Two Crucible Pouring Shanks

[Carlos B]

When I set up my little foundry last summer I built these 2 pouring shanks.The first one is made from an oversized set of fireplace tongs that I had picked up cheap for this purpose. It is designed to hold a #8 clay graphite crucible just snug not tight. the cross piece on the pouring lip was welded on as an after thought to assist in skimming the crud in an iron melt.











The second shank is for pouring a 5 lb capacity steel crucible for aluminum melts.







In use for a good number of melts now, they have both performed very well.

Seems to be some interest in casting here I will upload my molding bench and some casting photos in a later thread.

Carlos

[rossbotics]

That's Kool Carlos, I have been a tool and die maker for 43 years but I never done any casting, maybe I should give it a shot
Nice Work

[DIYer]

Thanks Carlos B! We've added your Crucible Pouring Shank to our Forging and Casting category,
as well as to your builder page: Carlos B's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Crucible Pouring Shank by Carlos B

tags: tongs, crucible

[DIYer]

Thanks Carlos B! We've added your Steel Crucible Shank to our Forging and Casting category,
as well as to your builder page: Carlos B's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Steel Crucible Shank by Carlos B

tags: crucible

[JanKrompan]

Thank you Carlos for sharing your Steel Crucible Shank. I was looking for an idea to fire charcoal for my Weber and this will work 100%.
Jan.

[kbs]

Love the tools, would like a link to your foundry build, or plans for it if available.
Thank You Ken S.

[Carlos B]

No plans Ken. I am old school, I research my plans then play with ideas in my sketch book till I have something I like, then take the sketch book into the shop. Problems in the design are dealt with as they arise.As mentioned before the D. Gingery series of books and sites like Lionel Olivers "Backyard Metalcasting.com" are very good sources of information on hobby casting, equipment construction and foundry setup. I have collected tools and salvaged assemblies and materials for close to 50 years, when I build a project I use what I have on hand. This does not convert well to formal plans as sourcing parts would be a problem.

Here are links to a 3 part PDF of my build on MadModder. Warning starts to get nasty at the end when my casting and testing started, No body likes to see someone else succeed where they have failed.

Moved links to Dual Fuel Melting Furnace.

Carlos

[C-Bag]

"No body likes to see someone else succeed where they have failed."

Really? That sux. That's NOT what my impression of this place is. We are all so grateful somebody took the time to take pix, share and explain what they have done. Even better when they answer questions.

The only time I remember any disparaging remarks was when something didn't look safe or when someone decided this site was just folks showing off or mad about no free plans. I guess it is the Internet, but I for one appreciate your sharing this stuff here rather than doing a search.

[Carlos B]

Don't get me wrong C-Bag, when I said "no body" I didn't mean "everybody" but occasionally you do run into a character who would rather put a project down that is going as planned than to just leave it alone. Kind of turned me off active builds preferring to upload when I'm done. I'm new here so I have no opinion but your viewpoint sounds encouraging.

Cheers CB

[C-Bag]

Oh, I know all about those characters and have left a couple of sites because of them. If you look there's a tools in progress sub forum that seems mostly about getting advice then dissaperaring. But there are a couple of guys like Rendoman and FrankS. who let us in on their builds and it's like hanging out in the shop with them. Sometimes there's asking for opinions and sometimes help, but very little kibitzing, just questions. I say very little because I've not seen it, but it could happen. The guys with all the bling under their names are very respectful and encouraging so that rubs off on rest of the crew. Mostly the digital tide of lurkers don't have much to say so some time it can seem kinda quiet. But guys like yourself who want to participate and will answer questions are a great addition.

I find the hardest part of any new endeavor is the terminology. I NEVER would know those things were called shanks! Makes it hard to research when you don't know the term. I'll bet googling "grabber" never would have worked