Foundry Day!

Today we wrapped up the Coin Arc by casting our coins! (Demar and Griffin were very missed!) Students got to cast their coins using the Brennans’ foundry outside of 1960 Bryant. Liam’s dad, Matt, taught us a lot about the foundry process, aluminum, the melting points of metals and more. He expertly helped the kids turn their purple styrofoam molds into beautiful shiny silvery “coins.” Below are some pictures of our process! Step 1- Safety! Matt introduces the foundry to the Green Band.Step 2- Melting aluminum. Piper puts an aluminum soda can into the foundry. We had to wait for the aluminum to become completely liquid. Aluminum's melting point is 1220 degrees F.Step 3- Putting the styrofoam mold into a pot of sand. Matt helps Phoebe fill in the negative space of her mold with sand before burying it in the pot.Step 4- Pouring the liquid aluminum. Matt transfers the melted aluminum in the crucible to the molds in the sand. When poured, the liquid aluminum will take the place of the styrofoam mold, and the styrofoam will vaporize.Step 5- Removing the aluminum. Lucy pulls out the now-hardened aluminum mold from the sand and places it in a bucket of water to cool it.Taa daa! Gita's cat.

brightworksRachel Forbes