Archive for November 7th, 2008

Display Movie Posters for Art

Friday, November 7th, 2008

Part of a movie’s promotional tool is the movie poster. Occasionally an ugly film is disregarded but its poster is still remembered because of the strength of its visuals and/or design. Posters from past eras are collected generally not for the movie but because it is a document that goes beyond its purpose. Reflect on the artworks and the artistic devices exercised in making them; it is art which is hard to produce. The blending of media resonates in every finished poster; it is an example of putting together different art to create a singular and defined product.

Not only is a good poster able to carry itself by the basis of its art, some works are memorized for the amusing blurbs and phrases that hold up the drawings or pictures. The poster for the Sci-Fi Horror Classic Alien is an illustration. It has an menacing feel, thanks to the blackness of space at the background which is further made frightening by the phrase, “in space, no one can hear you scream”.

Wall Picture Frames

Collectors further develop their value by displaying them. 27×40 Movie poster frames are also distinctive and have diverse designs. You can embellish your house and fill it up with posters of your choice movies just like a museum. As an facet of entertainment and its most popular form, movies aren’t just cheap exploitative fodder that we forget after taking pleasure from it; it is a higher degree of popular art.

Foundry Supplies, Casting Supplies, and Foundry Supply Hobby Information

Friday, November 7th, 2008

Metal Casting

You can get all sorts of Metal Casting Supplies and you can spend a little money on these supplies or a lot of money. Home foundries tend to use supplies that are not too costly or that can be found close at hand. After all, home metal casting is usually a hobby and many get into this hobby since they need a cheaper source of parts and pieces that are either far too expensive or just impossible to find. This reason is actually what draws many people to metal casting in the first place. Given this, metal casting supplies used in smaller backyard foundries are generally cheap and made of items that are available in the garage or can be found at home improvement stores. There are several online resources and stores that offer supplies specially made for metal casting and if you have the money and are unable to create your own, it is encouraged that you purchase already made supplies.

The DIY Casting supplies you will need ultimately depend upon the type of work you plan to do. If you plan to use lost foam casting you will not need any wax and in that same thought you won’t need any foam if you are going to use lost wax casting. The furnace type is also a consideration. Cupola furnaces do not use crucibles. A crucible is where you place the metal which will then pool and collect inside. So it is important to decide what kind of casting process and what kind of furnace that will be used before you rush out to buy supplies.

As for the supplies this will include the fuel source. Fuels sources can range from wood to propane. Metals with a higher melting point will need propane while wood can be used to melt pewter and possibly aluminum. Most home foundries will use propane since it produces a high temperature and is easily available. 

Many of the Metal Casting processes use sand as a way to create molds and help secure those molds during the pouring. The type of sand used does not have to necessarily be specially formulated. Sand has been used in casting since ancient times so it only makes sense that most sand types can be used. Many hobbyists will even use playground sand to meet their needs. Now, there is a special type of sand used in casting called green sand. Green sand packs well and is able to hold its shape far better then common sand. For processes like lost wax you will need to find a healthy supply of wax since many of the steps involve the creation of wax models and molds. The good thing about this process is that the wax can be reused time and time again. Supplies for lost foam can be found in home improvement stores since foam insulation is suitable to use. You will not be able to reuse the foam but luckily, the foam is cheap.

Perhaps the most important casting supply is the metal itself. The metal used in Metal Casting varies due to need. Aluminum is a common alloy used in casting for a number of reasons, chief among them is availability. Aluminum soda cans are crushed and melted and proves to a good source of the metal. Many casters will find scrap metal in junk yards which tend to be a good source for brass, bronze, and iron. There are places to buy metals in ingots if you want a purer metal to work with.

Metal casting supplies often dictate what the caster can and can not do. Sometimes various adjustments need to be made to your next project or plan so remember to make a note of these so next time you will remember.

 
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Induction Furnace and Cupola Furnace Information

Friday, November 7th, 2008

Casting

In Metal Casting , the type of furnace you have at your foundry, or workshop determines a lot of the work you can or can not do. Its something about metal casters that they reall seem to enjoy making their own furnaces and so they have been doing it ever since. The plans for home made furnaces are eagerly shared among the enthusiasts so finding blueprints and instructions should not be difficult. But before you rush off to find the blueprints you may want to take time to learn about the types of Metal Casting furnaces available to help determine which one will suit your needs. This is not saying that you should only have one furnace at any given time, but this way you will know what project will work best for which furnace.

