[Steam-engine] Make your own Iron Castings!!

[James Mackessy]

Hi Rick;
     Great idea. My son lives in Chicago, and a friend of his does this as a
special industrial arts program
for the high schools. The students make patterns, these guys set up in the
parking lot of the school and
run heats of aluminum and bronze in crucible furnaces fired with propane. My
son helps and gets to pour
some of his stuff in return. I have been trying to arrange participating as
a "grunt" in order to gain some
experience, but it hasn't happened yet. The thing I like about their methods
is that they use common materials
and supplies to keep the cost down, but they get results. I would be
interested, if I can get the time off.
Keep me posted.
Best Regards;
Jim Mackessy
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tod Engine" <todengine at zoominternet.net>
To: "Steam-engine mailing list" <steam-engine at lists.stationary-engine.com>;
"The SEL email discussion list" <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>;
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Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 10:46 AM
Subject: [Steam-engine] Make your own Iron Castings!!


I am trying to gauge interest in a proposed program for the Tod Engine
Foundation.   I am considering offering an Ironcasting workshop at our site.

The workshop would be for the better part of one day, and would start with
making a sand mold from a pattern, either something brought in or supplied
by us.  Then we would charge and fire our cupola furnace and pour the molds
that were previously made, and end the day with shaking out he molds and
taking home the castings that the participants poured.

Most people never have the opportunity to witness molten metal, and even
fewer have worked with it.  Through this I workshop would like to give
people the opportunity to do something that they may not have the chance to
do or see anywhere else, and also teach some of the principles of
ironcasting in the process.

Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham offers this workshop for a fee of $200 and we
would charge the same for a nearly identical class.  I would like to take
the Sloss class to see how they teach theirs.

If there is sufficient interest we would probably start offering this next
year.

So my question to you is, does this sound like something that would be of
interest?  Would you give up a weekend and some cash to come to Youngstown
to pour your own castings?

Thanks

Rick Rowlands
Executive Director
Tod Engine Heritage Park
William Tod 34" x 68" x 60" Cross Compound Steam Engine
Youngstown, OH
http://www.todengine.org/
Photo Albums Online: http://community.webshots.com/user/todengine
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