| If you have been thinking about making a start in | | | | thousands of home made wood lathes sitting in hobby |
| hobby foundry work in your home workshop, you may | | | | workshops the world over. A wood lathe will repay |
| be forgiven for thinking that the tools and equipment | | | | itself many times over when you start to make |
| are going to cost you an arm and a leg, this need not | | | | patterns for your hobby foundry.Your bench-ramming |
| be. Sure, you could trot off to the downtown industrial | | | | tool can be quickly turned to shape on your wood |
| tools supplier and take home an arm full of expensive | | | | lathe, in fact, while you're at it, make two or three of |
| tools.But if you take a good look at some of the tools, | | | | them in different shapes & sizes, they will all come in |
| you'll discover that the design principles and fabrication | | | | handy when ramming and moulding patterns of |
| could well be undertaken in the home workshop if you | | | | differing sizes, you could get away with a single tool, |
| have metal fabrication skills and a reasonable amount | | | | but you wont regret making extra tools.After a pattern |
| of basic metal working equipment.Take for instance | | | | has been completely rammed in a sand mould, and |
| "crucible lifting tongs", once you understand how these | | | | before the metal is poured, the pattern has to be |
| tools operate; you could quite easily make a set or | | | | removed without disturbing any of the surrounding |
| two over a weekend. The basic design action | | | | sand. Draw pins and spikes are used to remove |
| operates on the "scissor principle" but they don't cut | | | | timber patterns from sand moulds.Simple draw pins |
| anything, they are designed to "clamp securely" onto | | | | can easily be fabricated from long slender wood |
| the crucible to lift it out of the furnace when the metal | | | | screws, particleboard screws are ideal. The easiest |
| has melted. Great caution needs to be taken while | | | | way to convert woodscrews into draw pins is to |
| carrying out this operation, as one slip due to faulty or | | | | braze-weld a short length of 1/4" dia mild steel rod |
| badly designed tongs, and you could have a disaster | | | | onto the head of the screw...that is all you need to do... |
| on your hands.The best way to design and build a set | | | | make a set of them with different gauge screws as |
| of tongs is to copy a well made set, or to follow | | | | well long and short ones and you should have the field |
| directions set out in a textbook or ebook downloaded | | | | covered as far as lifting pins or draw spikes go... simple |
| from the net, we'll give you some links a little further on | | | | isn't it.Blunt hacksaw blades are usually thrown in the |
| in this article.Some of the most frequently used basic | | | | bin, from now on you should save them, as many |
| tools you'll need in the hobby foundry are; Bench | | | | useful little hobby foundry tools can be made from old |
| ramming moulders tool - Tube sprue cutter - turned | | | | saw blades, quite often small sand carving tools can |
| wood sprues - slick & oval spoon - hand riddle or sand | | | | be quickly made by grinding and shaping using a |
| sieve - draw pins, screws & hooks - rapping bar and | | | | normal bench grinder.By being resourceful and thinking |
| spike - gate cutter - strike off bar - sand carving tools | | | | how you can use scrap materials, you should see now |
| (made from old hacksaw blades). | | | | that there is absolutely no need to spend large |
| The tools mentioned above seem to be the ones that | | | | amounts of money to get the tools and things you |
| will be most used in your hobby foundry... and all of | | | | need for your hobby. If you are not sure about your |
| them can be home made if you have metal & wood | | | | own building & fabricating abilities then you should |
| working skills, it will take time and effort to make the | | | | always ask advice.Col Croucher.Metal craft has been |
| tools required but they wont cost you a red cent if you | | | | a lifelong interest, ever since my grandfather |
| make them from scrap materials, and if you are like | | | | introduced me to the blacksmiths forge at a young |
| most hobbyists you will know where to "scrounge | | | | age on the family farm where I grew up. Several |
| stuff".You may have to experiment with different | | | | decades later, I become addicted to melting and |
| ideas before you arrive at the most satisfactory | | | | pouring molten metal into sand moulds. Then began the |
| design, but you will learn a great deal about why things | | | | move into publishing ebooks for the hobby foundry |
| have to be made in certain ways.Do you own a wood | | | | worker. We now have a very large number of global |
| lathe? Even a most basic machine will suffice in the | | | | customers. To learn more about hobby metal casting |
| home workshop, you could even make your own if | | | | visit: there are free ebooks to download and a world |
| you were keen enough,I guarrantee there are tens of | | | | wide ezine to subscribe to. |