Sunday 30 December 2012

Casting Bulb Slabs

First step was making a casting model from wood. Then the casting mold has been molded from the model by plaster.



When the plaster mold is dry enough for casting the lead it is set into a bed of sand. The feedthroughs for the S/S rods are made by using short water pipe pieces made of galvanized steel. The pipe pieces are fastened with wood screws and flat washers to the plaster mold.

 
For casting the bulb slabs I installed a very simple lead melting furnace.


And here you see the result of my first attempt. Not that pretty but usable.
Will covered with a thick layer epoxy anyway.



Working time been invested: 459 hours

Sunday 16 December 2012

Inserting The Last Two Keel Bulb Rods

In order to insert the last two keel rods exact in parallel regarding the other four,  I prepared a gauge as shown.