've only ever cooked corned beef brisket, I would like to try a real BBQ brisket.

[dallen]

better pick up a six pac of your favorite beverage to pass the time with while it cooks, but you won't regret it, heck if it wasn't so far I'd drive over and show you how.

problem with Brisket here in Ok. is that it cost way to damn much, when I first started cooking them after I got sick of the crap that they call BBQ in the high dollar places I could buy them all day long for like .98 cents a pound, now there like $4.00 a pound here.

[F.C.]

After reviewing much of my own input on here I failed to mention something. I have two types of wax I use for lost wax castings. The standard red wax I use for large castings. Thin and small wax investments I use a mix I created of my own which is standard candle wax (you can buy that relatively cheap by the slab) mixed with used "nasty black" crank case oil (the blacker the better). When the latter burns out of the plaster mold it leaves all the micro carbon fines of the used crank case oil embedded into the plaster interior wall. Carbon fines serve well to keep the melt from chilling too quickly and provides a measure of anti-oxidation on the surface of your casts. Add a thin layer of aluminum you pour through and you'd think there were elves inside your mold wire brushing it before you break it out of the sand. The black wax I make is no more brittle than the red wax you can purchase. Both serve their purpose structurally as an investment but the black wax I make serves to minimize surface scale on the cast that needs to be worked off after the cast is free from the investment. I'm old..... I forget things. LOL... anyway, there it is (finally).

[Rasper]

You caught my attention, Frank. Minimizing surface scale. I am all ears. How much burnt oil do you add to, let's say, a quart of wax?

And tell me what you mean " Add a thin layer of aluminum you pour through". I don't get the picture on that one.

Richard

[F.C.]

I experimented with a cup size bit of candle wax adding a measure of oil I estimated wouldn't turn it "oily" but with enough elasticity to bend without breaking yet still allow for carving without gumming up my carving tools. As long as the wax I created is at room temperature it works great and will bend relatively easily. Too cold and it'll snap if bent. I poured each experiment onto a sheet of wet plaster and when chilled, I went over the surface of it with a propane torch to give it a mirror-like smooth/even finish. Served great when taking a tracing and overlaying it onto the wax and scribing it into the wax for carving. I honestly don't recall the ratio of oil to wax. I created several slabs of it and been using it over the years to do relief carvings. My recommendation would be to start out with 1/4 the volume of oil to the quantity of wax... then adjust accordingly with each attempt till you get the mix you desire. Maybe less oil, maybe more... depends on elasticity when you pull it off the plaster. Eventually you'll get the ratio you desire then use that ratio thereon out with each larger sheet you create. As for the aluminum comment, I get my bronze up to temp, ready to pour, then right before I pull the crucible (after I skim off any dross) I take a small piece of aluminum (roughly less than a 10th the volume of bronze I melt) and let it melt atop the bronze without the furnace running. Do not mix the aluminum into the bronze... let it set atop the bronze as a thin melt layer you pour through. The moment it melts thoroughly (takes but a few seconds) I pull the crucible and pour. The aluminum will ride above the bronze (even during tilt of the crucible) and will drag a small bit of the aluminum with the bronze giving the bronze a thin prophylactic-like skin as it enters your mold. The aluminum ultimately lines the interior face of your mold with a micro thin layer that helps insulate your cast and virtually becomes somewhat of a powder as the bronze chills, that's easily wire brushed off the bronze cast after it's removed from the mold whether it be sand mold or plaster investment.