Next stop on the trail Art on Fire

Hey
our group left Wiseman on Sunday and drove straight back to Palmer to get ready for the next pour.

We got to Palmer about 4 am needless to say we didn't get much done on Monday.
On Tuesday we felt better and got to work organizing the stuff we were going to need in Wasilla. Some people started making molds others broke iron. Tuesday night about midnight Donnie and his crew rolled in having spent an additional night in Wiseman and a night in Fairbanks on the way to Palmer.

Wednesday and Thursday we continued to get ready making molds, breaking iron,,constructing ladles, etc. We also burned in the new copulette.


Scott Hamann and I designed the furnace using ideas from different furnaces I had been around and info from people who had built furnaces before. Scott built the furnace down in Kenai at his Fabricating business and had delivered it to me in Palmer a week or 2 before. With a couple of minor additions it was ready for Saturday.

Friday was a flurry of activity with everyone busy with making molds or breaking iron and making equipment, charging stand, ladles,and making up charges of iron and coke.
Saturday we were up early loading the furnace on the trailer and loading the trucks with all the equipment and off to the Alaska Museum Of Transportation and Industry we went.

The Museum is located on the northern edge of Wasilla and houses a large collection of trains ,planes and automobiles from Alaska's past. The collection includes outboard motors ,chainsaws and construction equipment as well as snow machines. We had thought that the museums Historical displays of Alaska's industrial past as well as nice grounds would be an appropriate venue for an Iron pour, as casting art from iron is an example of co-opting an industrial process for cultural expression.

I had Talked about the Idea of holding an Iron pour at the Museum with Carmen Summerfield the director of a local arts group the Valley arts Alliance. Carmen set up a meeting with members of the museum board and in the course of discussion at later meetings it was decided that not only was an iron pour a good idea why not expand the concept and invite other artists who use fire in the process of creating their art and call the whole thing Art on Fire.
Carmen and the Arts Alliance recruited raku pottery artists, encaustic wax artists and several blacksmiths to demonstrate their talents.Food vendors were also invited to make the whole experience a good opportunity for Families to spend an afternoon at the museum and enjoying the live demos.

Arriving at the Museum we unloaded the trucks and trailers and began to set up the equipment after a few false starts we got everything oriented and started up the furnace. This was the first time the furnace had ever melted metal and we didn't know what to expect. When the coke was hot we cut in the main blower and began charging.
After the first charge we had iron at the tap hole in 4 minutes. We botted the hole and kept charging, it wasn't long until we had slag at the slagger and soon after we had iron.

We Tapped and filled the first ladle until the pour team said they had enough weight, then botted in mid flow. The pour team poured that ladle and switched out and we tapped again, this time we filled the ladle and again botted in mid flow. After pouring that ladle we tapped again and got about a half full ladle. we estimate from the weight of the charges we were getting between 200 and 220#s of iron in the well when it showed iron at the slagger.

We continued pouring until all the molds were filled. We only had one mold that leaked and were able to still save most of that piece. All the other pieces poured successfully and the onlookers were treated to a good show and expressed interest in the process and the medium.

After we finished pouring we dropped the bottom and cleaned out the furnace without too much trouble. After loading up the smaller equipment we went back to Palmer for showers and relaxation.