The cast, or pour, method is one in which the area is made completely watertight by use of forms (i.e. ladle walls and floor). The mix would contain more water than a trowel application mix. A cast refractory should be thoroughly worked into place, with internal air bubbles removed by rodding or vibrating. The best method is to use vibratory equipment, since it encourages the material to flow freely and completely fills the form or box. Vibrating also permits working with a stiffer mix (less water). However, hand rodding--with a shovel, rod, ice scraper or pole--will suffice if done thoroughly. Working out all the air strengthens the material and reduces porosity. The action of vibration or rodding sets the refractory particles in motion, reducing the friction between the particles and giving the mixture the texture of a thick fluid. Internal vibrating or rodding does the most consistent job, but external vibration is also effective. Although vibration equipment is available for refractories, it can often be improvised with equipment already on hand to vibrate the mass externally. An air hammer held against the form can do a good job in many cases. So may a nut runner or other pneumatic vibratory tool. Even hammering the form with a hand sledge will do if accompanied by hand rodding. In all cases, be sure the material is worked near the forms. That is where air bubbles collect.

Now that I''m getting comfortable with aspects of farming that I''ve learned the hard way, I can take on Horses, Mules, and Ponies, an arena where I have never ventured. The comprehensive knowledge from pre-Civil War America in regards to horse care is much more practiced and detailed than anything that could be written today. This remains one of the bibles of horse breeding, care, and riding. Particularly interesting to me was "How to Physic a Horse--Simple Remedies for Simple Ailments," which drew heavily on the principles of homeopathy in diagnosis and treatment. --David Guyer-Stevens"The importance of having the correct amount of suck in the share cannot be emphasized too strongly. Too little underpoint suction will cause the plow to "ride out" of the ground and cut a furrow of uneven depth. Too much will cause "bobbing" and heavy draft. In both cases, the plow is difficult to handle. If the landslide suction is too great, the bottom tends to cut a wider furrow than can be handled properly, and the reverse is true when the landslide suction is not sufficient. --THE OPERATION, CARE, AND REPAIR OF FARM MACHINERY "A warm dry pen is necessary for the health and comfort of the pig. Cold and damp induce more diseases than are charged to these causes.... But the difficulty is to have a door that will shut of itself and can be opened by the animals whenever they desire. The engraving [below] shows a door of this kind that can be applied to any pen, at least to any to which a door can be affixed at all. It is hung on hooks and staples to the lintel of the doorway, and swinging either way allows the inmates of the pen to go out or in, as they please. --BARNS AND OUTBUILDINGS AND HOW TO BUILD THEM

For AC-GTAW of Aluminum Alloys,... most of the significant advances focus on new ways to manipulate the AC wave form. These advances largely result from using inverter-based power sources, which allow a welder to extend the balance control, adjusting output frequency and independently controlling current in each AC halt cycle. New inverter-based GTAW machines extend EN balance control, allowing duration from 50 to 90 percent. Making the EN portion of the cycle last longer:* Allows greater weld penetration* May permit increasing travel speeds by as much as 20 percent.* Narrows the weld bead* May permit using a smaller-diameter tungsten electrode to more precisely direct the heat or deposit a narrower weld bead

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