If booze doth talk, as booze doth will
then booze doth talk a hefty swill
for thrice one night doth booze say
“You will be fine the very next day”
That next day come, and I’m rather ill
So booze doth talk some hefty swill.

Copyright ©2007 Syridian

The world about me swirls
chaotic in nature just like pearls
Thoughts of lust and of love
Of the freedom of a dove

The world about me swirls
As a leaf on the breeze twirls
Thoughts of women and of wine
Dreams of one who isn’t mine

The world about me swirls
Just like shaved chocolate curls
Desires pull, hard to repel
Yet I must or go to Hell.

Copyright ©2007 Syridian

Lately I have been having difficulty with casting a certain mould that in the past had no issues casting at all… It took me ages the other day to cast 4 of these tokens and even then, the 4 that I had cast were not the best quality. It took me a while to work out what exactly was causing the issue and when I did, it didn’t really help the situation.

The issue is that at the moment the humidity in Sydney is very high… This humidity seeps into the soapstone moulds, and normally just preheating the mould would be enough to expel this moisture and creat reasonable castings. However with the humidity so high, it’s seconds before that moisture is back… It’s in the mould instantly, as it’s in the air that is expelled when the molten metal is poured in. What it does to the casting process is cause miniture steam explosions which make bubbles in the cast metal. This is an issue that I’m at a loss to get around at the moment, other than picking nice low humidity days to do my casting.

There is a method of using steam as a means of pressure casting, however it still requires a warm dry mould to provide a decent casting. I have only heard this method talked about, and have yet to see it in action.

I’m all over the place emotionally these days…  So if I seem more depressed than I really am…  you’ll just have to take it that I’m not really that depressed.  I have a lot going through my mind, car issues aside the time spent on public transport and getting around…  walking to work and such is giving me too much time to consider my life as it stands…  where it’s heading and such.

Recently close friends have also given me reason to question who I am…  and whether I should be the person I am, or whether change would be for the better (not in a bad way either, just that kinda thoughtful kinda thinking kinda way).  I used to think that I knew who I was…  And I was happy being me…  Now there’s a small amount of doubt, a small amount of questioning whether the real me is who I really should be…  or whether I should change just a touch, and try and keep up appearances…  and fit in with the “Norm” more.  Mind you…  it’s only a smidgen of doubt…  and I seriously doubt it will change who I am…  but it’s doubt all the same.

With these issues bouncing around in my head…  and other things in my life giving me reason for concern, I think I probably come across as more depressed than I really am…  Not sure if it’s my subconscious trying to tell me, and others to seek out friends and attention, or if it’s just me thinking that sympathy is always good…  either way…  I am not really as bad as I make out subconsciously.  If you care enough, you won’t ask me if I’m OK…  you won’t panda to my subconscious mind seeking attention…  you’ll just give me a quick hug, and say, “Get over it Sveinn, you are better than this and you damn well know it.” ;)

“As the sand passes through the hour glass, these are the days of our lives…”

Seems life has a different idea about where it intends on taking us….

The Feast of the Four Winds was a lovely little affair.  The food was great and the company greater.  I enjoyed being there for part of the preparation of the feast, it helped me see what will be needed if I run Newcomers.  Which is a bid I should be preparing this afternoon.

After a few days of not knowing, I finally received notification this afternoon that my Ampullae did actually win their category at November Crown.  So I have now officially won my first Kingdom A&S Comp…  Just letting those of you who were interested and hassling me for the results know.

EDIT:  OK, I have just received notification from a second source that I came second, not first.  Now I’m back to being just as confused as I was before. 

Oh my! A Whole week has gone by and I haven’t added anything… I’m such a slack bastard.

OK, so the November Crown Ampullae haven’t gone so well… I have been busy with social engagements and haven’t really had the time to experiment as much as I would have liked. However if I add up the many hours of work I have already put into them and then document that, I should have a reasonable “Work in Progress” document to send in just for the fun of it. As the whole idea with attempting the Ampullae was the recreation of the Slush casting process so little reference to the chosen design is made. The design was chosen intially for it’s simplicity and ease of carving as well as it’s look and possible appeal, however little reference to period and significance was researched.

So what has been the process with this whole thing? It started early October when after recieving a book I had on order, I discovered that a fair number of period Pilgrim souvenirs were actually Ampullae that were hollow and crimped shut to hold usually liquid contents. Not much was said about how these were actually made, however thinking about it for a bit brought me to the conclusion that the molten metal was poured from the center of the mould. I created a rough mould to attempt this process so I could see if it was viable. I made several attempts using this mould and they were all rather thick-walled but the idea seemed to be right. Further research online confirmed that the method for hollow casting was called slush casting, and that it was exactly as I had theorised.

Discussions with Tanw one evening brought into light the possibility that the modern pewter (commonly called ‘Britannia’ as it contains no lead and is designed to mimic pewter) is nothing like what was used in period examples. So I began researching what was a typical pewter alloy for what I was attempting. As it turns out, period examples of pewter had a reasonably high lead content which changes the pouring consistancy of the metal. Period mixes of of pewer were generally around the 60/40 mix of tin/lead however were widely varied and there are examples varying from mostly tin through to mostly lead. As it stands the more common mixes were around the 60/40 mix, which happens to be what we call solder today. The next session of casting I had planned to attempt to cast with a variety of mixes. It is worth noting here that the alloy mixes varied depending on the type of casting required.

After purchasing some plumbers solder of a 40/60 mix of tin/lead, I roughly mixed this in equal parts with modern pewter to give me a guestimated 66% tin, 30% lead, 1% copper and 3% antimony. This mix however tended to shorten the time between pouring the metal into the mould and when it sets, causing more failures. A higher lead content was also tried by using the plumbers solder without adding any ‘Brittania’, however this also seemed to have the same issue (where the molten metal turns from a liquid into a solid very quickly), the higher the lead content the quicker this seemed to happen. Much frustration was had at this point, causing me to put the project aside for a few days.

Whilst researching more slush casting techniques on the internet, I came across a more modern referance to using a chilled bronze mould. This reference once again inspired me to tinker, first back to trying with the period style pewters and later, when it was confirmed that the lead content actually made the chilled slush casting process harder because it shortens the window from liquid to solid, the more modern high tin content pewter was used. Whilst the actual pouring technique still requires some practice, the examples I have created show that this method is indeed valid. Future attempts will start proving more fruitful, however a method of increasing the cooling rate of the moulds would ease the whole casting process.

So, in summary… Using an extremely high tin content pewter and chilling the mould to a sub-zero temperature are the two main keys to creating nice thin walled period ampullae. Of course these techniques are probably fully documented elsewhere, however I have thoroughly enjoyed rediscovering them through research and experience. Now that I have worked out the technique… finishing the mould and creating a number of finished samples is the next step. Stay tuned for photo’s of this later. :)

With the start of the new Worlds Greatest Shave fundraising season, I have decided to actively promote sponsorship by doing a series of photographs of my hair in various styles, weird, wonderful or wacky!  Each photograph will have a suggested value,depending on complexity, impact and well…  silliness. ;)  If you like the photo, then you are requested to vote with sponsorship based on that value.  Maybe you think they the photo is worth more than the value, sponsor for more…  Maybe you think it’s a little over priced, then sponsor for less. 

I will be organising parties to get a few series of photo’s done for each one…  if youhave a weird and wacky idea, and want to style my hair for a photo, then contact me.  Parties will be on a semi irregular basis, but friends will be notified. To keep in touch with my WGS fundraising check out My Shave Page, and the news that I update on Syridian.com.