Miniature Tool Collection

[micktoon]

Hi Ralph , quality as usual  .........as the lads are saying they really are things of beauty. You must be putting some hours in Ralph, they seem to be rolling of the line every other time I look ...................... Santa would love you to be one of his elves I bet 


I am aready looking forward to the new one ..........keep up the exellent work

  Cheers Mick

[flyingtractors1]

Thank you Gentlemen.  I do appreciate your observations and encouraging comments.  I am doing this just for the fun of it all, but the acholades you ascribe to me do strengthen my resolve and are motivational.   Ralph

[flyingtractors1]

Remember this one (from page 3)?   







It's finished.   Ralph

[flyingtractors1]

I had meant to post a comparative pic.  Ralph

[flyingtractors1]

Started a nesw plane -- a # 4.  Ralph

[dsquire]

Ralph

Looks like it's going to be another nice plane. I'll be watching for the finished product. 

Cheers 

Don

[raynerd]

I am blown away each time I read this thread!!

What draws your interest to miniature tools?

[vtsteam]

Love the silver scraper! I'd like full size version for Christmas instead of a lump of coal this year, if possible. 

[flyingtractors1]

Thanks again Gents.  The #4 is progressing slowly -- more challenging than I had imagined.  I have just had a lesson on how to better appreciate a "simple" Lever Cap with the proper, working mechanism - lever.  Just build one 1/4 scale with a cam and a lever which work together  to make the part functional to better appreciate the part.








 Maybe that I shouldn't have been so bold as to declare something that I'm not sure I can do - that I'm not sure anyone has done, but  I'll keep after it and see what /  how it turns out in a week or so.  If not for the price of silver, I'm sure that we could have a full size one within a couple weeks.  Imagine Gold.

I started out as a creator of jewelry and learned many skills of the trade.  Then I learned that noone wanted to buy trinkets nor pay well for treasures, but I realized that I could amuse myself and create stuff that I liked and would be gald to keep if I "got stuck" with it.  I started my own line of 'Pocket Jewelry" (copywright) for the well dressed - a tiny gold hammer for the carpenter, a tiny pipe wrench for the plumber, etc.  And have never tried to sell any, so my managery (and my skills) have grown.  I have comissioned some pieces, but don't really like to build duplicates, so I tend to collect all my creations.   Ralph

[flyingtractors1]

The lever cap turned out nice.   Ralph

[Stilldrillin]

The lever cap turned out nice.   Ralph

Oh, yes it did! 

David D

[flyingtractors1]

Finished. . . I think.  It works beautifully.   Ralph





See it in action here

     [ Invalid YouTube link ]

[dsquire]

Ralph

I'm running out of words to adequately describe your work. It's just fantastic. Thanks for sharing it with us.   
     

Cheers 

Don

[vtsteam]

That's a beauty! 

[micktoon]

 Once again Ralph , total class  , looks and works superb............... the whole collection really does deserve to be on display full time somewhere.
Keep up the good work.
    Cheers Mick

[flyingtractors1]

Thanks, Gents.  I appreciate your thoughts.  Now working on a "new" frog, having learned some from building the first one.   Ralph

[flyingtractors1]

I am going to try to cast a copy of the #4. This is quite a complicated and lengthy process. It starts by creating master patters of each individual component and arranging and mounting the parts so that they can be suspended in a frame to create a rubber mold.   Ralph






Master Patterns are works of art in their own right.  Here are the masters for the pipe wrench and the monkey wrench.  This is how the parts were arranged to create the molds that resulted in my finished tools.   I suppose that full scale tools may have been pressed (pounded) on giant machines, but I employed the methods available to me.   Ralph

[flyingtractors1]

After the master patterns are constructed ( a trick in itself ),  rubber molds are made by packing uncured rubber around the master suspended in a rigid frame.





The packed frame with the master within is baked (vulcanized), and a solid rubber brick is formed.





The master pattern is carefully cut out along the parting lines leaving a cavity in the rubber brick the shape of the master into which molten wax is injected and allowed to cool and solidify resulting in a wax pattern identical to the master.














This wax pattern will be trimmed and adjusted as needed (they never come out perfectly) and will then be suspended in a flask, surrounded by investment (plaster) and placed in an oven to be melted out (lost) leaving an identical cavity in the plaster mold into which molten metal is then poared.

[NickG]

Brilliant stuff, thanks for explaining about the pattern making.

[flyingtractors1]

Preliminary results of the casting with lots of finishing to do.   Ralph

[micktoon]

Hi Ralph, nice work as usual, you sure keep youself busy  , A friend of mine does lost wax casting , he uses liquid silicone rubber to surround the parts, I think he tried the vulcanised method but found this way easier and better results. How do you do the actual casting bit Ralph ? do you just pour it into the moulds like sand casting ?. The reason I am asking is my friens either does centerfudial casting where the mould is held in spinning fixture and soon as the molten metal is in the mould a trigger is pulled and the mould spins flinging the metal into the void, or he also does vacum casting where the flask with the investment plaster is under a vacum while the metal is poured in and its sucked into minor details.
 The reason I mention this is you seem to have some defects in the plane baseplate , the stuff I have seen him do is very detailed and they seem to come out as good as the wax was with no defects at all. I can find out more detail if you would like to know Ralph.
  Cheers Mick.

[flyingtractors1]

Hi Mick.  Yes, I do use the centrifuge casting machine.  I think that the imperfections here were the result of mold making imperfections.  I do believe that I will try the easier liquid silicon rubber mext time.  Please stand by; I may need more help as it goes.   Actually, things turned out decently well, but still too much finish work to do.   Ralph

[micktoon]

Hi Ralph , it looks good to me  , I am sure you will be getting stuck into the finishing work as I type  . It stands to reason that something can only be as good as the pattern or mould, making and sprueing the waxes is an art in itself I think, so if that one was not 100% in wax it would have them blemishes.
   Just give me a shout if you want any more info, my mate does things as a hobby so has found ways of doing things without costing the earth but has learnt the hard way too so might be able to save you some learning the hard way lessons and some tips on the best way he has found to get results. He makes replica Roman items , broaches, buttons, buckles etc so very detailed but also very similar to the items you cast overall really.
  Don't forget to have a break for some food once in a while and try to get at least some sleep Ralph 
I am looking forward to the finished thing , Cheers Mick.

[flyingtractors1]

The Silver #4 is finished.   Ralph

[micktoon]

Total class Ralph 

Cheers Mick