| Fun with open flames and the American Foundry Society |
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| Written by Bobby Swain | |
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Since the Bronze Age, metal has been a staple resource of mankind. It can be cast into any shape needed to fit a given purpose, whether it is for necessity or just for fun. This past Saturday, the American Foundry Society (AFS) hosted an open foundry in McNutt, where people were free to go in and have a custom piece cast out of aluminum, just for fun. For no charge at all, students could go into the industrialized metallurgy lab in McNutt and carve out a small block of Styrofoam into anything they desired. A sculpting lab was even set up, complete with hot irons and sandpapers and other items with which to mold creations. The Styrofoam sculpture was then packed with green sand and clay mixture and set into the molten metal. The metal then burned away the foam leaving a metallic version of your once buoyant sculpture. Some of the unique previous models included a full-size guitar body and a jack-o’-lantern. The American Foundry Society is a student chapter for those interested in metallurgy, and hopes to spark interest in their field through events such as this. They are involved with the Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF), which supports the university in research and funding in the metal casting industry. AFS casts aluminum, bronze, and researches steel and cast iron metals. They are also selling metal mugs that bear the original UMR logo; $10 for aluminum mugs or $30 for the bronze mugs. |
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