Chad sent the pics above and there was a lot of talk on the site it was located on, about how dangerous this would be for a child to be pouring molten metal. I took it as a challenge...
Noah and Maya poured some sterling silver ingots yesterday. We got to spend time talking about solids and liquids and how the process works. We did some trial runs with no metal in the crucible and then they poured some small amounts of silver into the ingot molds. I'm sure someone who reads this will probably complain about my kids doing this or something safety related. I know I learned some of my most valuable lessons in life by being exposed to such things and it also taught me to be inquisitive. Most people wouldn't dream of giving their kid a knife these days as they might cut themselves; maybe that's what's wrong with young people who are afraid to get off the couch...
4 comments:
This is awesome. My first thought when I saw the "toy" was man, I wish we could have stuff like this for kids nowadays... On my list of things to build is a little forge capable of melting aluminum. Its right after the roof, the shop, the floors, the house, the ......
What are you using to melt the metal?
Yes, I thought the same thing when I saw the kit. Believe me I understand about the list of things to get to.
I use a device called an electromelt. It plugs into 110V outlet and it has small removable graphite crucibles. They are expensive devices, but they sometime come up for sale on eBay and people don't know what they are so the bids are sometimes low. You can also watch the coffee can foundry videos on You Tube and use a propane torch to melt it. The elecromelt is just nice for the kids to use.
I LOVE that you did this with them! My kids and I made a raised flower bed a couple of weeks ago and they both learned how to use the screw driver... it was very exciting for them!
I LOVE to hear that you approve AND that you're doing things with your kids. I sometimes feel like I should show them more than what I do. I just don't want them to grow up and be entitled so I'm hoping the making rubs off on them....
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