Ballast keel pictures...

[Art Read]

These pictures are the end result of all the help and advise you all provided on my "Lead Pouring 101" thread... Thanks!

http://media5.hypernet.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=004818

"Roughing" out the mold...

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p694bbee398b015eaaf72233d1a1f24fd/fd984d3b.jpg

First coating of refractory cement to fair and "fireproof" the mold...

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p373e8999c3133dc633501e8ad1a5ec61/fd984d39.jpg

Mold coated, assembled and "smoothed" for the pour... (That's the deadwood assembly on the left)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p94c49b8d407e7dfca42e2951c7608b3b/fd984d37.jpg

At the foundry... The crucible...

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/pb2236c2c03461ed3d560e57f71a54a0f/fd984d34.jpg

The start of the pour... Each "bucket" full weighs 335 lbs....

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p1b2437a41351661e2fd53794cbafd38d/fd984d33.jpg

Almost done, they finished it off flush with a "ladle" and a blowtorch. The whole process took about ten minutes and 2 and 1/4 "buckets" full. (Plus whatever the "ladles" weighed) Only a "little" bit of burnt wood when they were done!

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p91922f8cb4df995926561d2ddd9b1343/fd984d30.jpg

And that's where I ran out of film... I'll be picking up the keel on Monday. Can't wait to see what it looks like after I pop the mold off...

[ 07-02-2002, 06:00 AM: Message edited by: Art Read ]

[Jamie Hascall]

Art, That looks fabulous! I love watching pros do things that really need to be done properly. I look forward to seeing things assembled.

Jamie

[On Vacation]

Beautimous!!!

[Rich VanValkenburg]

This is cool stuff!!

Rich

[Paul Scheuer]

WOW ! You just rest up, now, Art. But when you get a chance send us the particulars; weight, length, eye color. Where's my cigar ?

[Concordia..41]

WOW! Don't you love it when a plan works out like it should???!!! The first thread and this are a real model of how well things can work on the Forum.

Congratulations!

- Dave and Margo

[Bob Cleek]

Ah, yes.... manly work!

[dale o]

From a safety sandpoint, notice how these guys are wearing full length coveralls, safety boots, proper gloves, face sheld and respirator, the bucket of molten lead is supported by an overhead crane, the floor is smooth and clean with nothing to trip on. This is a lot different than the rube goldberg setups in the back yard with an old oil drum, a camp stove and some scrap pipe, and a torch. Makes you think about the wisdom of doing it at home without the proper equipment. Murphy's law says "What can go wrong, usually will". Thanks for the photos and the writeup! This thread has been a real education.

[Art Read]

Well, the keel is now in the shop and out of it's mold. "Interesting" bit of brute force, physics, gravity and long suffering in-laws involved in that little procedure... Looks like they did a little more "fairing" of the pour after I left the foundry last week. Quite a bit more charing on the top of the mold than I remember. And the interior of the mold was "cooked" pretty well as well. So much for anybody ever being able to use it again... It also didn't help that we tore it all apart so "enthusiastically" after finally getting it unloaded it either... Still, I'm pretty impressed how well it held up during the pour. The forward, lower end spread a bit under the pressure and allowed a "flashing" of lead to seep into the resultant gap, and there were other, minor seepages at some of the joints between the layers of 2xs, and some of the bottom seams, but all in all, the shape came out pretty close to what I'd tried for and the "flashing" knocked right off with a few hammer blows. I've already cleaned up all the "easy" bits, and have saved about ten or fifteen pounds of scrap for the "trimming ballast", should I need it. I'll probably quadruple that number or so before I'm done...

The foundry wound up charging me for 872 lbs. of lead all told. Quite a bit of that will be taken off as I trim and "fair" it. Maybe seventy or eighty pounds? It's a LOT easier to manhandle now that it's out of the mold, but it's still a bear... I'm mulling over ideas for a "dolly" of some sort to help ease shifting it around... I'll tell you, wrestling around with it today has convinced me I don't really want to be lugging this thing all around town just to get the bolt holes drilled!

Which reminds me... Uhmmm... Roger? If you haven't thought better of your generous offer of help with those holes, I'm thinking copious amounts of your beverage of choice AND a nice dinner for you and SWMBO and any other victims, (er, "volunteers"...) would be in order... ;)

[ 07-02-2002, 04:26 PM: Message edited by: Art Read ]

[Ross Faneuf]

Congratulations! It certainly is a much smoother process done by pros.

As for maneuvering the thing. I had good luck with much heavier ballast keel (7800#) setting it on an H-shaped cradle of oak (8x8 in my case, you'd be fine with 4x4), and maneuvering it using rollers made of 2" pipe. With plywood under it, and by angling the rollers, you can maneuver surprisingly large weights controllably. I had to use a comealong, but you'd probably manage with a good crowbar. I assume you have a comealong or hoist, and something substantial enough to hoist it off the ground.

