Im 57 years old and have been in tool and die making, aerospace cnc 5axis programming for years and now a prototype machinist. Loved this video and just love seeing young people kickin ass. Great work.
I sure admirer your creativity, your dive and get’r done attitude! You’ve learned and shared a lot of skill and technique with your views. Thanks from this 71 year old fan! Best wishes to you and your family for a healthy and productive New Year! Roy
Heyya makerJ - I have done many of these lost foam castings.. Instead of using the green casting sand, I instead use fine pool filter sand in a medium sized metal garbage pail - Fill the can up halfway with the sand, place your foam model in, and then pour the sand in over top of the foam.. once it is filled up you then jiggle/whack/vibrate the outside of the can with any blunt object which will cause the fine silica sand to completely fill in and around your foam template. I have had perfect success using this method, and can often see the outline of the scotch tape I use to hold the foam parts together in the finished casting. Also, I have had the best success routing the the sprue down towards the bottom of the foam model, this prevents the gasses from the melting/burning styrofoam from "bubbling" up through the molten aluminum. Great job on your flywheel!
One trick I've seen for keeping a smooth surface with lost foam is to coat the foam in drywall plaster and let that dry before casting. No other changes to your method. Great work!
Nicely done. Consider throwing some table salt (sodium chloride) or potassium chloride (if you can get it) into the furnace when melting the aluminum to help de-gas it; will cut down on gas bubbles getting trapped inside the cast piece. Just a pinch or two should do. Time may have been of the essence for this video, but perhaps let it cool completely before removing from the mold and placing in water next time; will avoid weakening it due to rapid contraction/thermal shock. To determine the volume of metal needed, place your positive in a known quantity of water and see how much displacement it causes. If you decide to go with finer sand in a future casting - especially if it's silica sand - make sure to use a respirator; you don't want that stuff in your lungs. Lastly, that white hot core of the furnace is cool to look at (no pun intended); but keep in mind that - in addition to visible light and infrared heat - it's also pumping out UV radiation. Eye protection is a good idea. Not a real issue if this is just a one-off; but if you plan on doing a lot of casting, something to consider. All that aside, A+ :)
I will give you a tip for Lost foam casting... Always make your entry cone big enough to take the entire crucible of molten metal. So the metal can be poured at once and flow into the foam casting. (your was not big enough hence the metal flowed over the edges (slightly dangerous.) Also you are correct about the sand being too coarse. Pretty good casting though. Nice work.
fantastic, maybe you didnt notice but just the start where your comparing foams, including the noise it makes speaks on the desk speaks volumes about what foam can be used, thanks!
Good job! If you spend about a week putting on layers of soupy sheet rock mud (the kind made from a dry, non-aggregate mix), your surface finish will be exactly the finish of the original foam since sand won't come into actual contact w/ the foam. Also, you wouldn't need to use a flask (an old metal bucket or coffee can will work) and you can also use regular, loose sand (not green or petrobond). Basically paint on or dunk the whole part, let it dry completely and repeat until you've got a good 1/4" or more shell. You want your mix to be like pancake batter.
+Jake Mercer Yeah that's probably the best method however I'm kinda lazy and I like a fast turn around on my projects! :P With just doing it layer by layer do I still burn the foam out before casting? Thank you!
+Makerj101 There are times I don't bother coating my foam before casting and it just comes out with the sand texture. I do with this with normal loose sand. No need for green sand with this method. The sheetrock mud is just a barrier between the sand and the foam. I have also just wrapped the foam in wide masking tape (without sheetrock mud). It works ok but doesn't look as good as a piece done using the sheetrock/investment method. To answer your question, yes, the foam burns out fine. You're already venting so keep doing that and the gasses will have somewhere to go when the foam burns out. You might want to put some masking tape on the straws to make the sheetrock mud to stick to them.
Coating the pattern with plaster will not do anything to improve the finish as the plaster will not melt and the finish will be exactly like the pattern dip the pattern in melted wax smooth it off by dipping it in hot water that way the wax will melt out with the foam you are not alone in this misconception i have heard this many times before try it and see J.B.
+Makerj101 Looks pretty good! I've read that if you cover the styrofoam with drywall mud it will give you a much better surface. You need to let it dry before casting of course. If you do it this way, you don't need green sand, you can use almost any kind of sand. Do a search on the particular kind or brand of drywall mud, some works better than others, or so I've read.
I'm floored by how that came out. One thing that helps on the machining, especially our home brew aluminum, is to spray water on the piece as you're cutting. It gives you a better finish and prevents much of the galling on your cutter. You might already know that. Again, awesome job and I'm going to have to give this process a shot.
