The last day ashore & aboard the Good ship Columbia

The last day ashore & aboard the Good ship Columbia

The last day before boarding the ferry was spent getting some warmer clothes at REI and a trip to the campus of Western Washington University to see their outdoor sculpture collection. Its a nice campus with about twice the enrolment of my home base, Lamar University, Beaumont. They have spent their percent-for-art money on “blue-chip” works. We didn’t see them all because we didn’t think we had time, as it turned out we could have spent hours there but our parking permit ran out after an hour. They have an efficient, but overly officious, for my taste, parking regime. I had to see the sculpture facilities; well equipped, but small for their enrolment, pretty much like home. Many thanks to Pat Eley, the “responsible adult” in the Art Department who gave us the tour.

We went to check in for the ferry loading and were put in line with the other vehicles that were bound for Haines, the last stop of the voyage. Because we were going to the end of the line, we were among the last to load, but only after the home-land security dog decided we were OK.

It has occurred to me that many folks who would be likely to read this, think of a ferry in the same size, scale, & configuration as the ones at Boliver peninsula; the Columbia is substantially different. Its almost the size of a cruise ship, not quite so tall or long, but a massive, huge ship in its own right. It has seven decks from the cavernous auto-deck to the crew-only navigation deck. Run by the state of Alaska, its part of the “marine highway system”. There are somewhere around 60-80 vehicles on board, ranging from motorcycles to semi-trailers. Some passengers have cabins, some are in tents duct-taped down to the outside deck, others just have a sleeping bag and a lounge chair. There’s an age gap between the younger, college-age crowd going to Alaska for adventure and summer jobs and the older group who are taking that vacation that they’ve always promised themselves. Some, of course, are on their way home or to a job. One largish flatbed truck is on its way to Juno to be the basis of a motor-home. Donnie had to “adjust” his truck to fit the 23 foot limit.

As for the passage itself, the scenery is very green & grey. The sea reflects the grey of the overcast sky and the mountains on both sides of the channels are vertical slabs of evergreen trees. The mountains aren’t that tall compared to the Rockies, they stick straight up out of the water for as much as 3000 feet, but there is snow on the wind scoured tops and the grey of the sky blends with the snow, so the only way to judge the height is to follow the trajectory of the trees going up the edges. The cloud ceiling is low enough that some of the mountain tops are obscured. We have traversed some open water; there were whales and dolphins in those areas; I have to admit I didn’t see them, but there are crowds of people at the front viewing areas who did. We get to Ketchikan tomorrow morning early, then roughly 24 hours later we get into Haines and the trek begins again.

And, there are some who don't know Forrest Goodhue of Beaumont, TX. He is the "Photographer of all things iron" & has been for the past ten years and it is our good fortune to have him along on this journey of iron.

time is flying

Hey
On the Alaska end of things its going to get hectic soon with the arrival of the road travelers and others who are flying in. four people are arriving Monday into Anchorage where I'll pick them up.
Our furnace for the Wasilla and Kenai pours is built. The refractory cast. The blower is being mounted and accessories are being fabricated, Ladles, skimmers etc.
We will be making sand molds at my studio in Palmer on Tuesday and Wednesday and are planning to leave for Wiseman on Thursday morning. The weather in Alaska has been on the cool side with highs in the upper 50s and lows in the 40s. but I hope for a little warmer weather next week.
In a little research about casting in Alaska I have found references to Iron foundries set up first by the Russians in what is now Sitka. They used charcoal to cast iron fittings for the ships they built to service the fur trade. Later references to a Iron foundry in Juneau which used coal to make and repair equipment for the gold mines in the area. Other references and photos around 1920 talk about the coking of coal for an iron foundry in Anchorage operated by the railroad.
With Alaska's long history of major mining operations even above the Arctic Circle such as Nome.
I would hesitate to say this will be the first Iron pour above the Arctic circle. Though it may be.
It will definitely be the first for the purpose of creating art work.
well back to work.
Pat

Just about to ferry to Alaska

Tomorrow we board the ferry to Haines, Alaska. Its more of an adventure than the pour, since I'm a native of Kansas and we didn't have such large bodies of water. And its the closest thing to a vacation on the trip because there's nothing that we can or have to do. I do have a new phone, but it may or may not work, partially their fault, partially where we're going. And I no longer have anyone's phone numbers, so I can't call anyone anyway. It is passing strange how dependent we become on these technological props, I avoided it as long as I could, but even I succumbed to the convenience.

