14-02-2013, 09:45 AM
Hi,
The number of lathe owners is steadily growing on this forum Mike; good luck with yours but please be careful; lathes are addictive and I'm beyond hope owning five.
Its strange Mike that someone can have an idea pop into their head and it lays dormant for many years only to pop up once again and be acted upon; who knows; it's possible once you get settled with your lathe you might be tempted to tackle these wheels?
Many of these wheels will have indeed been cast in a two part mould as you say Refugee as this is a very simple and economical method. This is why I mentioned making a pattern out of wood and finishing the pattern to a very high standard; once cast the new item would retain the same high degree of finish. The reason I know is because I've done it. Many years ago I made a wooden pattern of a lathe head-stock this for a wood-turning lathe I intended to have a go at making; I had two of these cast and they are very heavy in cast iron. I designed the pattern to be slightly tapered from front and back which would allow easy release. The pattern was taken along to a local foundry (Roberts Castings) and I parted with a very reasonable £80 for the pair. Due to life in general I never did get around to finishing the lathe although I'm sure I still have the castings under the bungalow.
Where I worked we had our own casting department but this was aluminium only brass and cast iron were contracted out but as I worked in Despatch many moulds came through going to the foundry.
Cope and Drag are the names for the parts of the two part moulding box and a bit of detail can be viewed here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cope_and_drag
The guy I bought my Jubilee lathe from has his own back yard foundry and casts items from brass which is useful to know.
The 5ltr of pure alcohol has just arrived I bought through eBay on Tuesday so I can now mix up some shellac; today is going to be a good day.
Kind regards, Col.
The number of lathe owners is steadily growing on this forum Mike; good luck with yours but please be careful; lathes are addictive and I'm beyond hope owning five.
Its strange Mike that someone can have an idea pop into their head and it lays dormant for many years only to pop up once again and be acted upon; who knows; it's possible once you get settled with your lathe you might be tempted to tackle these wheels?
Many of these wheels will have indeed been cast in a two part mould as you say Refugee as this is a very simple and economical method. This is why I mentioned making a pattern out of wood and finishing the pattern to a very high standard; once cast the new item would retain the same high degree of finish. The reason I know is because I've done it. Many years ago I made a wooden pattern of a lathe head-stock this for a wood-turning lathe I intended to have a go at making; I had two of these cast and they are very heavy in cast iron. I designed the pattern to be slightly tapered from front and back which would allow easy release. The pattern was taken along to a local foundry (Roberts Castings) and I parted with a very reasonable £80 for the pair. Due to life in general I never did get around to finishing the lathe although I'm sure I still have the castings under the bungalow.
Where I worked we had our own casting department but this was aluminium only brass and cast iron were contracted out but as I worked in Despatch many moulds came through going to the foundry.
Cope and Drag are the names for the parts of the two part moulding box and a bit of detail can be viewed here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cope_and_drag
The guy I bought my Jubilee lathe from has his own back yard foundry and casts items from brass which is useful to know.
The 5ltr of pure alcohol has just arrived I bought through eBay on Tuesday so I can now mix up some shellac; today is going to be a good day.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
