Prepping the glass molds

It is time for the project to take on parallel paths.

While Stephen’s Machine shop starts to weld the base, we get to start working with Kokomo Opalescent Glass to get the glass inserts poured.  We had the molds cut in the extra space of the steel plates to save time and money, but this meant that Dave had to attach some sort of lift handle on them so that the glass folks can handle them.

For now, welding for us means a trip up to Dave’s folks’ farm and using his dad’s shop. We picked up the parts and supplies we needed to be working with Stainless Steel ( not the normal welding material on a farm),and headed north.
For Dave, working in his dad’s shop is like tapping directly back into a long family history.

This is  the shop he has welded in for decades, and there are metal clamps he works with when welding here that are older than he is.

The goal for the day was to makeshift lift hooks that KOG would be able to use  to move the one inch thick stainless molds around. There are two molds- the bat for the bottom gear and the crescent moon shape that is in the top gear.  Dave ended up bending  some stainless screw hooks and welding them onto the tops of the molds to make a lift system that can easily have a rod inserted through.

Getting the alignment perfect so that a metal rod can be inserted means careful measurements and lots of clamps to hold things in place until they get tacked down by the first welds.

Watching him work this weekend reminded me that it is true- you really never can have too many clamps in the shop.