I'm a little late commenting here, but I do backyard foundry work all of th=
e time.=20
Your technique should work fine as long as the plaster mold is baked dry. T=
oss it
in a 500 degree oven for an hour. Water and molten aluminum don't mix.
You can buy 10 gauge aluminum wire by the foot from most home improvement s=
tores
and it melts easily with a torch.=20

One thing to think about though, that new aluminum gear is going to heat up=
 and may melt
any plastic gears that it is in contact with.=20


Cris Wilson
Information Resource Consultant
College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities
Clemson University
864-656-6081

-----Original Message-----
From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf Of=
 veegee
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 12:20 AM
To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
Subject: Re: [OT] Making a new spur gear

On 2013-05-13 10:36 PM, Marc Nicholas wrote:
> But prove everyone wrong (safely!) and post before and after pics. :)

Seems like I have to. I have already done a similar thing some time ago wit=
h cheap solder instead of aluminum for a lower temperature application. The=
 quality of the part was better than the original after some light polishin=
g work.

Hasn't anyone here heard of backyard foundries? Flower pot furnaces?
Casting metal is easier than you think.

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