| of these parts and have the entire process down to a rythm - not because we necessarily wanted it to be that way, but it actually HAS to operate this way in order to keep the process in motion. It is a balance of a few key aspects. You have to make sure you keep the crucible at least half full. This ensures that when you drop the next ingot in, it will be totally immersed in liquid aluminum which reduces dross (oxides) production and accelerates the melting process. Once an ingot is added, it will take about 2 minutes for it to melt and the contents of the crucible to reach pouring temperature. The mold must stay hot and the part cannot be allowed to stay in the mold too long after pouring. There's a huge shift of temperature occuring in both the aluminum and the steel molds. The aluminum is cooling and contracting and the steel mold is heating and expanding. The mold half that forms the inner wall of the endtank is trying to expand while the aluminum is cooling and contracting. The mold coating helps with the release but if you leave it in too long it will bite down on the coating and tend to start chafing it away. So you have to pour the part, let it sit for just the right time, around 10-15 seconds, in that time make sure the crucible level is acceptable and if that means adding another ingot, you have to spread out your time to remove the part and reassemble the mold by around an additional 25-30 seconds so that the timing of when the metal in the furnace reaches pouring temperature you just completed the reassembly of the mold and are ready to pour the next part. It is a ballet we have been doing now for some nearly 100 sets of MASSIVE SMCs. We can make all of these aspects of the process come together and work in such a way that in ten castings we may have one that we were off time and resulted in a mold too cold and had an incomplete filling of the mold. I remember one day when Dave and I were casting where we poured 26 endtanks back to back without a single flaw in any part. We had to stop only because the propane tank ran empty. That video may be impressive but if you really knew every aspect of going from the original idea to developing the tooling and the process, and being able to do what you see with the kind of consistency we do it at, you might just get your mind blown. :) But its these seemingly impossible projects that with the relentless dedication and determination to succeed do you really learn something valuable. I admit, in the development process I was ready to throw in the towel on several occasions. So many different ideas were thrown at this project, most of them failed. But damnit if I can't lose.... never give up. :)
Enthusiasts soon understand each other. --W. Irving.
Are you an enthusiast? If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the
tailor.
Albert Einstein
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