First Castings

They aint pretty, but they're the first castings, so they deserve honorable mention. 

These are core plates, purpose a little vague at this point, but easy to make the patterns. I also  

haven't got any decent scrap yet, so the melt took longer than I expected, since I had to 

scrounge up lots of little pieces (liscense plates, aluminum canteen, screen door handle, etc).

Yes, another video.

Here is the finished product:

Blacksmithing and Metalcasting

Blacksmithing as you probably know is the shaping of hot metal using a hammer and anvil. It is a very old craft and one that I particularly enjoy, although I'm not very good at it.

Metal casting is another way to shape metal, by melting it at high temps and pouring it into a mold. I am trying to learn this craft also, and it will allow me to make some important metalworking tools that would otherwise be very expensive. I.E. a metal lathe, shaper, milling machine, drill press, and related "accessories". The series of books I am following is Dave Gingery's How to Make a Machine Shop from Scrap. So the first step is to build a charcoal foundry. I have done so according to the books directions, and here is a video of the first fire, curing the refractory lining.

More metalcasting pics



As the furnace cured, I went to the blacksmith shop and made some tongs for the crucible (pot of metal).
I also made a skimmer.

Here's a video of me blacksmithing the tongs: