This first week of the Fall semester at College of Marin is Flex Week, when we have the opportunity to do a wide variety of professional learning activities. One of the things I did today was the “Singing Bell Metal Casting Workshop.” Yes, metal casting! This was the first time I’ve seen a foundry in action, and it was RIDICULOUSLY COOL! (Well, actually ridiculously hot – close to 2000°F, haha).
We started out with a sand mold into which we carved a design.
Then, aluminum was poured into our molds and, after they’d cooled a bit, we broke out our bells.
We cleaned them up a bit with a wire brush and then filed down the rough spots, and voila! I MADE A BELL! (With a lot of help from Patricia and her fantastic team who ran the foundry). It needs to be polished up a bit more, but it sounds really pretty. This was so much fun!
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