Walkaway from Petrobond Part 2
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Second installment in my conversion to green sand from Petrobond. The sand has really improved and is pretty close to the same finish I was achieving from Petrobond. My green sand started as playground sand and kitty litter.
This is the second in a series of three videos showing my evolution towards water-bonded sand commonly referred to as greensand. The series may be viewed here • Escape from petrobond
I think it looks sexy to have the base a bit rough, the high ridges polished. I'd be a happy camper if I could make something as nice as that. ... great job !
Doh... I guess you can ignore my earlier comment, you seem to have found the series.
BIGSTACKED sent me in your direction. and I am glad he did. Now subscribed to your feed, Sir. wishing you and yours well!
Welcome aboard and thanks for letting me know he sent you over. He's a good guy.
Now you know why I sent those brushes 😊 I must admit I did not realise that they would not work with petrobond - too sticky I guess! The difference in the finish is almost certainly due, as you suspect, to the sand being wetter as drier sand rams easier to a better finish. But the good edge retention is also due to it being wetter as wetter sands are "tougher"- its a balance and clearly you are starting to get the feel for that. Good to see the steady improvement. I thought that the pour was just fine did not look like any air got dragged it to me but as a preventative measure against this you could, if you like, deepen the basin by another 5 to 10 mm so there is just that much more metal over the ridge, you could even lower the ridge to say 5 mm high but the 10 mm is fine however it should never be more than the 10 mm high. You must have the patience of a saint to sieve all that sand through those small and fine sieves - I did warn you did I not about how long sieving takes. 😊 Its all looking good and even better to see that you are developing the "feel"...Martin
Thanks Master P. 😆 Gh
Of course I could get over my latent fear of pouring the right speed and as a result keep the basin full too 😆
@@swdweeb really good to see you two back
A bit late to the party so to speak, but I’m enjoying your vids! A good source of graded silica sand is a pottery / ceramics supply shop, it’ll come clean and ready sieved into selected mesh sizes.
Thanks for the tip! Here is where I get my sand now ruclips.net/video/tDbWJsulZLc/видео.html
17:13 Wow, you are so cool! I love all the effort you put into your content! Thumbs Up 👍
If only there were a channel out there that could help me grow 😄😄
You're right, "make better videos"
*Very great ❤️. Thanks for sharing*
You're very welcome. Thank you
Another great video. I know nothing about casting sands but I'm learning now. ;)
Back in my 20s when I fixed sinkholes in Florida we used to go to the plant that made cat litter and bentonite and we would buy pallets of bentonite and ematholite to mix in our low slump grout we used to pump below houses to cap off the hole in the limestone or clay. The powdered clay would do 2 things. Slick up the concrete/grout we pumped as well as swell a little to take up the space in the concrete that would shrink during curing.
But I have not heard anyone using it since those old days. ;)
I keep hearing that I need to go to a well company to buy bentonite. Every time I try one of these places that seems like a good idea, I get no response from the people I contact.
@@swdweeb They probably want you to buy pallets of the stuff. I forgot that well drillers use it too. I have never bought any as an individual. Seems like a well drilling company would be able to sell you 1 bag though.
@@GaryForgingOn check your hillside email
Thanks for the sifting tip, been having trouble with granules.
Happy to help!
Happy New Year! It appears that while Petrobond does give great surface finish, it's so darn expensive, plus it smokes like high heaven. That new homemade sand you made looks great.
Man I'm lovin' it. No smoke, now smell. It is a bit of work to make though now that I'm having to factor in sifting it down the size I need
good to see you back. Glad the green sand is working out. Happy New Year.
Thanks, Its good to be back. Hopefully life has settled down a bit and I can get back to doing this more often.
Hope all is well...really enjoy ur videos n I’ve learned a lot
Is is well, thanks for asking. Thanks for the comment too. 😀
Interesting results!
I look forward to seeing the next run!
Happy new year! :D
Hey Capn. I look forward to doing it/them as well 😀
@@swdweeb I found a very interesting video of a new process to make cast iron bronze and thought you might like to see it!
ruclips.net/video/LMTfZj7vC-4/видео.html
oh and your FaceBook link in profile is dead.
