nd will not make a
good mold.

For mixing and preparing the sand a small shovel, D, and a sieve,
E, will be required. If desired the sieve may be homemade.
Ordinary wire netting such as is used in screen doors, is about
the right mesh, and this, nailed to replace the bottom of a box,
makes a very good sieve.

The rammer, F, is made of wood, and is wedge-shaped at one end and
flat at the other, as shown. In foundries each molder generally
uses two rammers, but for the small work which will be described
one will be sufficient. An old teaspoon, G, will be found useful
in the molding operations and may be hung on the wall or other
convenient place when not in use.

The cloth bag, H, which can be made of a knitted stocking, is
filled with coal dust; which is used for a parting medium in
making the molds. Take a small lump of soft coal and reduce to
powder by pounding. Screen out all the coarse pieces and put the
remainder in the bag. A slight shake of the bag

[Illustration: Fig. 2; Homemade Flask]

over the mold will then cause a cloud of coal-dust to fall on it,
thus preventing the two layers of sand from sticking, but this
operation will be described more fully later on.

The flask, J, Fig. 1, is shown more clearly in Fig. 2. It is made
of wood and is in two halves, the "cope," or upper half, and the
"drag," or lower part. A good way to make the flask is to take a
box, say 12 in. by 8 in. by 6 in. high, and saw it in half
longitudinally, as shown. If the box is not very strong, the
corners should be braced with triangular wooden strips, A A, which
should be nailed in, previous to sawing. The wooden strips BB are
used to hold the sand, which would otherwise slide out of the
flask when the two halves of the mold are separated.

The dowels, CC, are a very important part of the flask as upon
them depends the matching of the two halves of the mold. A
wedge-shaped piece, CC, is nailed to each end of the cope, and the
lower pieces, DD, are then nailed on the drag so that they just
touch C when the flask is closed. The two halves of the flask will
then occupy exactly the same relative position whenever they are
put together.

After the flask is done make two boards as shown at K, Fig. 1, a
little larger than the outside of the flask. A couple of cleats
nailed to each board will make it easier to pick up the mold when
it is on the floor.

A cast-iron glue-pot makes a very good crucible for melting the
metal, which c