[SEL] Pouring castings at the Tod Engine Works Class.

[Dave Rotigel]

Hi Curt,
         Sounds like a GREAT time was had by all! Exactly why did a rubber 
fitting fail? And how (exactly) could a rubber fitting be replaced with copper?
         Dave
PS, Missy, Those "Cub Scout" pictures that you took are just between you 
and me. NO ONE else needs to see them!
PPS, Thanks to Devin's grandparents!

At 01:31 PM 4/24/2006, you wrote:
>Well folks I'm here to tell you that a trip to the Tod Engine Works is a 
>fun and educational day! Wednesday after work I departed for Ohio and got 
>about 7 hours of the 10 hour drive done. Found a local State Park about 
>mid way up in Ohio and slept in the bed of the truck under the stars. 
>Great sleeping weather there as the air is still dry and brisk this far 
>north. Was up early and arrived at Rick's place at 11:00.
>Got the grand tour of the neat 100 year old building and looked at his 
>mullers, furnace, MG set, ramming lines, and pattern storage area.
>We began the day by mixing no bake core mold sand in the small muller and 
>filling all the coreboxes. These were set in the sun to expedite the 
>curing. After a couple of hours they were dropped out of the coreboxes and 
>another batch of core sand was mixed and the coreboxes filled again for 
>the other halves.
>Then we mulled green sand and rammed several patterns.
>Pig ingots were loaded in the furnace and a heat was begun. 3/4 of the way 
>into the heat, a rubber fitting failed on the water cooling system and a 
>major leak was underway. We nursed the furnace back to safe temperatures, 
>and took the heat exchanger out of the loop for repair. A trip to Lowes 
>and we got the necessary copper fittings to make the more permanent 
>cooling loop. A few hours later and this was complete and we were ready to 
>heat again. But hunger pains were stronger than the drive to pour, so 
>Rick's (very supportive) wife joined us for dinner at a local steak place. 
>We were now properly fueled for the long evening ahead.
>It takes about 2 hours to heat a cold furnace and contents to be ready for 
>pouring. So about 11:00 the first mold was poured. This was the large 
>Alamo piston and it took all we had melted to fill it, roughly 50 pounds.
>The second heat took about 45 minutes, and we poured the double 1 1/2 HP 
>Hercules pistons, and a single 3HP Hercules piston. We were done at about 
>1:00 in the a.m. and we were beat. Whew I'm not used to those late hours 
>anymore!
>We agreed to meet the next morning at 9:00 and we broke the castings out 
>of the flasks. The risers and gating were broken or cut off the castings 
>and they were ready.
>Unfortunately Missy needed the digital camera for a scouting trip so I was 
>unable to take any pictures, so this tale will have to suffice.
>But if you are up for a fun day in the foundry you should all consider 
>signing up for Rick's Foundry class before he gets so busy that he will no 
>longer have time for these classes. The proceeds all help him with getting 
>the foundry into full production and with the reassembly of the Tod Engine.
>
>I was back home Friday evening and on Saturday began machining on the 
>Alamo piston. I'll post a picture of it when it's done.
>Curt Holland
>Gastonia, NC
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