County M

So I thought I would try something new today and pour aluminum onto wood which is not really the safest thing to do, but I talked to my professors Frankie and Chuck and we figured we'd give it a shot.

Wood in the steel mold.

Dual furnaces going. One aluminum one bronze.

Me getting some last minute advice from wise old Chuck.

Skimming the slag.

Pouring buddy 1: Jay

Did awesome for his first time.

Pouring buddy 2: Aaron

Always up for doing something dangerous.

Getting psyched

Getting the crucible

Skimming again.

Pouring Jay's mold

First wood mold

Second wood mold

Third wood mold

Now somewhere around here the second wood mold exploded sending molten aluminum flying through the air. Jay and I did pretty good staying calm and holding the crucible steady. I got a few bits of aluminum stuck to my chest but as Frankie said "that's why we wear full gear". Aaron wasn't quite as lucky he got hit on the back of the neck and was burned pretty bad. A few other people got hit with little gits of aluminum and got small burns but nothing serious. It was kind of a strange situation, everyone wanted to see what would happen when we poured into the wood, but that just meant there were more people around when something went wrong. Thankfully it was nothing that some burn cream and Neosporin won't fix.

I still have no idea why one exploded but the other two did not.