Carl's Mold

Alex checks out the Lodestone while Jesse warms her hands over the mold.
The afternoon of the day following the pour and the Lodestone is still cooking the mold away from the casting.
Somebody always designs a "pig" to mark each pour . Here is the Kellokoski pig

Billingsley's lodestone mold was the last mold to be poured and it held so much iron that the big furnace was tapped directly into the mold.
The small cupola is under blast with the ladle in place above the top vent so it can pre-heat. As you can see she is running hot.
Villu's big cupola is under blast and making iron
We begin every pour with a safety and procedure lecture.

Here are some images of the day of the iron pour and the following day. Several people took images and I believe some video of the pour itself. I will try to get those images on-line later today or tomorrow. We worked straight through from breakfast at 8 am until 2:30 am Friday morning. The cupolas were started at 8 pm and we dropped the bottom on the big cupola at 2:30 am. We don't have a total for the amt. of iron that was melted but it was close to 6000lbs. We only lost one well of iron when a bott gave way under the pressure of a full well and about 200 lbs. of iron spilled onto the ground in front of the small cupola. Fortunately no one was standing at the tap hole at that moment so no one was hurt. There were no injuries except for a few small ember burns and Colton's scratched cornea, which the Dr. proclaimed was minor. Although we could have had a larger crowd of on-lookers, those that were here seemed to be very interested and enthusiastic. Certainly Ilkka Taipale, the Director of the Baltic Sea Center, was well pleased with the event and eager to get the resulting sculptures installed on the grounds of the adjacent hospital. More about those aspects of the symposium will follow. At this point students are busy cleaning up the site, working on their castings and catching up on much needed rest. Several have plans to take the bus in to Heksinki to attend a music festival near the main train station. We will be here two more days and then we are off to Riga and then the Sculpture Park at Pedvale.

Carl

Images of the Kellokoski Iron Symposium

Ken's casting.
Opening the molds in the rain. The fuzzy spots are raindrops!
Mallory's casting.
Alex Knox's sculpture after the mold has been knocked off.
Austin's figure emerges from the mold
Austin's mold before the second half is rammed
The new ladles are pre-heated with a wood fire
The final low-melt run for last molds
Ken Payne finishes repairs to the big cuploa on the morning of the pour

After Pour

The last 24 hours has been a mad race to the finish line. Some people finishing their mold at the last minute, others getting the charges ready, lining up the molds , checking safety equipment. I gotta say I am so exhuasted, like all the time. I donät think I get enough sleep and so I end up taking naps in the middle of the day. I think others are doing it as well.

The Finale of the iron pour was last night and it was a mother. Villu´s giant furnace was a beast. A very experienced ECU crew including myself handled it all night and it was like running a volcano. I still don´t know who that saint was that fed it for most of the night. I do feel like anyother furnace I could run now that Ive handled this one. So it was a pretty good learning experience. Professor Payne ran it and so I got a chance to learn from another professor. We ended the pour around 1:30am.

It looks like most castings came out and everyone is out cleaning them. we have two days before the exhibition. I think I can make it through another day. lol

The weather became quite cold and rainy so we have had to cover all of the molds and be very careful when mixing sand as the resin we are using is sensitive to moisture. After Mike Hill's big posting of images and videos I will just put a few images of the conditions under which we are working. Things are not bad, just a bit more damp than we like. Everyone continues to work and make progress and preparations for the pour on Thursday are moving ahead on schedule. As I write this sunshine is streaming through my window so I will go outside and see if any student needs help.

Carl

Villu's big cupola suffered some damage during transport to the site. But we will fix it.
Students watching the low-melt kiln under temporary shelter
Molds that aren't under the tent are covered with plastic
Ken Payne consulting with students about mold problems
Molds covered for protection from the rain

A Day of Exploring.

Illka and Eero take the students to a mental hospital where Illka was a former doctor.

Our day of exploring ends at Matti's farm circus, where we all ate many many pancakes and sausages. Their were lots of games to enjoy including a tire swing with a bit of a kick. Jason braves this swing in the above video.