What better way to spend New Years Eve than watching SWDWEEB casting videos!
Ha! You need to get out more 😄😄 But thanks, I appreciate it 😄
Yeah, I do lol. Casting ingots today to consolidate my scrap bins and trying a lost wax tin bronze bears head for a knife pommel. Hope to start the New Years off successfully. 😎
@@rockelec Yeah, I should be helping my wife clean house but I want to get out and cast something this morning. We've got friends coming over at lunch which means no casting for me this afternoon
To figure out moisture, I wonder if you could do like a grain elevator does to tell the moisture of the grain.
From what I remember they just filled a cup up, then with something like a ruler scraped it flat even across the top.
By the weight of the cup they could tell how much moisture is in the grain.
Interesting thought. I'd have to weigh the sand dry to get a baseline. Have to also be careful about consistency of how hard (or not hard) I pack the wet sand into the container before scraping. Thanks for the idea, I'll give it a try.
Moisture content is done by weighing a sample, putting it in a microwave and boiling off the water, then weighting it again. The difference divided into the original weight x 100 is the moisture percentage.
Looks pretty good from here. Have a Happy New Year and a great 2020 Perry.
Things always look better from Texas 😆😆
There are moisture measuring meters for soil, wood, and even grains like corn and wheat. It might be worth buying one of those. As usual there are cheap ones and there are good ones but not many cheap good ones.
I bought one and took it back when it didn't measure anything. I'm thinking my hands are going to be my best device to measure moisture
Best way to measure for me is my hands. After you’ve made and used it, it doesn’t take too long to get a “feel” for it
very interesting thanks for blazing this trail with green sand!
Well, I'm not being completely altruistic here. I really wanted to get away from that smelly, smokey, dirty, expensive oil-based stuff. 😄 But...thanks. I hope that this will give others an option they my not have realized they had.
Nice castings Perry, looks like you about got figured out. Good to see some videos from you, keep up the awesome work.
Thanks Ray, Don't let looks deceive you ;-D Still got a ways to go on the learning curve.
That sand looks about right for moisture to me.
That's the problem with not being there to actually see it and touch it. I've had this same conversation with @olfoundryman and he can describe his sand all he wants to me but unless I actually work with it I can't tell what is too wet or too dry. The next casting I do will be drier. We'll see what happens on that one.
At any rate I'm glad to see that greensand is working for you so far.
@@rumple440 Me too. Don't get me wrong, that was a long way of saying it's hard to tell from a video how wet it is or what it should feel like. Martin responded to another person saying basically the same thing. That person was recommending a moisture gauge and Martin said the best gauge is going to be experience and knowing what it looks and feels like. I'm still a a long way from getting it right.
@@swdweeb I understand. I was just going by the color of it. I found the right amount of water by accident. I was following all of these greensand videos that say to use a spray bottle and mist it. That didn't work for me. So I got frustrated with it and added water from a jug. I was sure I had put way too much in it. I went with it anyway and it was the best greensand cast I had done up to that point.
Happy New Year! Might want to look into buying a moisture meter that wood Turner's use. You can get them from wood working supply catalogs. They're limited in range but until you caliber your feel like Martin, it might be useful
Thanks Craig.
Specifically the ultrasound ones... the pin ones are unreliable
Hello
in France, we find sand to be coated, natural silica sand, particle size 0/2.
it's ready to use no sieving!
price about 3.35 dollars the 25 kilo bag ...
happy new year to you and your family!
Thanks. I havent found that here. The back I showed in the video was $5. It's full of all sorts of sized particles. I think I'm relegated to sifting it
@@swdweeb The equivalent in this country is #90 sand. According to the data sheet only 5% will be caught with a 50 sieve. 100 lbs for $10 at the local building supply..
I have tried make my own green sand and had the same issues. However, I have recently got into sand blasting and one of the media types is crushed glass. It is very fine and I think I may give green sand another try with that material.
