day-of-work

I worked on molds the last three days. I forgot my camera at home the last few days so I didn't get a chance to post the latest progress. Chuck left for Indy on Wednesday so I didn't have him to help me out, but we agreed to pour the molds when he gets back on Monday. 

I had my work cut out for me...

 I just had to get the molds up on edge, separated, the foam pulled out, sprues and gates/vents cut, graphite wash applied, and then put the mold back together, seating in the correct position for pouring, and banded together by Monday morning. This would usually be no problem, but the weight of the molds made things difficult. Just getting the molds up on their edges proved to be a pain (I've already thought of some solutions for this in the future). The large rectangular molds weighed approximately 900 lbs. usually they could have been thinner but my angled sprues needed the thickness in order to work properly. 

Matt helped me out a ton today. I wanted to get his help while he was there, so I kicked it into gear set my goal to be finished moving the beasts around by the time he left for the weekend. I owe him big-time for all of his help! I hope I didn't cause his body any long term harm from all of the heavy lifting today.

Once we got the molds closed up and situated, Matt mentioned that "we should just pour them today". I thought about for a second and then started weighing out metal. I finished banding the molds while the furnace heated up and we poured them. This way they'll be cool by tomorrow and I can break out the pieces after I clean up the mess that I left from the intense day of work.