What a gift it is to hide the entire universe in every blade of grass, in every drop of dew, in every tear we see. It was such a journey to go to find this place to be free of the seemingly absent moments. the many miles to walk, the many books to read, the many teachers to hear, speaking of this place to find. How can the journey take so long, that we must give our every desire to it. It's unsatiable hunger to devour our every yearning. Our every craving for our fulfillment. what a simple journey that spanned so many years.

 May we all find our essence, right where we left it, so many eons ago. It didn't go looking for us, it had nowhere to go.

 Happy Holidays

Les

Another day has come again...

the waves have calmed, the storm has past.  I sit here now, free at last.

 I'm sure there are many who have gone thru the storm. After years of asking why or what, the answers have come, once we let go of who we thought we were enough that we could be pryed open enough to hear the answers. Just as Ike took away the homes, just to leave the ground, this storm too took away all I had built up, to live in, and know.

 I accept it all now. The bitter rage, the mindless gambles, the self indulgent intoxication, the religious wars, the grasp for power. It's really nothing new. Just a media that can show it to us all. Humainity can see all of itself for the first time.And it doesnt seem too elegant overall.

 But theres a different tide rising. This storm has no brunt. it is the storm within us. The qwest to know our truth. And the light within us is the wind that drives the waves. Our souls are tired of watching, waiting for us to play. The faces of the millions, are starting to portray the truth of us revealed, another each passing day.

 When the storm has cleansed you, you are again as one. Your soul is in your thoughts, your walk, your smile. Your heart is once again feeling the warmth of the sun. Seeing the sorrow on those who pass, This simply will not do. The yearn, the cry has been heard now. By the many rising each day. We gather here on this global brain, delighting inthe ight. May we shine so bright, so ever clear, that the darkness becomes the light.

 Dream your best dream, your soul has waited long enough...

 Les

You might call it adventures in consciousness.  You might call it a ruthless persuit of truth. You might call it crazy. It seems like forever that I have been working on my spirituality. conjouring up notions of what my truth might look like. Trying to have a modern view of some old parable. Quantum notions knock the door open to what the absolute truth might look like.

 But as I discard the parts of me that seem to be a static reminant of the past, I begin to feel like it is me no more that is here in the pursuit of the truth. I just drive the car anymore. Or put water on the grass to keep it green. Or wonder where I am going to find this truth, since I don't do the deciding anymore. Sure I can redistribute the post and file the remimants in some orderly fashion. I can follow the patterns of the folks around me to be there on time and validate the reasons again.

  But a deeper thing is happening. I am waking from my deepest sleep. The stars greet me in the morning, asking how my sleep has been. The leaves on the trees are singing again, glad to have me back as their audience. My body is at peace again, glad to follow around. My heart is looking around and seeing again, smiling at everyone I meet. My things to do list got so simple and short. How could this be all there is to do? My worries and fears have run off again. Leaving me here all alone.

 I guess there is nothing to find in this journey of mine. Because I can no longer escape it. What a place to hide the truth. Who would have thought to look right here, right now. I am holding so very still, that I may see it forever.

Bon Jour

 yet another pour. I did this one pretty quickly. I would typically fret for several hours to get the sand just right with bentonite and water. I just slammed this out. But I also shot it with hi-def video. I'll scrub it down and post it somewhere. The sand was very touchy. I can now see why the prepping the sand step is so important.

  Yet, no matter, every time I pour, it touches me so deeply. It's like the "struggles" I am experiencing in my life seem more like soap bubbles, just  wanting to be popped. When the metal succums to the flame element, it too shed's it's secrets. the profane becomes sacred again. The impossible is a tyrant in my self, wanting to be discovered for the folly it is.

 sweet suckles, soft scents, serene self, silly sentences

 me

So I took the plung. I resigned my 26 year carreer in television. fade to black. I am moving into a more truthful expression of me. Karma teacher, energy healer, life coach, teacher, writer.

 What a time of huge change in my life. I let go and let the Divine idea of me unfold.  I don't know the details of what is coming but I do know it will be high energy stuff. My inner core is coming online like a sun being born. Since I will no longer spend 8 hours a day in a bicker factory, I will surrender and release any resistance to my authentic self.  I let go and watch as I am reprogrammed from the inside out. Geeez. what a ride.

