BruceB
06-06-2006, 06:59 PM
No, don't head for the sex-toys-and-rubber-goods-store.
On occasion I've found that agitating the mould a bit as it fills has helped in getting good fill-out. Just a minor, gentle to-and-fro shake seemed to help a bit.
So today, having some time to think while casting some .404s with my new NEI mould, and running into minor difficulty with rounded bases on some casts, I started cogitating about maybe rigging up a sort of vibrating surface to rest the mould on while it's being filled. The aim is to agitate the liquid alloy so it fills all the corners in the cavity a little more effectively.
All I could find in my shed for vibrators was my electric "engraving pencil", but I opened up a large-ish hoseclamp (thanks, Buckshot) and with that and a couple sheet-metal screws, fastened the engraver to the underside of a 6"x 8" piece of 1/4" aluminum plate that was kicking around. The aluminum was then made into a sort of "bridge" by mounting it between two wooden blocks with the engraver underneath. The whole Rube Goldberg rig was then placed under the furnace spout.
I turned the pencil on at a medium setting (DAMN, but that's an annoying buzz!!) and commenced casting again. Naturally, the jury-rigged vibrator assembly wanted to boogey all over the bench, but in spite of that........
I'll be jiggered if it didn't work! Prior to this wild-eyed idea, I was getting a slightly round-based boolit about every six or eight casts. Filling with the mould vibrating, I got almost NONE!
I suspect it wouldn't take much vibration to do this job. I was wondering where I could find a SILENT vibrator machine...even as small as the ones in cellphones...that could stand being run for hours on end. NO, not from the stores referred to in the opening line! One of those electric "palm" type massagers? Something else?
Any bright ideas?
OK, carpetman...you're onstage...take it away!!
On occasion I've found that agitating the mould a bit as it fills has helped in getting good fill-out. Just a minor, gentle to-and-fro shake seemed to help a bit.
So today, having some time to think while casting some .404s with my new NEI mould, and running into minor difficulty with rounded bases on some casts, I started cogitating about maybe rigging up a sort of vibrating surface to rest the mould on while it's being filled. The aim is to agitate the liquid alloy so it fills all the corners in the cavity a little more effectively.
All I could find in my shed for vibrators was my electric "engraving pencil", but I opened up a large-ish hoseclamp (thanks, Buckshot) and with that and a couple sheet-metal screws, fastened the engraver to the underside of a 6"x 8" piece of 1/4" aluminum plate that was kicking around. The aluminum was then made into a sort of "bridge" by mounting it between two wooden blocks with the engraver underneath. The whole Rube Goldberg rig was then placed under the furnace spout.
I turned the pencil on at a medium setting (DAMN, but that's an annoying buzz!!) and commenced casting again. Naturally, the jury-rigged vibrator assembly wanted to boogey all over the bench, but in spite of that........
I'll be jiggered if it didn't work! Prior to this wild-eyed idea, I was getting a slightly round-based boolit about every six or eight casts. Filling with the mould vibrating, I got almost NONE!
I suspect it wouldn't take much vibration to do this job. I was wondering where I could find a SILENT vibrator machine...even as small as the ones in cellphones...that could stand being run for hours on end. NO, not from the stores referred to in the opening line! One of those electric "palm" type massagers? Something else?
Any bright ideas?
OK, carpetman...you're onstage...take it away!!