That would be an interesting thing to try. I have no idea what size the glass is pulverized to
It’s very fine. Check out any video related to blasting media types and it should show it
Was cleaning out my collector (cyclone separator prior to the dust bagged shop vac) the other day and thinking the same thing...almost as fine as chalk dust. Have to wonder what effect the paint dust in there would have, but...only one way to find out. :)
@@Gippetos I think if you get too fine you end up with a sand that is not porous. This will increase the need for venting. I've also hear that the size of the particle affects the green strength of the sand. I can't remember what the correlation is though 😄
If its full of ain and who knows what other stuff, I'd probably wouldn't use it. But that's just me. 😄
Strength may be an issue, but from my understanding the clay is the primary bonding agent. Everyone ones proportions vary as does moisture levels depending. So I think using the media would just be a matter of fine tuning the clay and moisture proportions.
Happy New Year Perry!
Great video, generating a good discussion amongst friends and providing lots of ideas. Mark
Thanks Mark. For whatever reason, I get great comments. Lots of people out there that get engaged and want to help. I love it.
Nice job. Martin would be proud too. Please don't tell me I now have to sieve 40kg of greensand! 😥
Mark Presling
Ha, Well, I'm trying to avoid that myself now. I have found a local supplier of sand that has a screened product that looks good. Of course I can't seem to get them interested enough in my tiny little needs to return emails or calls. I might have to just show up at their door.
If not, Martin and have talked about another technique for sorting the sand out. Still sounds like a lot of work.
Thanks for the sub! Everyone of them is appreciated.
Might consider a dust mask when sifting sand... not good to breathe. Happy New Years (and many more!)
Yes indeed. Thanks
Hi sr: will be cool see how this sand works with some brass or alu bronze. A big hug from Argentina. Thanks for share your experience
I have used the sand for Aluminum Bronze and it worked very well. I don't currently do brass as I don't a ventilation system that keeps me safe from the zinc fumes.
Hey Perry Happy New Year! Agreed trying to film everything can be a PITA.
Yeah, but the $2 a month that I make on YT makes it all worthwhile 😄😄
@@swdweeb Wow you can almost get another bag of sand! Lucky 🐕
You should be proud of that pour. Looking forward to a final recipe liking the multi camera angles makes the edit more involved but better in the end
I need to figure out a fixed mount. They're hanging on poles that swing now and I'm finding that to be problematic. Did you like the way the crucible and aluminum looked pink? ;-D
@@swdweeb Yeah, I noticed that colour. What was going on there?
@@markfryer9880 I heard somewhere long ago to never eat barracuda with pink teeth, it is a sign of lead poisoning. 😆
I have no idea. I played with the white balance on these new cameras today. I'm hoping to start shooting my next series tomorrow morning. It'd be nice to get the color somewhat near reality 😆
@@swdweeb Perry, back "in the day" of film the easiest way to get your white right was a piece of white paper, of course we had to take in consideration the color temp of the light source. Incandescent and florescent had different color tones. A color corrected bulb or tube would solve the wierd color cast, I think it was either 3200 Kelvin or 3400 Kelvin. Just a thought
@@donniebrown2896 Still the same. When I'm shooting stuff for work with my :real" camera I use a grey, sometimes white sheet to balance things. But then that camera is set up for it. These little knock-offs simple say auto, incandescent, and fluorescent. There's now measuring, just a setting. It might have to do with infrared coming off the crucible as well.
Glad to see it’s working better and better each time 👍🏻 I’m just too lazy to keep making it all the time 🤣
Well truth be told, I just stir it up each time. Technically I don’t “make it” all the time 😀😀
Besides, I’m not rich like you and can’t afford pb 😁
swdweeb haha you know what I mean. I wish I was rich 🤣
ArtByAdrock you and me both brother you and me both
swdweeb maybe next year 🤷🏻♂️ although I do have something really cool I’m working on. But that’s a secret 😉
Good job, no more casting in road gravel 😜
Thanks 😄
Happy New Year Perry. Glad you are happy with the switch to green sand. I too struggle with knowing if my sand has the proper amount of moisture. I find that wetter sand holds the detail better but give the parts a slight crinkle finish. The drier sand gives a smooth finish but doesn't hold detail as well. Gotta find the happy medium I guess. I purchased my sand from an aluminum foundry in Pennsylvania. They use a small percentage of wood flour in their mix. Supposedly helps strengthen the sand. Would be interested to know how you mull your green sand. I mull by hand with a garden hoe in an old wash tub but it's labor intensive. Thought about buying a cheap cement mixer from HF but not sure how well it would work. Thanks for all the great video content. Keep up the good work!