Reconstructing Villu's Furnace

Students have been taking trips with Finnish sculptor and instructor Villu Jaanisoo to the University in Helsinki to reconstruct his large iron casting cupola.

Andy prepares the furnace for its patched lining and new panels.

Mike Hill spot welds the panels in place.

The day ends with a surprise visit to a local library where Vilu has on display a very very lager monkey!

5/21 A Busy Work Day

Students add extension to lowmelt kiln in order to prepare for our 12hr low melts.

Alex welding the extension in place while Cole holds in place.

Grace from Buffalo State Carves on her pattern in preparation for the pour.

Aaron cold forging stainless steel to make the fuselage of his B-52 for his sculpture.

Austin carves styrofoam in order to create an armature for his pattern.

Austin's pattern nearly completed.

Finnish student Marja works on her pattern of a saddle.

Carl begins to reassemble parts of his lode stone pattern.

Aaron works on patching the tap hole of the small furnace.

Our day ends with monkeys patching the lid of the furnace while Carl Billingsley plays the 55 gallon drum.

100 Years of The Association of Finnish Sculptors Exhibition in Turku

Villu Jaanisoo's lage scale Buddha shown at the exhibiton

Hanna Jaanisso's kinetic sculpture shown at the exhibtion

Aaron is our inside man for this repair.
Jason, Jesse and Aaron ( inside the furnace!) work on repairs to the small cupola
Eric & Frank working on repairs to the small cupola
Colton & Alex repairing the low-melt kiln
Buffalo State student carving her core
Aaron & Alex work on Aaron's sculpture

Prof. Payne works on his core

Alex prepares her flask for the core of her sculpture
A styrofoam pattern in progress
Finnish students work on patterns.
Frank consults with a Finnish student about mold making issues.
Hello Everyone,

Greetings from Kellokoski Finland and the first Iron Casting Symposium at the Baltic Center.

Our weather has been fantastic up until last night when a front moved through and we got a lot of cold rain! The weather is still wet and quite cool, so we are using this Sunday as a rest day and an opportunity to catch up on journal writing, sketching and correspondence. We will continue to make molds and do other preparations for the iron pour as the weather permits. We have worked under much worse conditions in similar symposia before and will adapt to conditions as they change. Of course, we hope that the weather clears up and (most importantly -drys up!) The resin that we use for the molds is sensitive to moisture and it is critical that the molds stay dry. Fortunately our hosts have provided a very nice tent under which we have staged the molds and everything is well covered with tarps or is stored inside one of the garden sheds that we are using for workshops. It is day 5 and I have several more photos to post of our activities. Later Mike Hill will use my computer to post some video so keep checking the Blog for updates and thanks for your interest and support.

Kellokoski - Day 4

Frank is very glad to have water on this unusually warm Finnish day!
Aaron reacts to the camera as he and Eric & Alex work on their molds
Prof. Payne & student carve cores for sand molds.

100th anniversary exhibition Finnish Sculpture Society,etc

This is the second day that Austin, Cole, Eric, and I have rode into Helsinki with Villu to repair his furnace. Eric and Cole have been welding an extension for the low-melt furnace, while Austin and I have been on the furnace. The rusty skin has been removed and we are using the Art Academys nice roller to make a fresh new skin. The furnace is positioned in the art schools loading dock and so we have been grinding and welding while art students and faculty walk by us warily. Some watch us while smoking and ask what we are about: ahh yes,they say, welding crazies, working with Villu and the iron pouring, very good.

Last night we went to an art opening in another city that celebrated the last 100 year of Finnish sculpture. Villu and his wife had pieces in the exhibition. It was a fairly swanky affair and we tried not to look as though we were crashing it as we are a group of loud americans wearing strange foundry boots. I noticed the exhibition had many pieces that played with optical illisions and used mixed media.

Everyone seems to be having a good time.

Activities on Day 3 in Kellokoski

Oskri modeling wax figure

Melting wax for patterns

Weighing sand for the mixer

Hello All.

I hope this reaches you all well and in good spirits. I assume from the photographs that you are all digging in and working hard. See you for the exhibition, I will check the blog daily.

Stuart.

Fresh Salmon & Salads & much more for lunch= a happy crew.