Cupola

Cupola furnaces are among the most popular with backyard foundries. Many casters construct their own cupola which proves to be cost effective and highly efficient if done properly. Since cupola furnaces can achieve high melting temperatures they are primarily used for the melting of iron and bronze, though aluminum can also be melted when attention is paid to keeping the temperature low. The primary fuel source for cupola furnaces are coke using limestone for flux.

By not using a crucible, the Cupola furnace is able to melt the metal at a faster rate. While individual designs of these furnaces differ due to varying resources and design ideas, the basic component of a cupola furnace is the same. The cupola furnace must be elevated above the ground and installed with a drop bottom usually hinged, which will allow the excess metal, fuel source, and other waste to drop from the furnace. You will need at least two types of shafts, ladle shafts and air shafts and they both provide similar outlets for air and metal.  A slag tap hole can be placed on the furnace usually in the back, higher then the tap hole, which will allow the slag to flow out easily.

With most small home foundries, the cupola furnaces are preferred over that of other furnaces for its high melting rates and for how easily the construction of such a furnace can be.

Reverberatory

The Reverberatory Furnaces are commonly found in industrial plants but there have been quite a number of home grown foundries that have used this furnace type with much success. The basic idea of a Reverbeatory Furnace is to use the heat reflecting off a surface, usually brick, to heat the metal, which is aluminum in most cases. This way, the metal does not come into contact with the fuel or the flame. Fuddling Furnaces are also involved in this process. The name Reverberatory and Puddling are often used interchangeably. By placing the metal in a shallow depression and then directing an intense flame over that depression and to the wall, the heat rebounds to melt the metal. Controlled the length of the path of the flame is something that most casters will do because then you can control the intensity of the heat.

There are many designs for the reverberatory furnace, all of which will include exhaust ports and the rear of the furnace must be able to withstand the intense heat and be able to bounce it back into the chamber.

Bronze, aluminum, tin, and many other ores can be melted in a reverberatory furnace all depending on the construction of the actual furnace and the heat of the flame. This type of furnace has been around since at least the Middle Ages and was used primarily for bronze work.

Electric Arc

Electric Arc furnaces are normally used in Industrial foundries. Most hobby casters do not use these furnaces due to cost, space issues, and a general inconvenience. There are two forms of the electric arc furnace, the direct and indirect.

The direct arc has three electrodes which are used to heat metal by way of the arc. This creates an incredible amount of heat and so water jackets and other cooling devices will be needed for operation.

The thing thats different than the direct arc furnace is that the indirect arc only uses one electrode otherwise they work the same way.

Electric Induction Casting

Electric Induction furnaces are becoming all the more popular with large industrial size foundries that enjoy the clean burning and efficiency of an electrical furnace. Copper coils surround the crucible with the metal inside which can reach extremely high temperature suitable for melting most metals.

Rotary

The Rotary style furnaces are hailed for their ease of use being fully or at the very least partially automatic. These furnaces tend to be harder to construct though there are resources and companies online that sell rotary furnace.

The different furnace types do affect the quality of the work being produced, so it is important to keep that in mind as you cast. With a little trial and error, you should find the perfect furnace to fit your needs so you can start building one of your very own.

 
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American Casting Association Information

Friday, November 7th, 2008

Casting

Casting has endured through the ages since the time of Ancient Egypt, possibly longer. Since then small foundries have developed to meet the needs of the individual caster. There are several reasons that people choose to create their own home grown foundries. A top reason is the need to create parts and pieces that are no longer available on the market or that are just too expensive to purchase. Those who get into Metal Casting for this reason are usually interested in restoration projects, home improvement projects, or hobby building like model planes and trains. Artists are the other group that see metal casting as a cheap and easy way to create sculptures from small to large. Jewelers even use metal casting to create complex pieces that would just otherwise be impossible to create.

Given the wide scope of metal casting there are several methods and techniques that have developed. For those new to metal casting or for those wanting to try some of these other methods may find it difficult to find information on your own. Luckily, there are several metal casting associations and groups that are more then willing to share information and exchange ideas, projects, and pictures of the goings on in the their home foundries.