I've thought about doing a video on my "mulling" process. It's basically exactly the same process I used on refurbishing my oil-based sand. I have an attachment I made for my drill press that simple stirs (at a high rate of speed) the sand in a 6-qt bucket. I add water to get the moisture content I want. The problem is, I get inconsistent buckets of sand that way. One bucket may be wetter than the next. I do try to mix it by hand in the larger container I store it in to even it out some. Having a muller that I could dump a large amount into would be very nice. It would give me an easy way to mix a large amount and have consistency across the whole bin.
I assume you've seen the muller that @tobho mott made from a concrete mixer. He did a good job.
Looking good Perry. I hear you, it's so expensive for the petrobond. Need to find me a good source for powdered bentonite, don't feel like grinding cat litter if I dont have too.
Depends where you are for finding bentonite. Some uses are as a meal additive for cows and the other being well drilling and wine brewing. Hopefully this will help you track it down. I bought a 20kg meal additive one for $25 if I remember correct.
I thought I had found a source insanely priced 325 mesh bentonite. Turns out I missed the small print and what I thought was 50 lbs (20ish kilos) was in fact 1 lb. 😞
The place I found sells 325 mesh for $0.45 per pound if you buy 100 pounds. Its $1.05 per pound if you buy 10 pounds
@@swdweeb well, it would be cheaper just to buy, 100lbs, you would be good for a few years.
@@Thewulf56 Well given my current formula, 100 pounds would yield over 1000 pounds of sand. That would probably last my lifetime ;-)
Thx alot..will definitely try it.
Make sure you see the last in the series ruclips.net/video/tDbWJsulZLc/видео.html
@@swdweeb just did😊
I want to again say that I bought a 50 lb bag of bentonite for $12.99 at my local Coastal farms store here in Albany Oregon. Go to a farm supply store and ask them if they have it.
bentonite is used by well drillers they call it MUD. I used some years ago to stop the leaking in a fish pond I made. Just pour it in, it goes to the bottom and no more leaking.
I have shared this information elsewhere on you tube but forgot where. Forget the mess of preparing Kittie - litter. The Bentonite I am talking about is a fine powder.
I waited to reply to this until I had exhausted every source. We have three farm supply stores in the rural Colorado town I live in. One of them, Agfinity, does not carry it. Another, Tractor Supply, tells me that it is seasonal and not available until Spring. Finally, the third, Bomgaars, told me over the phone that they carried it. I went into the store and the first three clerks I talked to said they had never heard of it. Finally a fourth knew what it was and produced a 50 pound bag of it for just shy of $12.
Apparently you have to really want the stuff.
Interesting sand info, I make plaques with small & fine lettering & although I use greensand [mansfield red] I always use petrobond as a facing sand then back up with the greensand as I find the bonding strength of greensand is not as strong as petrobond for fine lettering,keep up the interesting videos.
I'm going to do the finest letters I've attempted thus far in the next few days. I"m wondering how the sand will handle them.
Thanks
@@swdweeb Good I'll be watching with interest as petrobond is expensive,I got my greensand from my mates at a local foundry as they use co2 I had to dig it up from round the back of the place[grass & all!!] btw mansfield is a place in england which had tons of natural greensand.
Graham.
I wonder how much I cold stuff in a suitcase next time I'm over? 😆😆
@@swdweeb Haha you'll exceed your luggage allowance!!I like the pouring basin I'm of the old school with large sprues but after seeing your description about turbulence etc I must try it thanks for the info[never 2 old 2 learn] I built my first foundry 50 yrs ago,no internet then just a book by b terry aspin[still in print] usefull info.
Graham.
