casting

Random stuff…

Random stuff…

I have a little bit of time so I thought I would post some random things. First off, most of you know that I have been growing my coffee plants for around 5 years. I have only had blossoms on them twice and earlier this year was the one of them. I was really happy to see blossoms, since its a good indicator that I've finally gotten close to making them happy. I was watering them a couple days ago and almost didn't notice these... Those are coffee beans! The very first time…Read more …
Adding another machine to the shop…..

Adding another machine to the shop…..

I do a lot of work on antiques and custom projects, so a lot of times I need to either produce or reproduce parts made of plastic. My go to technique has always been casting resins, but many times they don't have the 'feel' of plastic parts even if they look the part. Sometimes there just is nothing like an injected plastic part. I started work on a David Gingery style home made plastic injector a couple years ago, but I was never happy with the way the ram was designed. I purchased…Read more …
Keeping Busy…

Keeping Busy…

Posts have been few and far between since I have a few irons in the fire. I'm working on some emblems for a Datsun, the garden, finding rural property, a 3d printer build, and the usual clock and watch stuff. Yet, I still hear the question asked, "but you couldn't find just a few moments to post.....?" Lol. The garden is growing well. I'll post about that some other time. This year it's garlic, tomatoes, corn, pole beans, squash, watermelon, and the usual herbs. The coffee is doing good, saw flowers for the…Read more …
Manly Arts?

Manly Arts?

Sometimes I just cant get things outta my head. I saw a blog the other day touting the 'Manly Arts' and just had to shake my head in wonder. Listed posts under manly arts were things like 'how to build a campfire, 'beard oils', 'mustache taming', 'car camping', and my favorite (yes, that is sarcasm) - 'what men complained about women 50 and 100 years ago'.  W..... T..... F..... ? I was thinking about this as I fired up the forge and collected the materials and tools to start melting old lead weights…Read more …
Making molds, saving money

Making molds, saving money

One of the things I love about being me is that I have attempted most everything that has caught my interest. That includes making RTV silicone molds. It's really not the hardest thing, just a few basics to understand and you can make replicas of most objects. So, since I wanted to make some copies of a part I need in bulk I figured I'd take a few pics and throw it up here for those interested. Lets start with the basics, this isnt inteded to be a step-by-step (I'll do one if…Read more …
Melting metal…. with charcoal

Melting metal…. with charcoal

Yup, anyone who knows me well knows I like to do stupid dangerous stuff. Things like really hot metal make me happy. Yes, I've burned myself (many times) and had some really really close calls but I never seem to learn my lesson. So if hot metal is good, molten metal is WAY better. I have a small kiln I use to melt down gold and silver for doing jewelry casting, but nothing big enough to do a decent pour in aluminum. Off to the internet I went and found plans to fabricate…Read more …