Trying to cast bronze at Colonial Williamsburg

[cannonmn]

They didn't get it right the first time.  Try, try again.  Good thing they are well-funded.


http://blogs.history.org/cannon

[RocklockI]

very instructive

[KABAR2]

Thanks for the info, this is almost in my back yard and I didn't know about it!

I have a friend who works at CW part time I'll have to see if he can get me in

to get better info and photo's in the near future.

[cannonmn]

I always wondered when some posters said they were going to set up and cast a bronze cannon, obviously implying everything would go perfectly the first time.  There are apparently many things that can go wrong, especially when you are trying to do it just like it was done centuries ago.   When small bronze foundries do it now, they use all the modern conveniences, such as de-gassing chemicals, graphite mesh filters to keep out all the impurities, precise temperature control in the furnace, etc., like the foundry in my video does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAomnhzif7w

[Cat Whisperer]

Thanks for the info, this is almost in my back yard and I didn't know about it!

I have a friend who works at CW part time I'll have to see if he can get me in

to get better info and photo's in the near future.

Looking forward to it.  It's wonderful to have friends in key places - amazing what you can learn!

[subdjoe]

I always wondered when some posters said they were going to set up and cast a bronze cannon, obviously implying everything would go perfectly the first time.  There are apparently many things that can go wrong, especially when you are trying to do it just like it was done centuries ago.   When small bronze foundries do it now, they use all the modern conveniences, such as de-gassing chemicals, graphite mesh filters to keep out all the impurities, precise temperature control in the furnace, etc., like the foundry in my video does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAomnhzif7w

On the other hand, those old foundries had masters who had been at the trade for decades, and were passing  on to their apprentices all the tricks of the trade.  I've known potters, glassblowers, smiths, and sculpters who work in bronze who can tell within about 30 degrees the temperature of their kiln, iron or furnace, some even closer, without the fancy controls and probes.  Just like I'm sure some machinists can listen to their machines and tell pretty close from the sound the RPMs and if a tool isn't cutting right.


Some of the stuff in the living history places is a learn by doing process.

[GGaskill]

I think if they have no experience in casting large bronze objects, especially using period technique, they are going to have a lot of trials and errors before they have it figured out.  It might have been more efficient to learn how to do it the modern way before trying to do it the old way.

[KABAR2]

I always wondered when some posters said they were going to set up and cast a bronze cannon, obviously implying everything would go perfectly the first time.  There are apparently many things that can go wrong, especially when you are trying to do it just like it was done centuries ago.   When small bronze foundries do it now, they use all the modern conveniences, such as de-gassing chemicals, graphite mesh filters to keep out all the impurities, precise temperature control in the furnace, etc., like the foundry in my video does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAomnhzif7w

On the other hand, those old foundries had masters who had been at the trade for decades, and were passing  on to their apprentices all the tricks of the trade.  I've known potters, glassblowers, smiths, and sculpters who work in bronze who can tell within about 30 degrees the temperature of their kiln, iron or furnace, some even closer, without the fancy controls and probes.  Just like I'm sure some machinists can listen to their machines and tell pretty close from the sound the RPMs and if a tool isn't cutting right.


Some of the stuff in the living history places is a learn by doing process.

Experience is the key! There is always a learning curve, that is why in modern industry there are problems
when they let an experienced employee go to save money and expect the same results from the new guy....
little experience.... big learning curve.

[GGaskill]

... that is why in modern industry there are problems when they let an experienced employee go to save money and expect the same results from the new guy ...

The bean counters can't quantify the value of experience accurately (if they try at all) or value it to justify their decisions to save money so they pay the price in lost quality, lost customers and lost revenue down the line.

[Victor3]

... that is why in modern industry there are problems when they let an experienced employee go to save money and expect the same results from the new guy ...

The bean counters can't quantify the value of experience accurately (if they try at all) or value it to justify their decisions to save money so they pay the price in lost quality, lost customers and lost revenue down the line.

 I'm running into that right now with layoffs in my departments. Seniority of paper-pushers trumps that of good production people.

 A while back I was talking to a manager at one of our distributors. I mentioned that we were shipping ~$200K/day.

 He says "We ship about twice that. I suppose it's a little more difficult when you have to make the parts like you guys do."

 I chuckled and said "Yeah, just a tad."

[GGaskill]

Seniority of paper-pushers trumps that of good production people.

Interesting to think about how much product the paper shufflers produce.  Isn't product what generates the income?

At my employer, just today they announced a management review with the goal of flattening the organization and removing unjustified layers of managers.

[Victor3]

Interesting to think about how much product the paper shufflers produce.  Isn't product what generates the income?

 I think so, but whether or not you play golf appears to be viewed as more important. Will my GB mortar suffice?

[RocklockI]

in 1980 when i was hired as an inspector at a local high tec place they were talkin 'paperless' virtualy the day i started .

when i was finaly layed off in 95' all we had accomplished was to put it on the puter system .....BUT because nobody trusted the things we also wrote all reports , finding ...whatever on paper too .

so we were both papered and paperless at the same time .......

oh yea that saved all kinds of time and effort ......