lead and wood

Hi bolgerlisters,

a firm has given me 5 kg. Of sodium silicato.

The search has been very difficult because nobody knew anything of it, until I have met a smelter . He explained me that I must find foundries of aluminum. So I made.

thank you to all for suggestions.

Pippo, se hai ancora intenzione di andare avanti col tuo micro, ne ho anche per te, ti assicuro che è stato un vero casino trovare il silicato di sodio!.

Ho visto le tue lettere, beh, abbandonare Bolger spero non significhi abbandonare il micro, resta una bella barca, al di là dei rapporti che hai col suo creatore!

Ciaoooo

Marco

Laboratorio di Psicologia Dott. Masoni

Via Stromboli,3

20144 MILANO - Italy

Tel. 02 43911114 - 0347 7153486

Fax. 0243318224 - 0247716682

email: masoni@...

"Perciò saranno tutte soltanto nomi Le cose che i mortali hanno

stabilito, persuasi che fossero vere"

(Parmenide 8, 38-39)

--- In bolger@y..., Marco Vinicio Masoni <masoni@t...> wrote:
As I understand it, the sodium silicate is not so mjuch to protect
the wood as to seal it so moisture in the wood will not turn to steam
causing bubbles (or explosions) to form. I poured as keel with
sodium silicate and some sounding leads without sodium silicate.
Some of the sounding leads had some bubbles in them from moisture or
air in the wood.

I poured the keel in 20 lb. pours. I was intereupted in the middle
of it and the first ppours cooled off too much, causing subsequent
pours to cool to quickly thus forming a lumpy mess. I have to repour
the keel. I will use two fires and two pots to keep the pour as hot
as possible. Lead melts at a temperature below the burning point of
wood, so you should be able to use the wood mold without sodium
silicate. Just make sure the wood is very dry.

Tom Etherington
New Jersey, USA

> Question: 1)
> could I try to melt lead without protect the wood? Bruce Roberts
tells to do
> the fusion in thin layers for time and let cool the lead, so that
the
> underlying layer protect the die from the heat.
> Or
> 2) could I protect the die with cement? 3) with glass fabric?
> (leaving it then incorporated to the lead)

Marco,

Another technique that I have used for lead keels of up to 550 Kg is
to make a male blank of the keel out of scrap wood. You then use this
to make a female impression in a weak (lots of sand and not much
cement) concrete mix. Remove the blank after the concrete has set. If
you don't overheat the lead the mold won't crack and you won't have to
worry about leaking lead. Make sure the concrete mold is very dry
before pouring the lead! The wooden male blank (it is called a pattern
in USA foundries) can be reused again and again, if desired. If the
concrete is mixed correctly (mostly sand) it can be easily cracked off
the lead keel once it has cooled,

porky

--- In bolger@y..., Marco Vinicio Masoni <masoni@t...> wrote:
>
> Dear bolgerlisters
> this month I will do the fusion of the lead-keel of my micro.
> I have found 2 quintals of wrecks of lead!
> My problem is melting the lead in wood. In Italy the sodium
silicate cannot
> be found, it is so common out there, that you used it for preserve
the eggs,
> but here, in Italy, they have not known it ever name (I want to ask
to some
> elderly farmers like they preserve the eggs before have the
refrigerators).
> Question: 1)
> could I try to melt lead without protect the wood? Bruce Roberts
tells to do
> the fusion in thin layers for time and let cool the lead, so that
the
> underlying layer protect the die from the heat.
> Or
> 2) could I protect the die with cement? 3) with glass fabric?
> (leaving it then incorporated to the lead)
>
> 4) by those varnishes that are used for paint the pipes of the
motorcycles,
> and
> that do they resist the heat?
>
> 5) with varnishes for ovens?
>
> Does any other have conceives? any other experience?
> Thank you to all in advance
> Laboratorio di Psicologia Dott. Masoni
> Via Stromboli,3
> 20144 MILANO - Italy
> Tel. 02 43911114 - 0347 7153486
> Fax. 0243318224 - 0247716682
> email: masoni@t...
>
> "Perciò saranno tutte soltanto nomi Le cose che i mortali hanno
> stabilito, persuasi che fossero vere" (Parmenide 8, 38-39)

Marco:

> Dear bolgerlisters
> this month I will do the fusion of the lead-keel of my micro.
> I have found 2 quintals of wrecks of lead!
> My problem is melting the lead in wood. In Italy the sodium silicate
> cannot be found...

I don't know if this will be helpful to you, Marco, but it sounds like if someone went through the expense and bother of having a mild steel mold made up for a Micro
keel (I have a local company that would be capable of this) that it would be a huge contribution to the Micro building community. When someone needed it, they
could just pay for shipping from the last user, and perhaps write a small check to the mold's original builder. It seems like this would alleviate a lot of the 'keel anxiety'
that micro builders feel.

