Rob, Don, Andrew, Lee, John, Thank you all! Wow, what a great feeling....I've really been waiting for years to do this! Seems like a small thing, but it really is something to me.
Man that casting is so HEAVY! That's what comes of casting so much aluminum. I keep picking the thing up and going, that's a heavy casting. Well, I know, it only weighs about 3 pounds or so....
Andrew, the tweak was only to my courage -- i was pretty nervous, there was a fair amount of water around from the rains, though I got a tractor bucket load of sand and put it around the furnace area. Also just running something that hot for that long (total time was an hour and a half) and just the unknown of what molten iron was like -- I didn't know what to expect. I'd read about "white hot" but it didn't seem so -- just bright yellow.
The skimming had me worried, too, plus wondering if I'd get the iron fluid enough. But that all went perfectly. The equipment functioned just as it was supposed to, and the amount of metal was EXACTLY correct -- a little closer than I usually try to get -- the mold filled right to the top of the sprue and then there was no more. I didn't pour any ingots, though I had the mold ready.
For skimming, I am indebted once again to Dave Gingery for a suggestion to set the crucible tilted so the molten surface was even with the lip. I set up sand and firebricks that way in advance as a prop area, with the shank ring at the bottom, so it was just tilt and scrape and lift and pour.
Thanks to Ironman for many things -- sand mix, and all his videos and suggestions. WC Ammens for suggesting a little charcoal in the crucible with soda ash and lid. The slag was very fluid.
