The Aluminum Propeller

 I cast this giant hunk of aluminum a while back after watching a video about propulsion and how propellers are made.  I loved the form so much I decided to utilize it in a sculpture. Here is where I am with it to this point. Its final orientation is shown. Still working on the base.

Iron Pour Pictures

Here are the pictures from the ECU Iron Pour that I have.  If you have any questions about the process feel free to ask in the comments.  I'll get back with you as soon as possible.  There aren't really many pictures of pouring since we had a small crew this day and I was taking part in much of the action.

Kevin Vanek (www.kevinvanek.com) Getting the bottom sand ready.  The bottom sand helps to not only keep the bottom of the cupola from melting but helps in creating a proper slope for the well (reservoir area where the molten iron accumulates) so the iron moves toward the pour spout.

One of the many iron breaking stations.  Iron has to be broken down in to small enough pieces for melting.  The size we look for is around that of a tortilla chip.

Here is FaRu, a cupolette built by Carl Billingsley (www.billingsleyatelier.com), in full swing with the main blower on.

We had many scratch block molds this time around and  t seems they outnumbered the students' molds.  This wasn't much an issue however because it shows great community involvement here at ECU. 

A few of the ECU student who showed up to help out with the pour.

Keeping the slag hole clear is a never ending task.  The slag hole is where slag, the impurities in the metal, exit the cupola.  The slag hole is situated at the top of the reservoir area, being less dense than the iron the slag floats to the surface.  The slag then drips out the hole oozing like molten glass.

A mold line in good form.

Another ECU student ready to pour.

Here are my molds.  They each required a double tap and one and a half ladles.

Professor Hanna Jubran (www.hannajubran.com)

My molds where poured amazingly and went as planned, minus the first.  It did not fill all the way, but still works out.

Bottom drop.  

Breaking open molds is much like Christmas morning.

Here are my castings ready for clean-up.
More in process photos coming soon!

ECU Iron pouring fun

So, rainy weather got in the way of the East Carolina University iron pour yesterday and we had to cancel. Today, on the other hand, was beautiful and the pour ran quite smoothly.  My molds (seen in previous posts) poured quite well taking a ladle and a half of the great molten iron goodness.  I had to make a few small adjustments as I didn't place my secondary pour spout in the best location.  I had both pour spouts in  similar locations and going in to the lowest levels of the mold.  After pouring in the first mold with one tap then another after a usual tap time (7 mins today) there was a freeze up.  Luckily veteren Carl Billingsley was there to save the day back pouring into one of my vents; a full pot into a 3/8 inch vent.  Thank you Carl.  After that we realized we just needed to bot the slag hole and it was smooth sailing with consecutive ladles. Pictures ought to be up by tomorrow.

Currently

Here's a little of what I am currently working on.  A 3 piece mold to be cast in iron.  There are four molds total and I am going to connect these pieces together with various hardware and possibly other material elements.  The iron pour here at East Carolina University is coming up this weekend (February 22nd) so there will be more pictures soon. 

Here it begins...

So I've decided to create a blog.  Joining the millions of unread documents in this Babel Tower called the Internet I hereby lose myself amongst them.  I hope I get noticed.  I plan on sitting in the back of the room waving my arms manically with intent. What intent?  Well, I'll figure that out sooner or later. For now here is my artwork and the processes leading up to their finishing.  Events, process, ideas, and techniques; I'll share it all.  I hope you enjoy it.