Got it on the second try!  But we had a great team.  Paul, Hugh, Su and Jack all pitched in.  Having a crew is wonderful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the mold ready we fired up the furnace, and before we finished our break the aluminum was hot.  Actually too hot.  Way too hot.  But I decided to pour it anyway knowing that a grinder can wipe away our casting sins just like it does our welding sins.

 

 

 

 

 

Being so hot, it poured like water.  About 25 pounds of aluminum went into our 200 pound mold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our lawyer Hugh Hood pulls the casting from the drag.  The moment of truth was here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The overly heated aluminum;  I seriously need to turn that furnace down for aluminum,  gave us a rough surface, but the casting was all intact.  And we actually like the rough surface.  It adds character.  Paul’s work on the design as well as the inscription on the inside came out beautifully.

 

 

 

 

 

“When I let go of what I am,
I become what I might be.”   –Lao Tzu

 

The symbol dates back to 3200BC from Ireland and is found in many cultures.  To the Celtics it stood for the earth, the sea, and the wind.  Gakyil or ‘wheel of joy’ to the Chinese.  The Dga in Tibet used to describe all forms of joy.