I can vouch for the benefits of using simple, clamp together, mild steel molds. I just finished casting over 1400 lbs of lead ingots to fit the keel of my Colvin designed
steel boat. With a pretty simple setup one or two people can produce relatively high quality castings without too much effort (we spent most of our time and effort
making sure we didn't contaminate our workspace with the lead).

> Question: 1)
> could I try to melt lead without protect the wood? Bruce Roberts tells to
> do the fusion in thin layers for time and let cool the lead, so that the
> underlying layer protect the die from the heat.
> Or
> 2) could I protect the die with cement? 3) with glass fabric?
> (leaving it then incorporated to the lead)
>
> 4) by those varnishes that are used for paint the pipes of the
> motorcycles, and that do they resist the heat?
>
> 5) with varnishes for ovens?

I have read/heard of castings being made in molds of unprotected, kiln-dried wood. The wood chars (burns slightly) but the resulting casting is OK. The mold in such
a case is obviously sacrificial (destroyed in the process). I sealed the bottom edges of my steel molds with plumber's putty, you could probably find something similar
and apply a thin layer to a wooden mold. The putty was definitely affected by the heat, but it stayed put and didn't react badly (no explosions as with moisture).

If you hope to preserve the wood, you must insulate it from the heat of the molten lead. This means some form of insulation or drawing the heat away and dispersing
it. That is why Bruce Roberts reccommends the small pours, the lead from the previous pours acts as a heat sink and spreads the heat out. With regard to your other
ideas, they all vary in the degree to which they provide insulation, the wood will burn right through a heat resistant coating if it is too thin or there is too much heat.

Pax,
Christopher Brand

Dear Marco,

In my language, Dutch, sodium silicate is called natrium silicate or kalium silicate. Our popular name for it is "waterglass" and it should be available from drugstores. Hope this helps.

Best,

Bert.

----- Original Message -----
From:Marco Vinicio Masoni
To:bolger@yahoogroups.com
Sent:Tuesday, May 15, 2001 9:17 AM
Subject:[bolger] lead and wood

Dear bolgerlisters
this month I will do the fusion of the lead-keel of my micro.
I have found 2 quintals of wrecks of lead!
My problem is melting the lead in wood. In Italy the sodium silicate cannot be found, it is so common out there, that you used it for preserve the eggs, but here, in Italy, they have not known it ever name (I want to ask to some elderly farmers like they preserve the eggs before have the refrigerators).
Question: 1)
could I try to melt lead without protect the wood? Bruce Roberts tells to do the fusion in thin layers for time and let cool the lead, so that the underlying layer protect the die from the heat.
Or
2) could I protect the die with cement? 3) with glass fabric?
(leaving it then incorporated to the lead)

4) by those varnishes that are used for paint the pipes of the motorcycles, and that do they resist the heat?

5) with varnishes for ovens?

Does any other have conceives? any other experience?
Thank you to all in advance
Laboratorio di Psicologia Dott. Masoni
Via Stromboli,3
20144 MILANO - Italy
Tel. 02 43911114 - 0347 7153486
Fax. 0243318224 - 0247716682
email: masoni@...

"Perciò saranno tutte soltanto nomi Le cose che i mortali hanno
stabilito, persuasi che fossero vere"
(Parmenide 8, 38-39)
Bolger rules!!! - no cursing, flaming, trolling, or spamming - no flogging dead horses - add something: take "thanks!" and "ditto!" posts off-list. - stay on topic and punctuate - add your comments at the TOP and SIGN your posts - To order plans: Mr. Philip C. Bolger, P.O. Box 1209, Gloucester, MA, 01930, Fax: (978) 282-1349

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Dear bolgerlisters

this month I will do the fusion of the lead-keel of my micro.

I have found 2 quintals of wrecks of lead!

My problem is melting the lead in wood. In Italy the sodium silicate cannot be found, it is so common out there, that you used it for preserve the eggs, but here, in Italy, they have not known it ever name (I want to ask to some elderly farmers like they preserve the eggs before have the refrigerators).

Question: 1)

could I try to melt lead without protect the wood? Bruce Roberts tells to do the fusion in thin layers for time and let cool the lead, so that the underlying layer protect the die from the heat.

2) could I protect the die with cement? 3) with glass fabric?

(leaving it then incorporated to the lead)

4) by those varnishes that are used for paint the pipes of the motorcycles, and that do they resist the heat?

5) with varnishes for ovens?

Does any other have conceives? any other experience?

Thank you to all in advance