Wisconsin Makers, a Whitewater-based nonprofit community workshop, has announced it will be hosting an aluminum pour on Saturday, Nov. 18.
While the organization has held iron pours in the past, according to the release, the upcoming event will be its first aluminum pour.
The event, which will be held at the Wisconsin Makers makerspace building, 200 E. Clay St., Whitewater, is free to attend and open to the public.
According to the release, while the process associated with pouring both iron and aluminum is similar, aluminum, as a metal, has different properties, for example, the release noted, It melts at a lower temperature, is lighter, is silver in color and does not rust.
Spectators are invited to watch the “pour team,” composed of Teresa “Tree” Lind, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater lecturer of art and design, and her students and program alumni, melt aluminum in an outdoor furnace and then fill sand scratch molds with the liquid metal, the release stated.
According to the release, aluminum will be poured beginning at noon, with castings completed by mid-afternoon.
Those interested in making a casting from a scratch block will be charged $25 each, with participation on a first come, first-served basis, the release read.
Making a casting
The release notes that those interested in making a casting may buy a scratch block and etch into the medium their own design on the day of the pour. Blocks may be purchased and etched beginning at 9:30 a.m., and must be completed by 11:30 a.m.
Blocks also may be purchased during a “scratch mold workshop,” which will be held at the makerspace building Friday, Nov. 17, between 6 and 8 p.m. The workshop offers a “head start” for those eager to create their designs.
Additionally, the release states, participants can purchase blocks and work on them at home.
Blocks are available for purchase at Binning and Dickens Insurance, 319 W. Center St., Whitewater, during weekday business hours.
“We are very excited to be hosting our first-ever aluminum pour. We have held cast-iron pours in the spring for six years and they have been a lot of fun. This is a wonderful opportunity to create a one-of-a-kind piece of art,” Wisconsin Makers President Al Jewer was quoted as saying in the release.
For more information about the upcoming pour, general information about the regional nonprofit and becoming a member, and its programming, visit its Facebook page or contact Jewer by phone: 630-430-9498.
An iron pour team works to fill molten metal into scratch block molds. The event was held in the spring of 2022. A similar event, during which molten aluminum will be poured into scratch blocks, is planned later this month. Contributed photo.
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