@@headstocktailstock "Big open sprues" sends chills down my spine 😆 It is more than just the sprue, but the basin and tapered sprue are definitely a big part of it. You're absolutely right, never too old to learn. When I stop learning they can put the lid on the box
Looking great! If it's of any help I have some really great sand I bought specially blended for aluminum casting that uses 115-130 mesh silica and 4-7% clay, now only used for facing, and my main heap has 75 mesh. Also, I found calcium bentonite to make my sand stickier than sodium bentonite. The latter is the type more easily found (here) in kitty litter, well drilling lube, pond sealer, etc. Although either one should work very well at 10% (if that doesn't reduce permeability too much. I see no signs of that here)... Happy new year!
Thanks bud, I'll have to email you a funny story
@@swdweeb isn't every story of yours funny, Perry? You certainly chuckle a lot.
Just stirring you mate.
Tobho 115 to 130 mesh! Gee but I wish I could get that here in Australia if only to use for core work as all I can get is 70 mesh (my green sand is something around 200 mesh I think)... Martin
@@markfryer9880 I have two choices, laugh or cry. If I cried over every time I did something stupid I'd be dehydrated. There may be a funny short video in the making. You won;t believe how stupid I was. It's pretty funny... if I don;t cry over it 😆
@@olfoundryman8418 I got that sand premulled from Smelko Foundry Products Ltd. here in Ontario, Canada... They offer shipping, but I chose to drive 5 hours each way rather than pay for that (I also have friends who live near there, so I had other reasons as well). I can't imagine how much it would cost to ship it down under! I did have an opportunity to buy some clean, dry, 140 mesh silica from a local pottery supply that is conveniently located just around the corner from my day job, but I worried that might be TOO fine for water based greensand and ordered the 75 mesh from them instead when I got tired of running out of sand and decided to make my own. Sounds like maybe I should have gone for the 140 after all... Jeff
Hey Perry, Your craftsmanship displayed in casting these plaques is impressive. There is a lot of fine detail, especially the stars. I appreciate the sentiment behind the flag plaques but I can't help but point out that your star field is too small. The "blue" star rectangle should be 7 stripes high with 6 stripes below. Your star rectangle is only 6 stripes high with 7 below. This made it even more amazing that you were able to squeeze 50 stars into that small space. Keep on trucking.
Happy 2020 from Alaska,
- Greg Chaney
You're kidding me right? I worked so hard on getting that modeled up right. Oh well, screwed up on which strips were raised as well. I need to reverse them so that I can sand off the white stripes.
Thanks for point this out to me. I'll definitely fix it.
Just wanted you to know that I fixed my flag model. Any future castings will be correct 😀
Happy new year Perry! I almost got seasick even thouhg I am a navy guy. Strap that camera better 😂😂 I still need to cast some good stuff with sand. But you are already 4 steps ahead from me 😂👋👋
Yeah, I need to figure out a more stable mount
Happy new year to you as well
Anxiously awaiting another knowledgable casting video any idea when you will post again?
Sorry Chris. I feel a little like Austin Powers looking for my mojo 😄. I’m working on a video now. Maybe it’ll be ready this weekend.
I have been using a lint screen when making green sand. Not sure of the mesh but finer than any of the window screen I have found.
Hey Dan. I was told, window screen gives you road gravel :-D I'm probably going to end up ordering an even finer screen than I have now.
@@swdweeb IF you find a source that is not too dear please share it.
@@danharold3087 for a screen or sand. Screens are easy, they're all over amazon. Sand... well that's another story. I'm likely going to be sifting play sand for the foreseeable future
@@danharold3087 I've heard claims that a lint screen is in the 80-100 mesh range. I don't know how accurate that claim is.
@@askquestionstrythings Sounds about right. I worked it out once but did not write it down and it has escaped me. LOL
The term you want is Mesh Size. That is the number of holes per square inch. The more holes the finer the grit. So 100 mesh is finer than 80 mesh. Incidentally, 100-120 mesh is the size of Olivine sand. This is what commercial products such as Petrobond are made of and partly why they are so expensive... Or at least that is what I have read.
Thanks
This is so encouraging! I keep walking by that bag of kitty litter in my shop telling myself I'll make greensand soon. So many other projects in the way. Hey wait, what was the other thing you teased? Did I miss it? Love the new intro.
