Make: Aluminum foundry
Always seeking cheaper ways to source materials to cut with the CNC, I came across some tutorials on building a charcoal fired aluminum foundry.
Some external resources if you want to try your hand at it!
- http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/bucketfurnace1.html
- http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-foundry-and-sand-cast-aluminum/
- http://www.instructables.com/id/My-Second-Aluminium-Foundry/
- http://www.instructables.com/id/Aluminum-Foundry/
Be extra careful if you decide to embark on this project!
Here are some photo’s of our progress:
Make: The big swing
This summer (2011), we built this giant swing in our backyard — it’s over 20 feet tall and swings out over the hill behind the workshop. Total cost was under $40, but we had the pressure treated beam and some of the hardware lying around, we just had to buy the cable and some extra 5 1/2″ lag bolts. Definitely is lots of fun and great for taking a breather between coding-sessions to meditate.
My friends Colin, Brian and Joey can all be spotted in the shots — until I get their photo’s I’m nowhere to be found
Work in Progress - Building a brushless axial stepper motor
Here we’re cutting the stator plates that will hold our coils, and showing off the coil winding jig on the variable speed drill press.
Sketchbook: Mechanical Systems
Sketchbook: Abstract