 I've been recording and scrubbing some karma CD's and a book is on it's way too.  Who knows what else.

 My most authentic me...
 Love and Light
Les

  So I made some frames to make molds in. For my first pour to actually make something, I thought I would make a peace sign. Simple enough.  So this first pic is after I had made the frame from 2x6's. Cut out the peace sign with the jigsaw. sanded and primed it. For the first pour I was going with just an open mold. typically you make two molds that are sandwiched together and you pour the metal down an hole. I went with an open mold just to get it going. This pick is after I had mixed the sand, bentonite, and water to get the sand to hold it's shape. I screwed on a sheet of particle board and put the wood peace sign in the bottom. I sifted some fine sand to start with to insure a fine grain match. I then slowly added sand and started packing it in with a 2x4 and hammer. After I topped off the box, I trimmed any excess sand and screwed on another sheet. I flipped it over and took off the first sheet. And this is the picture of that.

 
  So I tapped on the wood peace sign to get it to let go. After a little jiggling and gentle nudging, I got it free from the sand. I found the sand was very touchy and made a few messes only to carefully put it back together.


  I was finally going to put those ingots I had been making to good use.  I fired up the foundry and waited for the solid to become a liquid. big pause. I looked at my frozen garden and wondered what it would look like in the spring.  about 40 minutes later, it was molten and time to pour. I have yet to have someone around when I pour to take pictures, but I tell you the shiny liquid metal running around in the sand  channels is soooo sexy.  I poured it till it looked full and  poured the rest in tuna cans. 

So this pic is right after the pour.  The metal is still molten in places. Since the mold is open, the rate in which it cools is different and as such, the surface is somewhat uneven. I an curious to see what a enclosed mold produces. I had dried the sand around the channels with a propane torch so I would not get any steam pockets. It seemed to help. But I don't know what would have happened if I didn't.

So here is the results. You can see a dot right in the middle of it. That is where I started the pour. That is where 1200 degree metal first hit the sand mold. There is a slight difference in surface texture there. I made the wood one last night and poured the metal one about an hour ago. I feel so good farting around with this stuff. I know it is rippling around inside of me. I so love having these creative juices flowing in me, and going thru processes I do not know the absolute answers too. It's the "what if" thinking that is half the kick, and watching the metal go soft then liquid that is so wild too.

 Hope you have enjoyed the ride with me...

 From my open heart I send Love to the one reading this right now... That would be YOU!

 Les

Howdy y'all

 


   So today I did my first decent brass melt.  I started by getting it all to fit in the crucible. I also did am aluminum melt earlier today just to get my feet wet.


So much for aspect ratio's. I did a few things different. I had raised the crucible off the bottom of the foundry last time, but this time I just put a disc of cardboard on the bottom to be burned away.

 I put the crucible in and was ready to light it up.



 So i lit it up around noon. 7 minutes in the wind blew it out. So I put some combustionables around it so it could get hotter.


 And it was just a matter of time now. Time for the zen trance to pass the time.



 After about 1 hour and 40 minutes, it was getting molten.




 I was getting excited to pour molten brass...

So I turned of the propane and took the top bucket off.



So I put the camera down and started paying attention to what I was doing... It poured really well. I kept tipping it up higher and a blob of crud plopped out too.


Things were catching on fire quickly but it all was good to go.

So it was really pissing off the tuna fish can, and I waited for a while, then I picked up the can with pliers and put it in snow. It boiled water for several minutes. The brass was patchy in colour too.

it was hot for quite a while until the whole batch was molten. Perhaps a foundry with a burner on two sides would have it heat up more evenly.
 

So the brass was so hot, it melted part of the tuna can and I had to cut and pry the can off. But overall I feel great to know I can get it hot enough and now can think of the next steps. Aluminum is soooo much easier and quicker, 20 minutes, than brass 1 h 40 minutes. but no bother.
 
 Hope you have enjoyed the ride, I sure have...

Smiles

Les

  The brass melt did work. But the factors were less than ideal. several thing made the attempt difficult at best. The length of the brass was too tall being a single piece. The entire bottom of the crucible would have to reach 1750 degrees f. so just the side closes to the burners flame would melt a little and the brass would just sit and wait for more heat. If I had broken it down to smaller still pieces, then as one piece would melt, it would spread the molten brass over the bottom of the crucible.allowing for a much better heat transfer than 1/4 inch steel. Also, I did not see if the burner could be opened up more. The aluminum melted so fast that I didn't even think about more gas.