If you are using a steel can as crucible, it is unlikely you will melt it. An open charcoal furnace will not get hot enough. Steel melts about 1500C. However, the risk is actually the use of charcoal. If you are using this crucible frequently, the carbon will diffuse gradually into the steel (look for cementation or carburizing). As the carbon concentration increases, the melting temperature of the alloy gets modified. (Look for the Iron-Carbon phase diagram). With only 2 % of carbon, the steel becomes kind of fluid above 1150C due to the coexistence of a solid and a liquid phase. There is another risk. If aluminium gets overheated, it gets oxidized rapidly. The aluminium oxidation is a high energy reaction that release a lot of heat and that perpetuates the reaction.(some solid rocket fuel used have aluminium or magnesium powder to produce a constant source of heat). It can get as high as 3000C! and that will melt everything, including any refractory material. That is more likely to happen than melting your crucible. Additionally, if you are doing this frequently and you have noticed that sometimes the final product has more porosity, it is also related with temperature. Too high temperature dissolve gases from air. When it cools down the solubility decreases (in the same way that you can dissolve more salt in hot water than in cold ice water), the gases form bubbles but the solidification is quicker than what would let the bubbles reach any surface. You may know that some people use degassing materials, but that is usually for large aluminium castings where you really need to overheat the melt to prevent it to solidify before complete the casting. Maybe you already know all this. .... It occurs to me that perhaps covering the foam with plaster or airbrush it with several layers of water paint may improve the surface finishing. Nice job!
what is more dangerous is that iron is soluble in molten aluminum - in other words, aluminum will dissolve steel. if a decent oxide layer is there, this lessens the effect, but it is still there. it is best, if using a steel crucible, to use one that has at least a 1/4" wall all around.
I worked for a company that made styrofoam casting patterns (my side), then they poured metal from them. Liked your video. I would suggest making pattern out of foam just like used to make drinking cups (EPS), and density makes a difference (like 1.5). It makes a smother surface. Also putting a coating as stated before helps the most for surface finish, foundries have their own mix (yes sand, the finer the better, will get into cracks and pits of foam no matter how small they are). Hope this helps, your looking good at it so far.
By no means am I trying to berate you, but if I may offer some advice. I have to say, I applaud your ingenuity, effort and sense of creativity. 1.) Please wear a respirator when working with molten metals, especially if using the lost foam method and adding things such as plastics (the straws). 2.) Also, you should really wear proper eye PPE as well. Just be aware of which end of the spectrum they are protecting from as traditional welding lenses protect UV and forging/casting is IR if I recall correctly. 3.) If you are using something such as the straws for venting the gases, haha, don't point one towards yourself when you are pouring. All it takes is a drop and then you will react. Next thing you know, you have an entire crucible of spilling molten metal to worry about. Other than that, really great work for starting out. I hope you continue doing this and having fun. Just stay safe. :)
Nice work, we (the older generation) were taught this at an early age. Fantastic to see younger people making things and using home made stuff. Well done..
Well done young man..! You are a good example to other youngsters, there is a whole lot more in life than playing PC games and being on facebook. Keep honing your skills and you'll get far.
Damn Makerj101...I see that your still kicking ass and taking names! I haven't taken a look at your channel for about a year. You have come a long way! You should be proud of yourself! Just like George Jefferson on "Good Times", your... "Movin on up"! Don't stop! Keep on learning!
If you haven't tried it yet ..dried sifted sand works good with lost foam, wrap the sprue with tin foil and with a funnel like top for pressure ,when you pour, don't let up..so the sand doesn't cave in. dried sifted sand can pack good as you shake it it and tap when preparing the part,,leaves a great finish..but the part needs to be deep enough..cause it can grow if there isnt enough weight to keep the aluminium cavity down lol.ive had finishes that you can see the factory foam marks .
That's an awesome flywheel !!! The right temperature is probably key to the right result, perhaps even more important than the sand grade. Maybe a bit hot? So many variables, including moisture. No matter what, great job!!
You need a shaker table to set your castings forms on when you add the sand. It packs it down really well. Also you could use a drum (can or something) that rolls with steel BBs or possible sandblasting sand and toss the part in and let it turn for a good bit. It would clean off a lot of those bumps that your not going to turn off. Both items are easy enough to make and can save a lot of time and make clean up a lot smoother.