I suppose to be "accurate" about the whole event we should somehow use a natural draft system and eschew the generator that we brought to power the blowers; maybe a bellows of some description. Technology doesn't so much change, as get more productive through an automation and development of sorts. We won't sit around in a circle puffing into the furnace because the electric blowers do it for us. But otherwise the processes are basically the same as two millenniums past; a worker from the Darby furnace in Ironbridge, England would recognize everything we have to make our job easier than was his. He might not prefer it to what he was used to, but it wouldn't be that foreign to him.

Oh well, its late; it brings on idle speculation.

Always know where the lifeboats launch,
Butch

Spokane Blues

Got the Spokane Blues

‘Cause all it does is rain

I suppose it could be worse,

‘Cause snow would be a pain (in the ****).

We started off Wednesday morning with high hopes that we would be in Seattle by the afternoon. ‘Twas not to be; we sit in a Ford dealership just outside Spokane because the truck developed a habit of shutting down and firing back up. At least we drove in to get it fixed instead of having to be towed.

We had an “extra” day programmed in, so no time should be lost getting to the ferry in Bellingham, but we may miss the new sculpture park in Seattle. And, I was looking forward to showing Donnie the Chinese iron castings in the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

They have incredible detail and thin-ness for the technology of the time and place.

It is somewhat ironic (if you’ll pardon the expression) that we have the arrogance to consider ourselves ferrous-temperature foundry-men, when it has been done with as good or better craftsmanship for many centuries now. It makes me wonder if those who preceded us had the same feelings. There is a certain commonality of experiences through the centuries when we compare what we produce. The Chinese foundry-men were making an object for veneration of a spiritual vein; I make things for contemplation that I suppose could be spiritual but outside of an organized dogma. Are the two comparable? Should they be compared? Has human endeavor progressed or are we just fooling ourselves? A certain humility and skepticism would seem to be appropriate.

Iron casting originated in eastern Europe some thousands of years ago, before recorded history, its not unreasonable that someone took that technology northward above the arctic circle before. At the same time, ferrous temperature foundry didn’t happen on the North American continent until European settlement, as far as we know. So we could be the first on this continent at least. We didn’t really set out to be in the Guinness Book of Records, but we could be.

It’s easy to fall into such speculation while waiting for parts and repairs under the grey skies of eastern Washington. I was really looking forward to seeing that sculpture park.

I hope your “cam shaft position sensor” is in the proper condition.

Butch

Onward from Denver

Onward from Denver

The Western Cast Iron Art Conference was a good meeting, although I missed some of the most interesting parts getting there late. The metallurgy panel that Elliot Brown, Donnie, & I did seemed to be well received. Elliot is a “real” metallurgist and gave a technical presentation, Donnie described how he approaches the same thing from a “seat of the pants” viewpoint, and, as moderator, I just took notes and summed up what seemed to be most important.

The “Iron Tribe” exhibition opening featured a celebration of the life of Charlie Hook by his widow Deborah LaGrasse. I knew Charles for more years than either of us wanted to admit and I’ll miss his participation in things iron.

The exhibit itself was a remarkable survey of works from old & new guard, foreign & domestic. Some were just the molds that were to be cast the next day during the production pours. They were just as interesting as sculptures in sand as the eventual castings. Great presentation of the work, in a nice space. Kudos to David Lobdell.

The “performance casting” night went off without any apparent hitches. Bowling will never seem the same after watching freshly cast, glowing cast iron balls run down the ramp towards a set of ceramic shell bowling pins.

The production pour day seemed to go well too. We didn’t participate because our furnace didn’t work, but the furnaces that did run functioned well. Furnaces from the University of Minnesota, University of Montana, and University of Colorado, Denver were the stars of the day. The fact that the M & M cupolas were student built, bodes well for the future. The Montana furnace cast the largest piece from the workshops and an “Iron Trail to the Arctic” plaque, we left the plaque with the Denver host crew.

