First Cast

Hello again, folks. Well, My first cast took two tries, so I will
describe the first try first. I filled a one-tablespoon stainless
steel measuring spoon about half way full with zinc nuggets, and then
I heated the spoon with a propane torch. The torch made a red spot on
the side of the spoon, though the zinc did not seem to be melting. In
retrospect, I was a little too worried that the zinc might go up in
smoke, and I ended up pulling the spoon out of the flame
periodically. Anyway, I finally grew impatient, so I whacked the
spoon upside down on my workboard, in an attempt to get the metal,
which at that point I mistakenly thought was unmelted, out of the
spoon. Now I found myself scrambling to scrape the rapidly freezing
metal into a single glob with the spoon. I had succeeded in turning
one half spoonfull of nuggets into a single nugget!

After this learning experience, I concluded that if I had just used a
more robust mold to begin with, it would have been more natural for me
to have banged the spoon against the mold, instead of on the
workboard. I broke my stone tile into two pieces, and then I looked
for voids. I didn't really expect to see any, but then I am no stone
expert either. I continued breaking it into about six pieces
altogether, each time looking for air pockets within the stone. I
found none. I assembled the stone into a mold, with the straight cut
edges towards the inside. Then I filled the spoon to the brim with
freash nuggets, and heated it again until the zinc itself was red hot,
and gave it a tap when I knocked it into the mold. It turned out
okay.

I have a web cam, though I will need to find the disc with the
software that goes with the camera. Anyway, I have been working the
arrowhead with a fine-toothed flat file, and it is looking good. It
could use a hot dip treatment I'm sure, but I don't have the ability
to do that just yet. The next thing I will do is to acquire a two
tablespoon capacity measuring spoon for the next melt, for which I
will make a bigger mold. Eventually, I suppose I will have to start
calling my casts "spear heads", I suppose. Oh yes, this is my first
cast ever. I am a happy camper.

Mike Mandaville
the Austin hill country
Willie Nelson land