Thanks bud. Uh let me think... its been days since I published that 😄 I teased a collaboration with another maker. I also teased five or seven days of plaques (it's seven, I started shooting last night). Check your email.
Good video. 1) Did you ever consider using "mixed-grit" sand? The used sand from my sand-blaster is mix of powder and medium grit (and rust), and I got pretty fair definition in my castings. 2) Did you ever experiment with the sanded grout and oil diy petrobond? Thank you.
I've only used what you saw in the videos... btw there is a part 3 (last) in the series. That is where I ended up. I assume that sand that I ran through the coarse screen is "mixed-grit" as it not only contains larger particles but also all of the fines that I ended up using with the 50 mesh screen.
I never tried to make my own oil-based sand. Well, I guess I did in the respect that I added non-detergent oil to my petrobond for a long time to keep it going. I expect in the end what I had was sand, carbon and new oil and that it only loosely resembled petrobond.
Lovely vid perry! I thought they both looked almost the same (both very good). I wonder if you keep going finer with the sand, if you’ll need the scratch vents even more due to the closer packing particles not letting the air out as well. I wish I were a proud 🇺🇸!!! Great job!
I did a casting the other day... after this video... with dryer sand and the finish was definitely better than the wetter sand. Oh come on seems you could be a proud 🇬🇧😆
I don’t know about the vents. I’ll probably generally err on the side of venting
@@swdweeb oh i am but i do envy your freedom of speech and your attitude to it.
been watching your channel for a while now and I enjoy your approach to explaining why you are using the methods you use. I am just starting into the process of building my own DIY furnace and was lucky enough to get my first crucible for christmas. I have been looking around for a good procedure and reasoning behind, how and why to season a graphite crucible. any advice or tips?
I can tell you that I've never seasoned any of my crucibles. I do heat them up a little to drive off any moisture before I start melting in them. I know a lot of guys recommend borax, in fact one guy contacted me recently over instagram because his crucible came with instructions to treat it that way. Personally I wouldnt spend any time treating it. Heat it up to a low temp to drive of moisture and start using it.
thanks for the answer back. maybe this is why I couldn't find anything other than "it is supposed to help it"
@@CamaroJockey042 No sweat. Since you've got your crucible first, make sure you build your furnace big enough to comfortably hold it. I did it the other way around and my furnace has always been just a little too small.
Fine sieve a small proportion of your sand and use it as 'facing sand' next to the pattern, then fill your cope with the rest of your bulk sand - no need to fine sieve it all !
Thanks for the suggestion. If I ever get my next video, you'll see that I have come up with a far far easier solution.
Have you ever tried using cement mixed with motor oil?
There was a discussion about it on the old, backyard metal casting (Alloy Avenue now) site years ago.
I gave it a shot, using (IIRC) 2 stroke weed wacker engine oil , and it worked well. The major drawback being it didn't have much green strength.
Now i'm curious if the cement and oil can be used for a facing "sand" and normal green sand as backing?
I'm worried that the cement will react with the water somehow in the green sand and contaminate it with tiny pebbles.
One of these days I'll give it a shot, I only have another 31 years till I can retire and hopefully have some free time again haha.
31 years??? I'm so sorry to hear that 😄
The problem with the oil-based sand that I was using was the smoke, smell, and burnt oil coating on my parts. Oh, and there was the ever-present mess, it's filthy. I still have a tub of it and am planning to do one comparison pour in the future.
I personally wouldn't mix the two as it would simple contaminate the green sand. I think I read somewhere that oil and water don't mix 😄
You do know there are many kinds of sand right ?
I would try sugar sand or floor leveling sand , they should be much finer and available at home depot or lowes
I looked at the leveling sand at had. It was actually coarser than the play sand
And if you cast bass or bronze. You definitely need coal dust to prevent sand stick to the product.
Interesting. I guess I got lucky with an aluminum-bronze pour I did in this sand a few days before Christmas. Finish wasn't bad and I didn't have sand stuck in it.
I'll have to look around and see if I can find coal dust somewhere. I know @luckygen1001 uses it in his sand and he casts much hotter things than i have, like cast iron.
