EvilHomer  - 2015-07-14
Speaking of Tamil Nadu - and I apologize if this seems like a weird question, it's something that's been bothering off and on me for awhile now, and I was just thinking about it again this morning whilst waiting for the bus - does anyone here know how ancient trade routes used to work around the Palk Strait, that body of water which lies between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka?
The reason I ask is because there's this thin land bridge, the Rama Setu, bisecting the Strait and connecting Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka. Now apparently this land bridge has been around since forever, and even today, cargo ships can't navigate the straits. They prefer to take the longer route, to Colombo, around the southern tip of Sri Lanka, and then up along the island's eastern coast. I know that much... but some things still confuse me.
Was this *always* the case? For example, when I look at various maps and diagrams of ancient trade routes, many of them show a sea-route that goes directly through the Palk Strait. Check out {1}. Notice the solid red line going straight down the coast of Tamil Nadu. Is the map in error? If not, then what's going on? Was the Rama Setu lower in those days? Are there sections of it that are navigable by shallow-bottom trading vessels at high tides? Did ancient traders engage in a system of portage, dropping their goods off on land, then sticking them on a different boat, bypassing the Rama Setu in that way?
It's really bugging me, because it doesn't seem like the the Rama Setu is common knowledge here in the West (I didn't even know about it until a few years ago - thanks, Crusader Kings II!)) and whenever I come across things like the aforementioned map, I don't know if it was made that way because the mapmakers were unfamiliar with the area and just assumed that the Palk Strait is navigable, or, if there are some additional pieces of information which I can't locate.
{1} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_route#/media/File:Transasia_tr ade_routes_1stC_CE_gr2.png
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oddeye - 2015-07-14
I actuall just got into melting and cadting in the backyard. So far every cruicble I've used has popped but I am getting better at it every time.
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Old_Zircon - 2015-07-14 I would love to start doing this, if I end up moving out to the country I want to start making as much of the metal hardware for the guitars I build as I can. Lost wax casting skill and a very small, decent quality milling machine is all you need for most of it.
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oddeye - 2015-07-14 it's pretty empowering to be able to fashion any kind of shape you wish out of various metals with thier various properties
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Oscar Wildcat - 2015-07-14 It's a lot of fun, to be sure. I've tried castable refractory for furnace bodies, but now prefer a silicate coating over kaowool. You can do wonders with that combo. Crucible depends on the metal. Ordinary iron is ok for low melting point metals. I've had good results using pure carbon for higher melting point metals. You just get a block of the stuff and machine it to order, or buy them readymade.
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badideasinaction - 2015-07-14 I have a bunch of the materials already for a mini-foundry, I just got derailed by a break-in distracting me from the construction and not being sure what exactly I'd be making. I've still got the castable refractory cement, rebar and a good bucket for it so I should get back to trying it, even if it's just a coffee can crucible for now.
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EvilHomer - 2015-07-14 Would you be willing to film some casting videos? If you really can do any shape, then could you perhaps make a bronze casting of Rita Repulsa being swallowed feet-first by a Charizard?
thnx
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Old_Zircon - 2015-07-14 I'm still working on wood for the time being.
I've got a long way to go, but the project I'm finishing right now is turning out pretty well so far.
http://tinyurl.com/pnbnewy
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EvilHomer - 2015-07-14 Oh wow, that looks really nice so far! It looks a bit like a happy octopus - pickup-hole mouth and bridge-hole eyes.
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Old_Zircon - 2015-07-14 Oh man, I'm never going to not see that from here on out!
Thanks for the compliment, the surface has some ripples in it because I used almost all hand tools and my scraper technique needs work, but it's the best I've done yet, and if the next one is as big an improvement as this one was over the last one I'll be ready to try to make them for other people before too much longer.
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memedumpster - 2015-07-14 You have to put eight strings on it now, you know.
I totally want one.
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Old_Zircon - 2015-07-15 Meme, the one I'll be starting in a few weeks is going to have 9 strings (lower three strung like a 12 string, upper like a 6 string, with a split pickup to route them to two amps if I feel like it). Been stringing 12 strings like that for years, sounds great.
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Old_Zircon - 2015-07-15 Glasseye, aluminum and bronze would probably be the most useful in the long run (maybe brass) but that's great advice for getting started!
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memedumpster - 2015-07-14
Eli Roth is watching this, furiously penning a script about white culturally hip college kids in India being kidnapped by lost wax artisans. They pair the SJWs into male female pairs and pour molten metal over them, making their transgender demon monster god fetishes. They then sell the statues back to the victims' hippie parents to punish them for being white.
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Old_Zircon - 2015-07-14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ECX4e495CU
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