This year has been kind of a transition style of year I think. Stressful no doubt, uncomfortable was a big definitely. If anything I desire my routines now at my seasoned age. I like to know my purpose day in and day out. I've learned that if you can't find your purpose or lose your purpose, you can drift and become detached.
Maybe too detatched sometimes. It's not a good place to be. A purpose helps keep you focused and alive.
It's time for some yearly reflection I suppose.
I've been at the school this week working on the process to making our fundraising coins. It's easier to do without the students around and I can just be in the Foundry all day and work on stuff and experiment.
If you'll recall the plan, change the way schools are doing their fundraising and putting more power into the hands of the schools and making it mean more to the community as a whole. Well since all of the equipment showed up late, well after school started, I've had to go into teaching this as we go but I haven't had time to work out everything with the lost cast process.
You have to go off of flask size, which brand of investment you've got, mix ratios, burnout times. But this week has been really helpful for that! Had my first test pour Tuesday (didn't work yesterday) and it was a spectacular failure!
Also a valuable lesson! I put the hot flask into the Kaya Cast and wouldn't you know it, my investment was very light on one corner where the top of the coin was and it broke out when I turned on the vacuum.
But I didn't know that at the time and poured the bronze right through it! Sort of, most of it caught but part of it followed the broken cracked area and into the bottom of the machine.
Today I made another cast but this time with a shorter sprue to allow for more investment. The challenge coin sets deeper into the flask so it should produce a perfect coin, I'll but it out tomorrow and pour it!
