A video about the R.M.I.T. foundry school before it closed down.

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Күн бұрын

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@luckygen1001 3 ай бұрын

Just in case some one asks R.M.I.T. stands for royal melbourne institute of Technology. I never attended that course as there was a long waiting list to get in. (it was very popular) Another reason why I did not attend was I had a complete set up so I could pour castings any time I wanted to instead of trying to do too many things in three hours a week. So I would go once a month and watch and see how they did things. The best thing I learnt from there was how to make cast iron from steel. After it closed down many former students had a go to set up their own foundry, most failed because there was a steep learning curve on how to do things which they did not teach there.

@tobhomott 3 ай бұрын

What a sad thing to see such a resource disappear. Seems short-sighted to let those skills disappear. Thanks for sharing this

@luckygen1001 3 ай бұрын

Those students who attended took it for granted until it disappeared.

@a-k-jun-1 2 ай бұрын

I'm glad you have video of this facility. I'm over in the USA and still admire those casting facilities.

@olfoundryman8418 3 ай бұрын

Bill, Thanks for putting this up. I made castings in the RMIT foundry that the one you show here replaced - a long time ago - 1965 in fact during my metallurgy study years. Tobho is right it - is incredibly sad to see such facilities vanish but then all of us old-timers age going sooner or later to that great foundry in the sky. I make no comment about some of the less than scientific techniques shown....Martin

@VladekR 3 ай бұрын

I wonder which bit you refering

@olfoundryman8418 3 ай бұрын

@@VladekR There were quite a few bits but the stupidly high sprue extension and the awkward way it was poured at around 3.00 will do for a start.... Martin

@luckygen1001 3 ай бұрын

I knew that tall spue extension would not escape your notice. I did have two come out to my place after it closed and watching them ram up a mold they had not learned much at R.M.I.T.

@AmalgmousProxy 3 ай бұрын

@@olfoundryman8418 I was just thinking to myself, "That sprue is rather tall." I wonder why they did that... Hope you are doing well.

@olfoundryman8418 2 ай бұрын

@@AmalgmousProxy, Still alive but not doing as well as I would like. Why did they use that ridiculously high sprue? Good question, possible answers; - 1 stupidity - 2 exaggeratedly copying a certain UK foundry, you know, the one who grovels on the floor and does strange weird almost perverse things with his box dowel pins (the mind fair boggles!) really this boils down to stupidity. 3 - Ignorance, now ignorance is not stupidly, unless of course it results in a belief that after 5 minutes in a foundry one knows better than those who have spent a lifetime there, The so called Dunning Kruger effect, so again, yes, stupidity. 4 - a belief that such a high sprue would increase mould pressure during the pour and so decrease the risk of a misrun - unfortunately the pressure will not increase until the sprue is full and this won’t be until the end of the pour by which time the misruns will likely have already occurred, so again, stupidity 5 - a desire to produce the roughest possible finish on the casting, yep, stupidity again. 6 - a desire to produce as lightweight a casting as possible by incorporating as much trapped air in it as possible, Hmm, stupidity again. So, my conclusion as to why the high sprue - stupidity. Take their box of matches away and ban them from any foundry…. Martin

@williamlefave4058 3 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing. I wish this school was still around, I would have never left.

@chrisarmstrong8198 3 ай бұрын

Wollongong TAFE had a similar set-up, with an induction furnace capable of melting cast iron. I believe it has also closed down now.

@luckygen1001 3 ай бұрын

I was wondering if it was still running. I think it was the last foundry school in Australia.

@timelessengineering 3 ай бұрын

Tafe Qld at Acaica Ridge in Brisbane is home to pretty much all the nation's casting and moulding apprentices they also run evening classes for hobbyists, where they will help you cast all the model and project parts you want pouring aluminium, bronze, cast iron and SG.

@luckygen1001 3 ай бұрын

I had a look at their courses and they have one that goes for one month for the hobbist. $445. Thanks for sharing that.

@putteslaintxtbks5166 3 ай бұрын

The water in the scap was tame compared with some video I've seen. May be a good practice to preheat befor loading into liquid steel.

@mrrberger 3 ай бұрын

Spent a couple of semesters in there while studying MechEng. Thanks for a blast from the past.

@gerrypentland9176 3 ай бұрын

I used to go to RMIT on Saturday Mornings, mostly in the non ferrous section. I can remember Jim Willetts was a patient and knowledgeable teacher. I took my camera in and have a few photos , a very enjoyable time. If you were a good student, and wanted to come back the next year, Jim made sure you Failed, and had to come back and try again next year. If you pissed Jim off, you passed, and were never seen again....

