SLOSS

hey guys

so this week I'm not at work, so I have nothing to show you in terms of rare or mildly interesting items that someone didn't want. Instead, I'll tell you briefly what I've been up to while I'm in Birmingham, Alabama. Five art students from Bradley University and I are in town for the NCCCIAP (National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices). We have our own Iron pouring cupola (10' tall furnace) and will be competing in a competition tomorrow night basically on who has the biggest and baddest cupola.

Day1:
We arrive at Sloss Iron pouring facility in Birmingham, and set up the cupola for a burn-in which will basically prime it for the actual iron pour. Next thing up was to smash up 492 lbs. (exactly) of iron to use in our furnace on Day 4. Next up we made around 20 sand-cement moulds using materials provided by Sloss to use for the actual competition. We brought some of our own custom moulds with which to fill with iron, so we began prepping those as well later on. Head back to the hotel after an 11 hour day.

Day 2:
Back at Sloss, we smash up 146 lbs (exactly) of coke to use as fuel for the fire, so to speak. coke is the 'technical term' for a material similar to charcoal briquettes used for grilling, except on a larger scale. We followed this with finalizing the prep for most of our custom moulds, which involved cutting in air vents to allow the heat from the 4000 degree iron to escape from (took most of the day). We also had a "chainlink" mould that we made to represent Bradley University, this mould broke so we spent some time repairing and finalizing this as well. I'll include pictures if I have any. Back to the hotel after another 11 hour day of prep.

Day 3:
Once again at Sloss, we attend a workshop on direct moulding with a special kind of oily sand that hardens and that can be prepped and used for an iron pour in a day or so. We finalized the prep for our cupola, ran over the technical aspects and what we need to do and when we need to do it during the competition. Demonstrations ran through the day, showcasing the incredible art of the people who attended sloss past and present. I cannot stress enough how talented some of these individuals are, the things I've seen here in the last couple days have absolutely blown my mind. The last thing we saw today was a trebuchet launching balls of clay and fire into a lake while a team of iron casters blew up a 20' long snake made of straw that was filled with fire works. Incredible to say the least.

The competition is tomorrow at 4pm, and I've never felt less ready for anything in my life. So it goes I suppose, but we came to dominate and I think we have more than a good chance.

Wish us luck. I'll add pictures tomorrow if I remember, but it's been an incredibly long day and I am going to sleep.

GOOD NIGHT HUMANS