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In the video the sand wasn’t quite where it would have to be for casting and needed a couple more squirts of water and a closer to a total of 5 minutes of mulling. I was thinking of adding paddles to the blades to increase agitation but was worried about the extra load. I hadn’t thought of...

I am very happy with the way this came together. It’s a bit fast and when I first ran it I had the tub full and it was running like a clock. But the sand was dry and as soon I added a few sprays of water and the clay started doing its thing the belt started slipping. Glad to see that works...

I was thinking of where/how to mount the switch but after having the motor on and off a half a dozen times it dawned on me that it would be beneficial to keep all the electrical together. I printed a box for the switch and an adapter to fit the curve of the capacitor with a slot so I can mount...

To hold the legs I welded on a couple of 3in long pieces of 1/2in gas pipe to the tank, the back leg goes into the boss cast into the rear of the mounting plate and the Tremclad is doing its job hiding the worst of my sloppy welds. The legs are 3/4in electrical conduit long enough to fit a 5...

Thanks GreenTwin. If I didn’t need it for this project I would hang it on the wall as a trophy. It was a near thing my crucible held just enough metal. I’ve been working on and off on a bigger furnace. The bulk of it’s done and I have the hotface cast but not fired. The daytime highs are...

Sorry I didn’t get any pictures of this but sometimes when casting there’s just too much going on to trying to film. Readers Digest version is 2 failed fills and another collapse. What final worked was thickening the pattern with some 1/8in Masonite (hard board) bringing it to 3/8in and using a...

Today I made a quick and dirty flask big enough to hold the pattern and rammed it up to see how it would pull. The long fingers have a lot of draft so pulled with no problem. What I was having trouble with was having it collapse. Ya “STOP FLIP” I don’t know how many times I’ve rammed up the cope...

Thanks GreenTwin. I agree a knife gate is the only way to go with a pattern like this. I’m not worried about the surface finish. It’s always great when a casting comes out of the sand with a smooth clean finish but this thing is pretty utilitarian so I’ll be happy as long as it’s serviceable.

I don’t have anything suitable in my stash to make the base out of so I’m going to attempt to cast it. I’ve never tried casting anything this thin this size. It’s 1/4in thick and 15 1/4in long (6.5mm x 387mm). I’ve seen it done with plaques and if it doesn’t work out I can just melt it down and...

I can’t see this thing lasting long if the top of the drive left open with all that sand flying around so to attach the drive shaft to the blades I took the last 1/2in of the shaft down from .6in to 1/2in and made a cap the diameter of the blade shaft (1 in) with a small shoulder matching the ID...

Kicking things around if I go with a simple belt drive I should be able to keep this thing very compact. I want to put the bearing as close to the secondary pulley as I can get so It looks like I’ll need around 3in’s between the bottom of the tank and whatever base I come up with.

wce4 ya that seat works great. I can’t remember what it was I was working when I first used it but I was cutting a lot of plate and my back was killing me. My saw just fits under the workbench when I’m not using it so even with the new base it’s to short to use standing. When not in use I keep...

So I’ve been kicking around ideas for the drive. Today I got the chance to check out a few of the used equipment places that will let civilians peruse the aisles and I LOVE a good junk store in Oil Country! 200 rpm 110v, continuous duty sealed industrial motor for the whopping price of 24.50...

I picked up the bearing for the drive shaft today. I didn’t really look at it in the store just opened the box to see if it was the right size and saw it came with a stop collar. Getting it home my first thought was “well this was made in China” the hole looked way off center. After playing...

Cut the dump shoot sides out on the band saw and welded them on. These are just as shown on the plans from some plate I had on hand. That thing on the 4x6 is a form I made for a one-of belt guard and was destined to live in the garage rafters but with a wood block screwed to the bottom I can...

In the plans it shows the dump door and door seal being cut out of the tank top and the door then being fitted to a hole cut in the bottom of the tank. My thinking is that I have some 1/32in cut-off disks so if I use that to cut the door out from the bottom of the tank it will definitely match...

GreenTwin I hear you on the cost of the hobby. I’ve got a 65 year old Myford ML7 and a Craftex Mini Mill. A larger mill would be nice but I just can’t justify it to my self. Now a couple of things. 1 – Hats off for doing iron, I stick to aluminum the PPE for that is costly enough, I think...

Hi Danuzzo. To me the simplest and cheapest way is points and don’t get hung up on the brand. I see no reason that a set of lawn mower points wouldn’t work. For a coil just go to an wreckers and pick one. The Webster is a very forgiving engine. The one thing gives most people trouble (myself...

GreenTwin I remember reading in I think one of the Navy Foundry manuals that they recommended using an industrial mixer to mull core sand. I’m pretty sure they are referring to one of those huge floor models you see in commercial bakeries. Have to think, are you using the paddle beater or a...

Finding center on the tank proved to be a bit of an issue and despite my best efforts and some of my best fancy schmancy tools I managed to get the hole for the column off center by about 1/4in. Nothing for it but to cut it out, shift it over and weld in a patch. Miraculously the column...