@azafreak 3 ай бұрын

Wow. If this existed when I was at school only a few years later my trajectory would have been a lot different. Bummer

@bryanst.martin7134 3 ай бұрын

This should not be allowed to fade to China and the East.

@EricWellings1993 3 ай бұрын

Couldn’t agree, I work for my family owned foundry in Newcastle NSW and we still use allot of these practices.

@luckygen1001 3 ай бұрын

@@EricWellings1993 Can I ask what is the name of that foundry?

@shortaybrown 3 ай бұрын

What a great film, thank you for posting it. These boys seemed a bit cavalier about safety, like no glasses and no gloves. Although they really knew what were they were doing, do you think if that was done today they’d have more protective clothing, and more safety regulations? Thanks1

@luckygen1001 3 ай бұрын

Yes they should have a lot more protective clothing

@camatbattler2233 3 ай бұрын

Spent many Saturday mornings there with Jim instructing us. It looked like him in the yellow hard hat. Also enjoyed the visits to yours and Robs foundry. How is Rob these days? Cam

@Sameer-h1d3h Ай бұрын

Hello! Your videos are great and very informative, I really like watching your content. I am new to iron casting, is there any social platform where I can connect to your as I would love to learn from your years of experiences.

@luckygen1001 Ай бұрын

I am only on youtube.

@sven-erikviira1872 2 ай бұрын

At 14:18 I was thinkink "what an interesting pink slag on top of the sprue". Then I was thinking "why would there be a layer of slag there". I guess it is just still glowing metal?

@luckygen1001 2 ай бұрын

Yes that is what it is.

@glennmoreland6457 3 ай бұрын

Who got to decide that a trade wasn't needed anymore....... and that youngsters were to be indoctrinated instead...? ☹️😡☹️🇬🇧

@luckygen1001 3 ай бұрын

Some very wise people high up in Government made that decision.

@DDB168 3 ай бұрын

Really interesting. I remember that hobby course, but I was never able to do it (waiting lists). I still think there'd be interest if somewhere or someone ran a course like that. Any idea what happens today in regards to training? I would guess there'd still be some foundries and foundryman needed.

@olfoundryman8418 3 ай бұрын

DDB, I had thought of running a short free session or two for a small number of people but sadly age has caught up to me and I doubt that I could now do it.... Martin

@luckygen1001 3 ай бұрын

There used to be hobby machining classes near where I live years ago but all have disappeared.

@Techne82 3 ай бұрын

And they throw sand in our eyes with slogans like “build back better” and “green revolution”

@awldune 3 ай бұрын

Interesting to see the lack of PPE in a school setting.

@luckygen1001 3 ай бұрын

It would not happen now.

@ryebis 3 ай бұрын

How are we going to maintain those expensive submarines ? I guess we'll have to import everything as we do now.

@user-xyuser666 3 ай бұрын

Да, это печально.

@chapiit08 3 ай бұрын

TPTB mandated that there's no need for people with real world skills.

@luckygen1001 3 ай бұрын

What is TPTB?

@chapiit08 3 ай бұрын

@@luckygen1001 The powers to be.

@woodruffwoodruff6853 3 ай бұрын

Was that Wally Gore in the video? I wonder if a fellow Dennis Keenan was in that video, he used to work at rmit, he was a great mentor to me. Shame these skills are gone.

@luckygen1001 2 ай бұрын

I only met him once in the pattern making dept. but I don't think he was in the video.

@Sameer-h1d3h 25 күн бұрын

What type of furnace can I use to melt around 200 lbs of cast iron?

@luckygen1001 22 күн бұрын

A cupola furnace.

@Sameer-h1d3h 22 күн бұрын

@@luckygen1001 Thanks for the reply, I have seen many of your videos where you use gas or oil furnace to melt cast iron. Can't I use the same?

@luckygen1001 21 күн бұрын

@@Sameer-h1d3h Melting a large amount of cast iron in one go with oil or gas can be tricky because you have to get everything right, better to make smaller furnace to start with. If you have a failed melt (200lbs) the first time it can be a big problem. Cost for the crucible and furnace insulation can be high and if you fail......

@Sameer-h1d3h 21 күн бұрын

@@luckygen1001 thanks for the advice, what quantity will you suggest to a beginner at initial stage?

@luckygen1001 20 күн бұрын

@@Sameer-h1d3h As much as you can lift in one go, I lift 14 kgs of iron not including tongs and crucible.