07-10-2017, 02:27 PM
My bench is an old solid wood 1.5 inch thick tabletop that i set on short sawhorses. when I`m done the sawhorses fold up against the wall, the tabletop goes the same place. The sand goes into some galvanized trash cans with lids. The homemade copes drags and assorted tools go into the riddle before going into the garage rafters. After the furnace cools the burner goes on a shelf and the body and lid slide into a corner. I ran natural gas to the garage and through it into the alley where i use the furnace. I use a stainless steel flex connector to connect the burner to the gas line. Once disassembled it does not take up much room. I have very limited space. The alley is blacktop and a spill will set fire to it but i keep a bucket of dry sand on hand (Now), the first spill was pretty exciting but i had read Gingery`s book a couple of times (like 8) so i didn`t panic and moved slowly and carefully.
I went to a refractory company here in chicago to ask about refractory cement before i built the furnace.. The guy i was talking to looked in the shop i guess and came back with three bags of 2500 degree mix on a two wheeler, told me it was out of date but i could have it if i wanted it. He threw in a premixed bucket of pointing cement and sent me on my way. Lots of people have been very kind to me over the years.
Like you, I have the Navy foundry books from Lindsay also, Lindsay and i did alot of business over the years. Hopefully he retired well.
I do need to upgrade my PPE, it`s a little lacking.
A friend wanted to help one day and he managed to splash some molten aluminum on the concrete even after being told not to move the crucible near the concrete. As it was splashing out i told him to turn around and by the time the concrete spalled he was facing away from it it and only got hit in the back with a little concrete grit. He also managed to set fire to my bench that day. I gave him the foundry book to read and he was much better the second go round. I had given him all the safety rules beforehand but i guess he didn`t take them seriously. He does now.
I was a little leery about the pulleys when i cast them because of the forces they would be subjected to. I used previously cast scrap for them and stood off to the side when i brought them up to speed on the lathe to complete and when first used on the machines. Never had a problem with them. I know they are ugly as sin but when i finished them i was happy as a clam. Imagine that, i actually made something useful after all.
I still need to make some more parts for the mill like the handles for the gibb lock screws and the overarm support lock screws as well. I think using stock material will turn out just as well or better.
I don`t know about the rest of you. but i often put material in a machine and just whittle away at it getting the feel for different cutters, speeds and feeds. I guess because of the small size and light weight of the machines i can really feel how something is cutting. I don`t know if larger machines allow you to feel the cut. I have gone too far or too fast several times and sent some unfortunate tooling to an early grave. I recently got an old Bport with a tree head and haven`t really had time to do anything with it other than oil the hell out of it and tram the head.
I`ve taken the wise advice of many people (who also have the disease) who wish they had bought machines when they had the chance ,and i got them, even before knowing how to turn them on and I`m glad I did.
Seeing the prices currently asked for the Atlas machines i could never afford them. All told, I now have The Bport,a Logan # 820, Atlas 12 inch lathe, a craftsman 101 series 6 X 18, an Emco Unimat lathe/mill, the Atlas 7 inch shaper and an Ideal brand die filer. I had the Atlas drill press but i traded it for a nicer one. I shouldn`t have split them up, but that`s water under the bridge.
At least there was a little talking about metalworking but I`ll stop now and go back to reading and learning.
You give good advice, especially about casting magnesium and it`s alloys, the thought of that scares me.
Thanks J
I went to a refractory company here in chicago to ask about refractory cement before i built the furnace.. The guy i was talking to looked in the shop i guess and came back with three bags of 2500 degree mix on a two wheeler, told me it was out of date but i could have it if i wanted it. He threw in a premixed bucket of pointing cement and sent me on my way. Lots of people have been very kind to me over the years.
Like you, I have the Navy foundry books from Lindsay also, Lindsay and i did alot of business over the years. Hopefully he retired well.
I do need to upgrade my PPE, it`s a little lacking.
A friend wanted to help one day and he managed to splash some molten aluminum on the concrete even after being told not to move the crucible near the concrete. As it was splashing out i told him to turn around and by the time the concrete spalled he was facing away from it it and only got hit in the back with a little concrete grit. He also managed to set fire to my bench that day. I gave him the foundry book to read and he was much better the second go round. I had given him all the safety rules beforehand but i guess he didn`t take them seriously. He does now.
I was a little leery about the pulleys when i cast them because of the forces they would be subjected to. I used previously cast scrap for them and stood off to the side when i brought them up to speed on the lathe to complete and when first used on the machines. Never had a problem with them. I know they are ugly as sin but when i finished them i was happy as a clam. Imagine that, i actually made something useful after all.
I still need to make some more parts for the mill like the handles for the gibb lock screws and the overarm support lock screws as well. I think using stock material will turn out just as well or better.
I don`t know about the rest of you. but i often put material in a machine and just whittle away at it getting the feel for different cutters, speeds and feeds. I guess because of the small size and light weight of the machines i can really feel how something is cutting. I don`t know if larger machines allow you to feel the cut. I have gone too far or too fast several times and sent some unfortunate tooling to an early grave. I recently got an old Bport with a tree head and haven`t really had time to do anything with it other than oil the hell out of it and tram the head.
I`ve taken the wise advice of many people (who also have the disease) who wish they had bought machines when they had the chance ,and i got them, even before knowing how to turn them on and I`m glad I did.
Seeing the prices currently asked for the Atlas machines i could never afford them. All told, I now have The Bport,a Logan # 820, Atlas 12 inch lathe, a craftsman 101 series 6 X 18, an Emco Unimat lathe/mill, the Atlas 7 inch shaper and an Ideal brand die filer. I had the Atlas drill press but i traded it for a nicer one. I shouldn`t have split them up, but that`s water under the bridge.
At least there was a little talking about metalworking but I`ll stop now and go back to reading and learning.
You give good advice, especially about casting magnesium and it`s alloys, the thought of that scares me.
Thanks J