Just some advice from someone who's done a lot of machining. You can take a lot more material off on a rough pass like that. With soft metals like aluminum it won't matter much. With things like steal the chips you were making would have been about right. The thing you have to be careful about is chatter between the tool and the work. Always make sure your tooling is sharp too. While it's not as important for brass, copper, and aluminum you definitely want to make sure your tool insert is sharp for harder materials.
The biggest issue I see is most times when making a sand mold you do the two sides separately to assure a tight packing. Still watching it so I hope this works for you. Great to see young people doing this stuff.
Cool! I think maybe it helps this sort of pour to have a high 'head' of aluminum to make sure it pushes into all the corners and overcomes the vapors pumping out. You had a good height on this. I've always liked myfordboy's risers.
Hot things are hot. Im so glad I came here and learned that! But all joking aside, Love your video! Ive melted my first aluminum my self just recently. Liked and subscribed!
When you pour aluminum too hot (close to boiling)-- it'll want to wick into the sand; essentially bubbling into it. I've cast a few nice pieces of slag before I figured that one out. You might also want to get a spray bottle. Spray down your over-spill to solidify it pretty quickly, and having a spray nozzle to blast onto the hot metal once you pull your workpiece out is really good for cleaning it off; the sand flies right off when the metal is hot. You might also want to invest in building an LP gas furnace, since that's generally the easiest smoothest way to do aluminum and lightmetal alloys that I've seen.
+ParadoxPerspective He's got some pretty sulfurous coal, with ceramic he could do some cast iron work. sure, the iron would probably suck, but he's not wanting for temperature.
I'd still recommend LP gas in a proper furnace to anyone wanting to do aluminum. It's just a cleaner burn. You don't get sparks everywhere, or risk contaminating your crucible with carbon-- and your crucibles are going to last a lot longer on propane than they will on virtually anything else.
Nice! I´ve seen in other videos that people use talc powder on the molds. Maybe that will give you a smoother finish. Also, have you done some strength test on your productions? because cooling metal slowly vs cooling it quick has a direct effect on the hardness and flexibility of the piece. Although that is dangerous: try it only with small moldings (make an oval and submit it to weight tests, and see when it breaks. A flywheel wrongly casted might break apart (look for videos of CDs and drills, and you´ll see what I mean). That's why you need to find out the limit of your casting technique, I think.
If you coat the pattern with plaster or thinned wall plaster, and let it dry for at least 24 hours, then you only need to back the pattern with regular sand. A vibrator will insure the sand fills in underneath, and you don't have to worry about packing the sand,because you don't pack it at all. You just fill in around it and vibrate.
The surface impurities you got there probably are the charred remains of the foam that didn't make it out. One thing I don't get: So you know Myfordboy's channel, probably saw how and where you make the risers and that you keep some vessel for the surplus molten Aluminium around. Your cast might have worked even smoother.
I like that experimental, "wing it" approach, and you're very candid about the mistakes made. Keep up the exploramenting! And yes, you do have a very good location for your stuff- coal mind seriously?
Aluminum melts= 1,220F (660c) Talcum Powder= 1,472F (800c). Use 1" of Talc around foam object, then sand to pack tight. Way smoother, more uniform surface. A large, well made coffee mug is suitable as a crucible for aluminum. What you're doing is basically this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractory You can make your own crucible if you have access to good clay and a kiln or fire your own right there. "Fire Clay" fuses (melts) at 1,580c ~ 1,780c so great for a crucible.
You can get rid of the ruff finish from the sand if you use a refractory coating. Drywall mud works great. It takes about 2 coats. Just be sure you give it time to completely dry before the second coat and before you cast.
is that a promise ring? Just curious. Anyway FINALLY new videos from you! ive learned more from you than I have from any teacher. I applaud your work man! Keep it up!
+Energy Man Yep! It's a purity ring that I got when I went to The Silver Ring Thing in high school. Basically a promise that I won't have sex until after marriage. www.silverringthing.com/ Yeah sorry about not posting a video in a while. I needed a break I guess. Thank you!
Totally understand taking a break hahah. That's cool though. If you can make it that long, I command you lol. I unfortunately didnt. Just dont ever let someone put you down for wearing it. I look forward to your next your next video!
+Energy Man. When Makerj101 disappears for a long time we're know he got married... and has a new hobby lol. great video anyway I'm gonna have to subscribe...
Great video. Not that I'm an expert but I've seen a few videos on casting in general you'd want to sieve the sand onto your project that way you get more detail after casting once covered with sieved sand you can continue filling up with lumps and stamping it down.