I have casted brass without coal dust. I think the temperature was too high, so the sand stick into the product. Very difficult to brush off.
Beauty! Have you happened to study the geology of sand that comes from a sand dune? The particle size 2 mm to 0.0625 mm, approx .079 to .0025 in.
I haven't, although someone mentioned that I should go to a sand dune and get it. The wind-blown nature or something results in finer grains. We have dunes about 4-5 hours drive from where I am. Their a state park so I'm not sure I can grab a barrel of it ;-)
@@swdweeb Perry, back in the late 50s, my Dad was recreating the Lorne, Victoria foreshore, in scale in a 100 x 100 foot wave tank at Melbourne University, and the best scale substitute he could find was actually wind blown dune sand. He talked about it with his contact at Ports and Harbours and next thing you know a truck arrived with a load of dune sand. The reason for the study was a storm had collapsed part of English style, bluestone and concrete capped sea wall and P&H wanted to avoid rebuilding the sea wall if a storm would collapse it again.
@@markfryer9880 Fascinating. I should probably check to see if it is possible to remove some sand from the dunes to the south od me. I've never been there so it might be worth the visit sand or no sand.
Great video, and great progress on your part. I find that a moisture content of between 2.5% to 2.75% works best for me. I weigh out 100 g of mixed (i.e. wet) sand into a tin can, and then cook it in the oven until dry. Then I see how much water has evaporated to determine if my moisture level is right.
You really have to try using a facing sand. Your sand is nice and fine now, so use that. Take 500g and mix in 15g of toasted (lightly) corn starch -- this is dextrin. You will be amazed at the fluffiness of the resulting sand, and at the fine detail you can capture Give it one try, and I am sure you will be impressed.
Again, great video, and good to get away from the oil based sand. I do use some oil based sand for "fine" pewter casting, but that is very low temperature, and doesn't char the sand or make a lot of smoke.
Thanks Carl. I tend to let the sand dry out, but not cook it, between uses. To achieve your moisture content, is it simply a weight ration? ie 100 grams plus 2.5 grams of water?
I will try the corn starch to see what happens.
Thanks again.
@@swdweeb Hey, Perry! I cook the sand as a diagnostic tool, to find out what my moisture content is. If I haven't used the sand for a while, or if I'm starting a fresh batch, I take a sample, cook it dry, and then calculate what the water content was.
So, if I get a result telling me that the sample was 1.5% water, I know that I need to add 1% or 1.25% of water to the mix. In this example, for every 985g of sand, I would add an additional 15g of water to arrive at 1000g (100%). You could just add 15g of water to 1000g of sand and you would be adding 1.477%, which is close enough.
Cooking it is just a good diagnostic tool for determining the water content of your sand with (some) precision. I don't cook all the sand dry and then add water.
@@carlericvonkleistiii2188 Perfect, thanks!
Have you tried using a little coal dust Very old method from years ago . also a little dish washing liquid This acts as a wetting agent and may reduce the amount of water needed
I haven't tried coal dust. I know @luckygen1001 uses it in his green sand.
Thanks
@@swdweeb what about ashes from a wood fire? Or would that be too fine?
Man, I have no idea. Maybe @olfoundryman will see this and weigh in
There are hundreds of different additives listed in the foundry books for sand blends. Each has different effects on the sand, some improve green strength, others reduce green strength for cores, some change refractory properties, and the list goes on and on.
@@swdweeb tobho mott also adds coal dust and dextran to his green sand. Check out his video on his blend.
Those look great. Do you ever do brass?
I don't do a lot of brass. I don't really like it. It always creates a lot of dross when melting and the zinc fumes that come off aren't good for you.
What was the power you used between the sand molds? Was that parting compound? What is it?
It is parting compound www.plmfoundries.com/product-page/parting-compound
What do you run your pressure at on your regulator? My furnace acts like it’s not getting enough air when I put the lid on it and I was just wondering if that’s because I don’t have enough pressure. I run mine at 20lb. It start spitting like but only when I put the lid on.
I also run mine at 20 psi
swdweeb ok, so I must have something else going on than. 🤔. On A positive note I was able to cast my first brass ingots today 😃
@@jasonkrohn5416 Good for you! Is the end of your burner larger diameter than the barrel of your burner?