While the pouring action was happening, students from Lamar University rammed-up the refractory into the trashcan that will be our Alaska furnace. When it was done we lit a fire in it and went to my sister’s home for drinks and dinner. That fact that my sister makes excellent wine made drinks somewhat mandatory, the fact that Tom, her husband, makes whisky from any unclaimed alcohol made it dangerous. They were grand & generous hosts.

The “Trail” continued Sunday, getting as far as Casper Wyoming. Monday started fast, but slowed down with sight-seeing. The interstate goes right by the scene of G.A. Custer’s defeat at Little Big Horn, we had to stop. As a battlefield, it wouldn’t be my choice, there was no cover to fight from. Custer made mistakes and his Indian opponents didn’t. Custer lost. It was very strange to stand at the highest point of the battle scene and try to imagine the actions that took place so long ago. The mayhem, noise, smells had to be totally disorienting to the 7^th Cavalry; modern archeology has exposed a lot of the causes of the defeat, finding firing patterns from both sides with forensic techniques.

As I say it was somewhat surreal, but one of the most surreal facets was that, as I was walking back down from the scene of the conflict, I was met by a bus-load of Japanese tourists climbing up the hill. I can’t imagine what they took away from the experience.

So for tonight, from lovely downtown Billings, Montana, peace…

Butch

Note: any photographs will be by Forrest Goodhue, official photographer for all things Iron.

we are getting closer

Hey,
Things here in Alaska are moving along, we just got word that some more coke we are having shipped up is ready to be loaded on a ship, which should arrive in the next week or so.
We are continuing to collect Iron . We plan on using mostly automotive scrap brake drums, rotors and exhaust manifolds. there is still a lot of breaking to do.
More people have signed up to join us in Wiseman .

Logistics are the key to that pour. From my house in Palmer AK we will be driving approximately 650 miles to Wiseman. we will be driving up the Parks Highway Past the entrance to Denali National Park. up to Fairbanks AK. Then on to wiseman we will be on the Dalton highway or as it is known in Alaska the Haul road. Its called the Haul road as it was built to allow equipment and supplies to be trucked to the oil fields on the edge of the Arctic Ocean.

The haul road from Fairbanks to Wiseman is about 250 miles and about 100 is paved the rest being maintained gravel road. On arrival in Wiseman Pop13 year round residents. we will set up at the Wiseman Community center which is near the bank of the Koyokuk river. A beautiful setting.

Wiseman is a village off the grid, no public electricity and no running water. the only electricity is what the residents generate themselves by fuel or wind.

So as I said logistics is everything. we will be hauling all of our food and equipment including coke ,iron molds, etc the whole distance. the crews coming from Houston will have come thousands of miles to reach Wiseman and are bringing the furnace.
We will need to be self sufficient as the nearest hardware or grocery store will be over 200 miles away.

Denver at Last

It took a small disaster to avoid a larger disaster, but we actually got to the Western Cast Iron Art Conference in Denver. I lost my cell phone just as we were leaving Houston, the extra time that it took to unsuccessfully search for the phone put us an hour later getting to the Texas panhandle region. Just as we pulling in to Vernon, TX, all traffic stopped for a about a mile. It turned out that there had been a major tornado in Vernon about an hour before, power lines were down and there were a series of detours around various impediments to traffic. It cost us a couple of hours time, but we were safe.

After an all night drive we arrived in Denver about noon on Friday, we were scheduled to give a panel on metallurgy at 2:45. A little close for comfort but OK. The panel went well, Elliot Brown, an actual, real metallugist presented the "scientific" aspects of cupola operation, Donnie gave a "seat of the pants" operational presentation, and I merely listened to both and gave my observations. There was a video recording going, so it should be available somewhere after the fact. The panels that I was able to observe were well presented and interesting, which makes me wonder, what about the ones that we missed trying to get the cupola to work? Sigh...

Today, Saturday, is the production pour day. We were supposed to be operating as well, but the furnace is just a pile of materials and good intentions as we speak. We shall see...

Watch out for meterological abberations,
Butch