On the internet, Casting associations and groups are either message boards full of casters where they can ask questions, post ideas, and pictures or are websites that are maintained by a set group of people offering general information and educational resources.

Both of these types of websites are incredibly helpful to metal casters who can benefit from the educational purposes of some of the sites tempered with the real life applications and experiences of the message boards.

There will be more industrial foundry and metal casting information than sites directed at the small home foundries. Industrial metal casting sites can be wonderful sources of information so do not skip by these. Use both small metal casting sites and industrial sites to your advantage.

If you are looking for a great group online, you should visit the Casting Hobby Group found through Yahoo Groups. This casting group was developed and maintained by experienced metal casters and enjoys a high amount of activity. This is a great place to go to for quick information and ideas not to mention photos and even furnace building plans.

The Casting Hobby Group can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/castinghobby/

The Association of Backyard Metal Casters is located at http://www.abymc.com/.  This online metal casting association has an extensive membership complete with informative articles, forums, and even live chat. Of course, pictures are posted on the site to give visitors ideas about what other furnaces and foundries look like. Don’t worry if you’re foundry isn’t pretty, there actually doesn’t seem to be very many of them that are.

Now, The American Foundry Society is mainly for the industrial metal casters and companies but they also promote information and education to consumers. The information provided on the site is great for anyone wishing to follow advancements in metal casting technology. There is even an online store.

http://www.afsinc.org/ is the online home for the American Foundry Society.

For the most part metal casting associations and groups exist on the local level more than a unifying force on the web. What does exist on the web is a great source of information, ideas, and insight. It is a great idea to join any of the groups you can in order to share and find knowledge.
 
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How To Make Money With Article Directories

Friday, November 7th, 2008

Article directories are websites that contain a lot of articles. Most of these articles are usually put there by the one that owns the copyright to them, and usually as a promotion method.

The way to make money with an article directory is to supply each article with your byline placed under it, so that everyone reading the article will a) know who wrote it, and b) will be able to visit your website to gather more information. By repeatedly using this method, people who are interested in your product or service will notice your articles, view you as knowledgeable about the topic, and may even end up visiting your website.

Even if you can not write anything about on the topic which you are promoting, you can always hire a writer to do the work for you. Getting top quality articles written is usually very expensive, however they will eventually pay for themselves, through affiliate sales (if you are promoting as an affiliate), or selling your own services.

Here’s a real life example. Let’s pretend that you are an accountant working from home, and you decide to write an article on a topic you feel familiar with; accounting. You then post it to various article directories. Those who are searching for information on the topic you wrote about will find, and read your article. They will notice that you indeed have the knowledge and skill they are looking for in order to some work for them, and ends up visiting your website to contact you.

The article you wrote just landed you a new client! This client may even decide to use your services regularly, and end up giving you a nice recurring profit. Now remember, since you have posted it on not one, but serveral free article directories, many others who have affiliate websites about accounting will find and use your article on their own website. The great thing about this, is that since they must attach your byline to it, they will help bringing you even more exposure – and sales!

There are several article directories out there for you to post your articles on. Your best course of action is to put a copy of each of your articles on as many as you can find for maximum exposure. This will eventually help to bring more traffic and customers to your website, which will lead to even more new orders and more profit!

By Anders Eriksson
CEO and Owner Datorsam

Getting in shape quickly

Friday, November 7th, 2008

There’s something to said when every single american currently wants one and only one thing–to get in shape quickly. Our current society’s obsession with perfection and working out means that everyone needs to be able to be very fit and slim and in shape or you’re out. I highly suggest that everyone takes the time to read things about how to get healthy and if you’re a guy that could mean learning how to build muscle. That’s really not as hard as it sounds.

But if you’re a girl then you need to think weight loss. That’s just the truth of how our society opperates–guys need to be buff and girls need to be thin.So if you’re a female and you’re wondering how to get in shape than I would very strongly suggest weight loss. There are tons of great blogs that will teach you how to lose 25 pounds and if you follow the advice you should be fine and you don’t really need to worry about finding a solid plan since it’s already been provdided.

The next step in building muscle and losing weight is reading online sources that will show you how to build muscle so that you understand what I’m talking about when I say things like “all protein diet”. Hopefully this weight loss and muscle building will go smoothly for you.

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