Hey, is there a way you could stabilize the cameras? The video kind of rocks like a boat and makes it hard to watch. I look forward to your upcoming projects!
I'm working on it
is that a mustang that you are using as a workbench 😲
We never speak ill of the dead 😄
It was a 65 Mustang ruclips.net/video/k3X01p7u1Ns/видео.html I've since moved it to my next door neighbor's house. He is a mechanic and I'm paying him to do what I couldn't. I went over this afternoon and he's making good progress. Our hope is to have it running by summer.
play sand is that different from regular beach sand? i dont have playsand in my country u.u
Probably pretty similar. Its very coarse. I cant remember what I said in that vide but I think I had to toss about 50% of it as I sifted it down to the fine stuff.
The only think I've heard about beach sand is the potential for calcium in the form of broken down shells. Apparently calcium isn't good in contact with hot metal. I don't know the reason or the effects though.
@@swdweeb thanks! i'll give it a try-!
How do you plan on a consistent moisture? And how will you measure it?
Believe it or not, I'm going to use my hands. I know, at least I think I know, what it should feel like. Adding moisture is something I'm going to have to do in small amounts until I get better at mixing it.
swdweeb you could bake it in the oven to remove moisture... maybe a hygrometer of some sort might help. But maybe that’s over kill.
John, There are instruments made to measure sand moisture but they are expensive and awkward to use (soil moisture meters will not work) It really is as Sw suggests just a matter of feel but things like how it shovels rakes and sieves are good guides too and with practice you can get it surprisingly consistent/. These things develop as one gains experience and they can not be adequately described that have to be experienced,... Martin
Thanks for the great info. Do you mind telling me about what part of the Califate you live in? I have a farm near Porterville. I'm pondering getting into casting, half because I've just got a ton of CU and AI accumulated over the years and I want to do something with it.
I left the people republic about 25 years ago and live in Colorado now 😃
@@swdweeb Oh! Sorry. Somehow I got the idea you lived here. Colorado seems to be getting more and more infected with control freaks too. Sorry. I'm old enough to remember when this was all the wild wild west. Sad.
Yes we’re definitely headed the same direction as ca. I’m old enough to remember pat brown and reagan as governors
@JoePrimal, Just ran across your reply and was surprised to see someone mention P’Ville as I live in that area too. Thinking about getting into hobby level casting with AL too.
@@chipyeahoo Huh, we ought to get together some time. I have a ranch between Ducor and Erlimart. Have you got a furnace? I picked one up and have been messing around with it. I've had to stop though because we are having to move. They are taking our farm through eminent domain for a canal project. You're welcome any time.
I get my sand from a local foundry. They give me all I want free. I just have to shovel it up myself.
Wow. I wish I had that option
@@swdweeb If you have a local foundry check with them. You wouldn't need too much for a home foundry.
@@hitnmiss49 I have only found one foundry anywhere near me and they've never been very helpful with me trying to source supplies. I finally quit bothering them.
Is it a black sand? That's what we used where I worked. It had a heat activated resin added to it. Of course our flasks would range from 3x3 feet to over 14x14 feet and would "bake" in some very large ovens for 24hrs.
Put some coal dust in it. About 5%. It will improve the surface finish.
thanks
Are you using just sand no kitten litter
The sand you see in this vide is made using cat litter ruclips.net/video/p2Je8wX9v5E/видео.html in the next video in this series you can see I have switched to a commercial grade of bentonite. That video is here ruclips.net/video/tDbWJsulZLc/видео.html
Are you still there? We Haven’t Heard from you in a while. I hope everything is going good.
I'm still here, thanks for checking.
I've been going through a bit of a down spell on RUclips and having trouble getting my enthusiasm back. I'm working on it though. I have a final green sand video mostly recorded and I'm working on a different format for the videos that I'm hoping will attract more views. This new format has me having to figure some things out in the video production side of things.
I've also got some ideas for new videos that I'd like to do if I can just get the motivation to do them back ;-)
@Michael Walter I know, I know. Believe me I want to get one out as well.
Hiya
That must make you first 😁