Lew Hodgett wrote:
"-MIKE-" wrote:

My options, as I see them, are to...
a) find old ones
2) build new ones out of hardwood, or
III) find new parts/assembly that fit this

Option IV:

Use broken parts as mold and lay up epoxy & knitted glass to make
replacement parts.


Yeah, it looks as if they were cast. I bet an aluminum casting company could
knock the sucker out in a few minutes.

As an alternative, see if your local high school or vocational school has a
metal shop. They cast aluminum stuff (i.e., wall plaques, flagpole eagles,
etc.) all the time. I'll bet they would enjoy something different.

An even better alternative is to do your own foundry work! Here's a step by
step instruction set (there's probably dozens of similar techniques on the
web). You'll need:

2 large coffee cans
A drill with a 3/8" bit
A steel "tin can"
Some instant-light charcoal
A hair dryer with an air-only setting
Some tongs and leather gloves
A ****-load of aluminum cans
Tin snips
Molding sand (sand + kitty-litter clay)
Container for the sand
Bucket of water

Looks like this set-up can handle a bit less than a pint of molten aluminum,
but it's obvious the technique can be scaled up to handle any reasonable
amount.

Frankly, this looks like fun. There's fire and smoke and noxious fumes and
molten metal and screaming neighbors and all kinds of dangerous stuff.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Buil...cast-aluminum/