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

Dave Otto dotto at velocitus.net
Mon Apr 24 20:31:45 PDT 2006


Hi Curt

Thanks for the informative update; I have a question about the muller. Can
the green sand be reused? Is the purpose of the muller to break up all the
chunky stuff after the sand has been used?

Looking forward to the pictures of your new pistons.

Dave 



Dave Otto
Boise, Id
USA
Dotto at velocitus.net
http://community.webshots.com/user/otto1960





> -----Original Message-----
> From: sel-bounces at lists.stationary-engine.com [mailto:sel-
> bounces at lists.stationary-engine.com] On Behalf Of Curt
> Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 11:31 AM
> To: SEL; SEL (Oldengine.org); OFES
> Subject: [SEL] Pouring castings at the Tod Engine Works Class.
> 
> 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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