MakeICT Foundry/Metal casting interest survey

Metalshop
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It has been one of my goals years to get metal casting (foundry) work going at MakeICT. I have been inspired by the activity of the Forge committee. There was minimal response on the forum when I raised the possibility of starting up metal casting under the same umbrella, so I am going to see about starting a separate committee devoted to metal casting. I have spoke to Rusting and he seemed generally positive on the subject.

I would like to get a list of people that are interested in the topic/activity.

I would rather not debate the finer details on this thread initially. If we can get a base number of interested members we can meet and then figure out what level of interest and experience our members have. There will be lots to discuss. Safety, equipment, space.

I look forward to expand the capabilities of MakeICT.

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I always saw the forge as a stepping stone to foundry work. You’ll probably run into the same roadblock the forge committee has in the insurance underwriters. Soon as that gets addressed I’m all for smelting something fun.

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And when it comes to foundries

If you smelt it
You delt it…

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Like with the blacksmithing I’m interested but I have little time to devote to the committee to get it going.

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I am not sure what the member interest and overlap is. That is the point of this thread.

There are logistical issues to coordinate for sure. we would need to share the outside. The could be under a single hot metal committee roof.

I personally don’t see a logical progression from one to the other. I think they are parallel independ activities that can be developed concurrently.

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You are probably right about the insurance.

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ok I’m interested. Safety is a bigger issue than insurance. MakeIC Already has a foundry.

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Seems like putting it under the forge umbrella would be appropriate to me. I wouldn’t let a lack of interest on one thread convince you otherwise. But I’ll applaud your efforts regardless of which MakeICT banner you fly under!

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The other group seemed very focused on blacksmithing. I did not want to force an activity that us unwanted.

I am happy to fold this into the forge committee.

Is the next forge committee meeting set yet?

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If you wanted to start small, you might be able to pull jewelry and table top gaming people in…

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Jewlery side has some stuff to do lost wax casting. I think there is a spin caster somewhere that needs set up. If your thinking bigger sized stuff like mantle pieces then will probably need something more significant.

I haven’t set up forge committees August meeting yet but I’m thinking it’ll be after the board meeting. I’m going to see if there has been any movement on the insurance hurdle since that seems to be the wedge point for any serious hot metal work.

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I’m interested as well. I’ve got a few small things I’d like to try casting, and maybe some larger things in the future.

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Next Forge Committee meeting is 7pm on Aug. 11th in The Lounge™. I’ll also have a zoom meeting link posted in the next week.

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I’m interested!

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I’m interested, but my available time commitment varies quite a bit, so I don’t want to over-commit.

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Im still toying with building my own furnace. I saw a couple of fine home built examples in the cnc side of the metal shop. I think it boils down to liability and our insurance. My biggest thing is do we go with lost wax (my favorite) ceramic shell (intricate detail, but messy and finicky) or sand. If there was some way we could partner with WSU Sculpture dept, it might help a little as Barry Badget is a wonderful person but very busy with what they have going on there. He would be helpful to bring on board but i rarely talk to/see him. Ive seen where kinetic sand is used for casting and will probably try it when the time comes for me to do it myself.

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