New Metal-Drip Method (soon to be New & Improved!)
In our previous aluminum casting session, and even in the earlier pewter ones, we often encountered this problem where the pour hole for the Venus is too narrow and won't allow the material to get in. Even when making wax copies this can be a problem. The void fills up with hot gas, creating an air pocket, and then the metal can't get in. (A Venus attempt gone very wrong.) I wanted to make an aluminum Venus and turned the issue around in my head for a time, thinking that maybe the mould needed a vent to allow the air to escape, but could this really be necessary for such a small form?? etc. Another issue was how to keep the mould hot while the aluminum melted in the kiln, in order to get a really good casting - not to mention not cracking the mould through thermal shock. (A fine example of the difficulty of casting into a small opening.) And then one day it hit me! What if we made the mould with a spot up top where the aluminum could sit and then melt