[Noah]

Ross good chance he won't read that here. Who cares about boats when we can argue politics over in Misc... smile.gif

Art, you are doing a great Job with this boat, and the ballast pouring pictures are great.

Thanks,

Noah

[Ross Faneuf]

Sorry, I somehow managed to put a reply here that belonged in miscellaneous - now removed.

[Chris Coose]

I see these guys using respirators. I was wondering how dangerous this kind of work might be on the blood. Would they use charcoal filters only?

[Jamie Hascall]

As a friend used to say, "Ve may not be to shmart but ve can lift heavy tings". I'm sure you can find some other willing hands to help you get that closer to home on the keel. Great work Art!

Jamie

[brian.cunningham]

A wise man knows when to call in the pros.

Great story/pics.

Real :cool: mold!

[Ross Faneuf]

There is a specific respirator cartridge for heavy metals; I don't know what's in it. I used one when doing my own keel.

[Bruce Hooke]

Originally posted by Chris Coose:
I see these guys using respirators. I was wondering how dangerous this kind of work might be on the blood. Would they use charcoal filters only?Metal fumes are definitely not a good thing for the human body. I believe the correct respirator filter is a 'Dust, Fumes, and Mists Filter' NOT a charcoal filter, but I am not positive so PLEASE check this before relying on it. My understanding is that a charcoal filter is designed to block organic solvents in vapor form so I think charcoal would be less than useless for metal fumes, because there are very different from organic solvents (I say LESS then useless because it could lull you into a false sense of security).

[RGM]

Art, you should probably give me a call and try to swing by the yard some day soon, bring a keel bolt or a piece of the round stock that you intend to use so we can line up a dolly, drills and a counterbore. If you are using round stock we can cut it to length and thread it after we've drilled and counterbored for your keel bolts.Do you have a pick-up truck that's available to you? How far off the ground is your boat presently?

[Dave Fleming]

Uff Da,how sweet it is!
RGM is lining up the tools and stuff for Art's keel boring.
Nice to have friends in high places, ya you betcha!
:D

[Art Read]

Roger... Will do. (You don't have to twist my arm "too" hard to get me to visit your yard!) I haven't gotten the bronze rod for the bolts yet. I'm thinking Alaskan Copper and Bronze is probably my best bet for that? And I'll just want solid, silicon bronze stock, right? I suppose I ought to pick up the nuts to fit at the same time to determine what thread "schedule" to cut, eh? Will Alaskan have those too, or will I have to go to someone like Tacoma Screw or maybe Jamestown Distributers?

I do have access to my brother-in-law's pick-up, with enough advance notice, and SWMBO has a mini-van that I can remove the seats from. It'll carry a pretty good load as well. What do you have in mind? Moving the keel itself would probably be best done with the pick-up and lots of warm bodies. The van should be fine for just hauling bulky "gear".

You can see how the boat sits in her cradle presently in the third picture above. It's too low right now to fit the keel, but next on my list will be jacking up the boat and shifting the cross pieces you see up a foot or two in order to allow access under there. I'll probably re-enforce 'em a bit too. Not sure about the exact numbers yet, but I anticipate having enough clearance to shove the keel/deadwood assembly in sideways with room for the keelbolts to extend up through the "sprung keel" and floor timbers after jacking it all up in place. How much extra should I plan for to accomodate the "dolly/jack" you mentioned?

As for the foundry's safety gear, they are definately an OSHA friendly workplace. I didn't ask about the resperators, but they "looked" like serious business. It doesn't really show in the photos, but both the crucible and mold "workspace" had huge funnel shaped exhaust hoods overhead to carry away the fumes. The "boss" and I were standing pretty close, as you can see from the photos, with no protective gear at all, and couldn't even smell the charring wood! It was NOT what I pictured in my mind's eye when I imagined a "foundry". Very clean, well organised, modern plant with neatly stacked blocks of lead, antimony and various other raw materials, works in progress and finished items waiting to be shipped out, all orginised in a very well thought out arrangement. Kind of "dissapointing", actually. I was sort of hoping for a "fire and brimstone" kind of experience...

[ 07-02-2002, 05:02 PM: Message edited by: Art Read ]

[Art Read]

Dave... You don't know the half of it! I'll also get to "bounce off" my still formative "scheme" for mounting and fitting my rudder post stuffing box and other related hardware while I've got 'em here! ;)

("I'm sure you can find some other willing hands to help you get that closer to home on the keel..." Well, Jamie, and all other "locals", for that matter, consider this your "invitation!)

[Art Read]

Brian... The "wise man" in this case was my Dad... AFTER he heard what I was up to! But after pricing "scrap" lead available locally, letting these guys do it was a no brainer.