A National Treasure and strategic asset

Rob Keeble

Member
Messages
12,633
Location
GTA Ontario Canada
You might think these words are over stating it but i personally dont think so. Take a look at this video made by Lie Nielson of the making of the #51 Shootboard Plane and give what you see some significant thought.

Consider what the resultant outcome would be when none of these skills exist in North America. Not everything can be made in plastic and one cannot rely on others to supply these skills when needed in times of peril.

If ever you wish to see the value and motivation for the cost of a quality made hand tool this video does a fine job in demonstrating it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=uNIc1mjQqlE&feature=endscreen
 
thanks rob for showing us this video,, it brought back ten years worth of memories in the foundry i have done all that was shown there,, i was surprised to see the lack of protective wear and the rings on the ladies fingers while sanding and buffing.. must be in a different country.. but i the whole video was great and to see the foundry part was the best for me:)
 
Great video. Warms the heart. Safety refresher course required :). There's nothing romantic or macho about damaging yourself for your craft. Those boys staring at that molten material without any eye-wear? I can still see spots just from watching it on video :D. Then again, I am commenting on something I am woefully unqualified to speak to :eek:.
 
Great video, but agree about the safety equipment or there lack of...to each their own. In some cases it does hinder work and in some cases one just doesn't know any different.
 
back between 73 and 83 we were to wear a pair of safty glasses with shields, a face mask and had asbestos coat for the guy filling the ladels from the furnace or a apron along with leggings.. the guys filling the molds had the eye wear but just a apron and leggins and the arm covers.. we pourded our iron at teps upto 3200. but most was around 2800 to 2900 at the pouring ladel.. if it got down to 2400 it was cold shut and the mold was a loss.. have seen many guys get burned.. the guy making the mold there in our shop would make around 200 to 300 a day in a 8hr shift. afterr 300 was done you could quit and clean up..and there was no AC and not alot of ventilation either.. and we wore clear lenses..our largest pour for one mold was 968lbs..our large ladles were just big enough to fill it.
 
I deleted what I originally wrote here. I feel too strongly about safety equipment in the workplace and home shop. I am trying a watered down version.

From what I saw in the video it appears to me that there is much improvement needed in safety equipment and certainly in safety knowledge for the workers. In the USA people working that close to molten metal have to wear safety glasses to block the harmful radiation from the metals and from air borne particles. Employees working near moving machinery are not allowed to wear certain kinds of jewelry and clothing.

As much as I hate to think about it, I am sure that there are some workplaces in third-world countries where work conditions are bad. In civilization we expect more from our employers. I am really upset about what I saw. I have written the next sentence about ten times and I cannot do it right. I give up and will stop here.

Enjoy and be glad if you work for a company that tries to protect you with OSHA type regulations.

JimB
 
Last edited:
...must be in a different country.. but i the whole video was great and to see the foundry part was the best for me:)

Yup, it was a different country. Maine. :D

Thanks from me too, Rob. :thumb: It was cool seeing some of the processes involved. I agree with the rest on the safety issues at Enterprise Foundry, but that's their lobster to boil, not mine.
 
Cool video. Anyone know what the fellow was putting into the mix right before the pour? I'm guessing something to prevent slag?

I agree on the rings, seeing a ring on a hand that close to a rapidly spinning wheel gives me the heebies (I won't say why because yuck, but you only have to see one bad accident and you'll definitely never wear one again around machinery!!!).
 
ryan, it could be a couple of things that was put in there,, more than likely it was a coagulant to keep the slag together rather than liquid, or it could be put in to de-gas the iron,, sometimes you put in nickle and moly to make the metal harder, if that was done they would stir in after it was tossed.. but the most common is to keep the slag in a clump rather than a gooey layer,,
 
Top