   In the picture, the crucible i used for the brass is in the upper right. it is a very heavy 1/4 inch steel thing i created for the high temperature of brass. I used the coffee can just to the left for the aluminum melt. Since the melting point is lower, the thin can allowed for a quick meltdown. I would not try brass in it as the higher heat and the extra weight of the brass could lead to a crucible failure then your foundry has this molten blob in the bottom.

 On the upper left is two ingots from the aluminum melt. and just below it is the brass ingot from yesterday. When you pour 1750 degree brass into a tuna fish can that is frozen cold, it looks like the lower left picture. The brass melt had a bunch of crud in the melt. it could have been to the first melt in the crucible. So when I try again, I'm going to break up the brass into smaller pieces, look at turning up the burner more, and see where that gets us.

 
 With this pic you can see the sizable difference in the wall thickness of the crucibles. The tuna fish can is perfect for making ingots cuz the ingots fit nicely into the steel crucible and lay flat on each other. This allows excellent heat transfer between the ingots. The tall single brass piece I tried for my first melt yesterday, the top of the brass was a cool 700 degrees (wild ass guess) while the bottom was 1750 degrees. So the whole piece had to melt before the top would get hot enough...

 I'm learning fast, so I hope to make a mold and to pour a cast of on actual object as some point soon...

  Smiles

Les

Yeeehaw

  What a fun few weeks it's been. I've been off work since Dec 21st and I go back tommorrow. Another day in TV I guess.

 I finally got the bugs worked out in my foundry. I had posted every few days, then I tried to get the burner to work well. Sputter, sputter, cough, cough... Damn thing wouldn't stay lit. sratched my head a bunch. Ended up talking with my friend Graham, he had the same problem. I had been jacking with different regulators thinking they were varying pressure too much.  He said to change out the propane tank coupling. The one I had on there was brand spanking new. But I bought a different one, as he said, and sure enough it started purring like a kitty.

 I went to goodwill today, that's where everybody buys their scrap metal. I was looking for brass. I had done an aluminum melt and it went very well. it melts at about 1200 F. I was shooting for brass since that's what I wanted to be working with. So I got some brass for about $4.



 And I end up with two angels. they are pretty heavy, but I am liking them more and more so I just dismantled the huge candle holder. It unscrews into shorter sections. I was building a crucible for brass, out of 1/4 inch steel. as such, it takes a lot of heat to get the steel up to the 1750 F to melt brass.  So I ended up welding the final touches on my crucible and was ready for my first brass melt.


 I also welded up a hanfle to pick up the glowing red hot crucible. It's just to the left of the crucible. So The aluminum had melted down in about 20 minutes to molten metal. So I started the brass and was watching it go. It was about 20 degrees outside and I was waiting for the magic to happen.



 I started to check it at about 40 minutes into it. It was getting hot, but I did not see any melting til about 1 hour and 10 minutes... It was seriously hot at that point. I have touched up this next pic to bring up the light levels from inside the foundry, it was way too dark straight from the camera.

and it was still not all the way melted down. Once some of the brass got molten, then the flames started coming out the top.

Since brass will make toxic fumes, it was time to be careful with it all. After about 1 hour and 40 minutes, I was starting to wondr if it was ever going to melt...


Both I and the camera was getting pretty cold by now. I let it go a bit further and I shut it down. My camera had emptied the batteries and it was all just memories from here on out... I did use the new handle and poured the semi molten brass into some tuna fish cans to make ingots for a casting. By melting down the scrap into ingots, you can get alot more brass into the crucible when you want to really pour some metal.

 All told, I am estatic for this project. It has pushed me thru several stages I had no idea how I was going to get it to work. There is something about molten metal being poured by you. It's like the seemingly "solid" world of metal is now really just a arena of artistic expression.

 If you read this far, then I must not be babbling too much...

 Happy Holidays to you and yours...

 May 08 bring you what you desire most...

 Smiles

 LBJ

Happy Holidays to All

 What a wonderful Christmas this year. My kids were all here and the best gift was the foot of new snow that fell on Christmas day.  My cup is full and I feel so blessed.

 I feel a wonderful year is before me, and I intend to show up for it completely.

 May all your dreams come true...

 Smiles

 Les