Brasso Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 Hi all. I've been working on this for a while and finally got one poured today. The pattern was carved from green jewellers wax and I used homemade greensand for the mould. This is the first casting from the pattern and it turned out pretty well. There are still a few things I want to tidy up, but I am quite pleased with the result and wanted to share. I only took a pic after it was done because I thought I'd have to make a heap of refinements to the pattern, which I still have to do but nothing major. I'm absolutely sure that Ausfire will want one of these, so I will snap a few pics of the process of making his Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Olson Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 That is awesome. They were casting those in Rollag Minnesota at the Western Minnesota Steam Threshing Reunion a few weeks ago. They could not make them fast enough and I missed out. Only 20 USD each too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 Pretty cool Brasso. Are you going to make a pattern board? It'd make molds as simple as ramming them up and spruing. Gang mold a bunch and it'd be fast and easy, more work finishing them. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brasso Posted September 20, 2018 Author Share Posted September 20, 2018 Thanks guys. $20 US is about $27.50 Aussie and that sounds pretty reasonable. I hadn't thought that far ahead Frosty. I was just going to make a few of them for fun, but they might actually sell so we'll see. At 200g or 7oz on a hardwood "stump", they would make a nice paperweight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 On 9/19/2018 at 7:28 PM, Brasso said: I'm absolutely sure that Ausfire will want one of these, so I will snap a few pics of the process of making his And I'm absolutely sure too, Morris! To fill you all in on the complete story, I left Morris at the forge yesterday after my demo. We found a reasonable sized crucible and a few scraps of aluminium. (A couple of Al spanners I tried to forge and failed.) He was just getting the metal to start melting when I left. Today I had a day off, so I did not catch up with Morris. It's been a busy tourist season and it's the first day I have not done demos since May. So what a surprise to log on to IFI tonight and see that lovely little cast aluminium anvil! I know that Morris likes a challenge and I think he won't stop with aluminium. There will be a brass anvil on the horizon soon. And how about a tin anvil? Herberton was established on the back of the tin discoveries here. What a great selling item. They would be heavy little paperweights. Engrave them with Pure Herberton Tin (I'll do that for you) and I'll guarantee you'll sell as many as you can make … and for a lot more than $27! Anyway, that's a great little casting and I look forward to seeing it in person at work tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Here's a picture of the mini anvil sitting on my Kohlswa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 I've always wanted to forge a mini anvil to put on a mini stump just to have as a desk decoration. Anyone here forge one out of mild steel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Brasso, thats an excellent little anvil. Would be very marketable there with Aus's ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John in Oly, WA Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Nice mini anvil! I really like the pure tin idea too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 OK, so Morris made me a mini anvil today. I took the process photos, but I'll let him fill in the details. About 12 pic heavy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brasso Posted September 23, 2018 Author Share Posted September 23, 2018 Wow Aus! Your photos make it look so simple! 1. The pattern. Green jewellers wax. Scaled from a google images pic to 90mm length on my pc screen then traced (paper on the screen style) and transferred to wax. Carved using mini milling machine, hacksaw, wax file, scalpel blade and various other methods. Cut in half with hacksaw and locating pins epoxied in. 2. Flat half of pattern, lightly powdered in the cope or drag... I can never remember which is which. 3. Ramming a bit of sand 4. Cracked a crucible but proceeding anyway. 5, 6 and 7. Powdering the parting surface with an old tin of Johnson's Baby Powder. 8. Pulling the pipe after ramming the top half. 9. Separated the two half. Looks good. 10. Cut the runner? with pocket knife and press loose sand back in. 11. Pour. Without degassing or anything fancy. 12, 13. Played the waiting game. It is like opening a Christmas present. Thanks for letting me use the forge and taking some lovely pics Aus! Any tips and tricks, questions or constructive criticism welcome. Brasso Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Stephens Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Aus & Brasso, Thank you both for the pics and description of the process! Very well done! The few times I've tried casting anything, adding a vent hole has always increased my chances of a good outcome. Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 OK, so here's the next instalment of the miniature anvil casting demos. On the left we have an anvil cast from printer's lead. We have a lot of old type setting letters and advertising plates and they melt down easily. Apparently there is a percentage of antimony in the mix which makes it a little harder than lead alone. The one on the right is cast from pure tin. Very easy to melt. A good one to demonstrate for visitors to our museum, as our town of Herberton was founded in 1880 on the back of tin discoveries here. Thanks to Brasso for his skill in setting up the casting process and demonstrating for forge visitors. The bottle cap is for size comparison: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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