The Foundry - First Attempted Production Run with The Molding Press - Casting Soap Dishes with The Foundry (Video)

In this video, I fire up the foundry to attempt to cast a lot of aluminum soap dishes. I put the soap dish mold and molding press to the test to see how they stand up to a full production run. Leave a comment in the video if you are interested in buying an soap dish.

Back to episode 14: Building a Permanent Molding Press

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The Foundry - Building a Permanent Molding Press (Video)

The long awaited upgrade to the soap dish mold is complete!  When I last (and first) casted the soap dish, we had incredible difficulty getting the casting out of the mold.  I decided to build this molding press to make the process easier, and it worked!  This was also my entry to the 2019 toolmaking competition hosted by Emma's Spareroom on Youtube, which was a great incentive to get this project done at last.

Back to episode 13: Melting a Honda Engine Head
Go to Episode 15: First Attempted Production Run with the Molding Press

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Trip to Portland

Around this time last year, I went on a trip to Portland.  It was about time, I was finally able to see the city everybody's been telling me I should move to.  While the city's motto is "Keep Portland Weird", I was surprised to find that this was easily the most normal city I'd ever been to.  I arrived with the expectation of a city full of hippies, with farmers' markets on every street all day and lots of guys obsessed with craft beer, handlebar mustaches and riding fixies... For better or for worse, my expectations fell far short.  I cannot stress how much of a regular city this is.

The Foundry - Aku Aku and the Soap Dish

So as I mentioned in my first post, I was working on a hood ornament for my bicycle shaped like Aku Aku from Crash Bandicoot.

I decided to make the pattern out of oven bake clay.

Greens and Machines -- Top 10 Projects of 2015

As 2015 comes to a close, we'd like to take this time to look back on some of the great projects and activities we managed to do this year. We'd like to thank all of our followers for sticking with us and hope you continue to follow along with all of our homebrewing, scrap welding, and other adventures.

Without any further delay, here are the selections for the Greens and Machines Top 10 list of 2015!

Greens and Machines -- Top 10 Projects of 2014

As 2014 comes to a close, we'd like to take this time to look back on some of the great projects and activities we managed to do this year. We'd like to thank all of our followers for sticking with us and hope you continue to follow along with all of our homebrewing, scrap welding, and other adventures.

Without any further delay, here are the selections for the Greens and Machines Top 10 list of 2014!

Naturally Scented Coffee Soap

I had the opportunity to visit the coffee lab on my campus and roast some coffee beans to take home. Roasting the beans is pretty cool and might turn into a future project later. But anyway, aside from making some delicious light roast, I figured it might be a good idea to turn some of the beans into fresh smelling soap. I've heard rumors that caffeine can be absorbed through the skin, so this might be a way to get a daily dose in the morning. Interestingly enough, I did not need to use isopropyl alcohol to remove the bubbles when making this.

The beans

Also because neither me or anyone in my apartment complex owns a coffee grinder, I had to use a Slap Chop to grind the beans by hand. It worked surprisingly well.

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Slap Chop your troubles away!

Naturally Scented Strawberry Soap

Fruit leather in soap form

My strawberry plant this year has been slacking in terms of production. Luckily I got a basket of strawberries from the farmers market for only $2.50. It took some restraint not to eat all the berries before making soap since they were so tasty. The soap likewise emits a pleasant strawberry aroma.

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Naturally Scented Grapefruit Soap

Can't get enough grapefruit in your life

When I think of grapefruit, the first thing that comes to mind is the popular fad diet from a few decades back. Although I'm not a big fan of eating straight grapefruit, it smells nice enough to be made into a soap. The scent on this soap is strong enough to notice and not overwhelming.

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Naturally Scented Orange Soap

Broadening our citrus horizon, we add orange scented soap to our list of creations. A whole orange peel went into making this batch. Like the lemon soap, the orange smell is not overwhelming and is pleasant to smell. I like eating oranges, so getting more peel to make this again will not be a problem.

Smells like Florida!

Fun fact: Although Valencia oranges are named after the city in Spain, the variety was originally created in Santa Ana, CA.

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Naturally Scented Vanilla Soap

The finest soap made with Madagascar vanilla beans

Our next scented soap is vanilla. Using two tablespoons of homemade vanilla extract, this soap is made to be as aromatic as ice cream is tasty. The color is a light, translucent brown, like that of the extract. The odor is pleasant and not overwhelming (like the garlic soap). Now your hands can have a fresh vanilla scent to them.

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DIY Homemade Scented Soap

All the supplies to make your body smell great

We are both home at the same time for spring break, so we decided to do a collaborative project. To complement the soap dishes that will be made with the soap dish mold, we are making scented soaps. Thanks to a Martha Stewart video, learning the process behind making flavorfully scented soaps with natural ingredients was easy. If our attempt to naturally flavor the soap today is successful, I may start using some of my plants and herbs for future batches.

Naturally Scented Lemon Soap

Lemon wedges -- Lemon scented soap!

When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade, make soap instead. Using the peel of a lemon, we're able to make delightfully flavored lemon soap. What's cool about it is the peel bits created a gradient on both ends of the bar. This soap makes any bathroom smell of fresh citrus!

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Naturally Scented Garlic Soap

Of all the brands of soap Lupe Fiasco referenced in "I Gotcha", none are as flagrantly fragrant as my garlic soap

When my brother told me I could make any scent of soap I wanted, I immediately went with garlic.  Why? because it smells good.  I was told that I wouldn't be a hit with the ladies if I used garlic soap, but why would I want women that don't like garlic???

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