A 'hot' idea

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Junkyard Wars : One Thread

OK, it doesn't move, but it could be photogenic:

You have 10 hours to build a blast furnace and a mold, that can melt this pile of (bronze, scrap iron) and make it into a copy of this beautiful (JYW finals trophy, statue of Cathy).

Winner is the one who finishes the melt and pour first, assuming the casting is successful.

If the original model is wax, there are at least two ways to make the mold (sand casting, lost wax), which probably needs to be done during the 10 hours with materials provided.

Quite a few ways to knock together a forced draft furnace, assuming there are some refractories in the heap. "Industrial archeology" challenge makes both teams use a pile of coal - as per steam cars - for the fuel. "No holds barred" lets them use anything in reach, e.g., oxy tank, arc from the electric welder, as part of energy source.

There seem to be at least a few people out there who bodge furnaces for fun, see for example, http://home.edmc.net/~darn/irontext.html.

Go back to a nighttime shoot for the melt and pour, much better

-- Tim Oren (oren@dnai.mapson.com), February 26, 2001

Answers

Good idea, I vote for a bronze pour of Cathy's buns. She can make a plaster casting off camera for the mold. Let the bidding begin.

-- Richard James Retey (theswampie@cs.com), February 27, 2001.

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