If you use high density foam (blue stuff) and you coat it in drywall plaster first, you will get a much smoother surface and not have to sand/file hardly at all. You want to coat the foam part with plaster to keep the sand away
What about risks of alu spill and casting quality due to bubbling by burning foam gases outflow ? Did you find cavities with charcoaled foam remains inside casting when do machining ?
loads of fun im doing this now i made a aportable bucket furnace using sand and white cement but it failed it wanted to melt but it did not keep the heat in well so im making a donought cover to help prevent heat from escaping...the hole in the middle is big enough to melt cans
Bro, you're STOKED! That flywheel came out really nicely, I'm glad to see a young guy like you taking an interest in metal working. Very cool to have that fuel stockpile in your yard, what a trip. That's a very alien thing for someone in Hawaii or California to see. I'll be subscribing and looking though your channel, thanks. Aloha...the Farmer.
most people that do the lost foam use a hot glue gun for glue because it burns out just like the foam, and you also may get a better surface finish by dipping the while mold in some watery investment. you have to let it dry for a few days though it make a "skin" barrier in-between the Styrofoam and sand the investment will be as smooth and the mold. I have even herd of people using drywall mud but I have never tried it myself jot sure how well that works great video by the way I loved it, I was doing the same thing at your age :) my friend and I cast an aluminum frame in metal shop for a go cart , our crushable was big enough to hold about 2 gallons of aluminum lol
Great job! If you ever see the inside of a Saturn engine a the wrecking yard you will think it was made out of silver painted Styrofoam. They use lost foam on the cylinder heads for sure...the weak stuff like foam cups are made of. Great work. Sounds like the kind of things I made over 40 years ago...lots of one of a kind things. What's the flywheel for? A home built engine?
Im 57 years old and have been in tool and die making, aerospace cnc 5axis programming for years and now a prototype machinist. Loved this video and just love seeing young people kickin ass. Great work.
I
I concur.
I sure admirer your creativity, your dive and get’r done attitude!
You’ve learned and shared a lot of skill and technique with your views.
Thanks from this 71 year old fan!
Best wishes to you and your family for a healthy and productive New Year!
Roy
Pretty good for a first try, saw some real blunders videos here on the tube.👍
Heyya makerJ - I have done many of these lost foam castings.. Instead of using the green casting sand, I instead use fine pool filter sand in a medium sized metal garbage pail - Fill the can up halfway with the sand, place your foam model in, and then pour the sand in over top of the foam.. once it is filled up you then jiggle/whack/vibrate the outside of the can with any blunt object which will cause the fine silica sand to completely fill in and around your foam template. I have had perfect success using this method, and can often see the outline of the scotch tape I use to hold the foam parts together in the finished casting. Also, I have had the best success routing the the sprue down towards the bottom of the foam model, this prevents the gasses from the melting/burning styrofoam from "bubbling" up through the molten aluminum.
Great job on your flywheel!
i set the pail on a piece of wood and vibrate it with a drill set to “hammer” function
One trick I've seen for keeping a smooth surface with lost foam is to coat the foam in drywall plaster and let that dry before casting. No other changes to your method. Great work!
I'm impressed. good job. we're going to need guys like you to restart society
Nicely done. Consider throwing some table salt (sodium chloride) or potassium chloride (if you can get it) into the furnace when melting the aluminum to help de-gas it; will cut down on gas bubbles getting trapped inside the cast piece. Just a pinch or two should do.
Time may have been of the essence for this video, but perhaps let it cool completely before removing from the mold and placing in water next time; will avoid weakening it due to rapid contraction/thermal shock.
To determine the volume of metal needed, place your positive in a known quantity of water and see how much displacement it causes.
If you decide to go with finer sand in a future casting - especially if it's silica sand - make sure to use a respirator; you don't want that stuff in your lungs.
Lastly, that white hot core of the furnace is cool to look at (no pun intended); but keep in mind that - in addition to visible light and infrared heat - it's also pumping out UV radiation. Eye protection is a good idea. Not a real issue if this is just a one-off; but if you plan on doing a lot of casting, something to consider.
All that aside, A+ :)
John Doe agreeed
John thanks for that information because next month I will be doing the exact same thing and I am trying to get as much information as possible
I will also use styrofoam because was seem like it will catch fire being it has an oily structure. I could be wrong.
I will give you a tip for Lost foam casting... Always make your entry cone big enough to take the entire crucible of molten metal. So the metal can be poured at once and flow into the foam casting. (your was not big enough hence the metal flowed over the edges (slightly dangerous.) Also you are correct about the sand being too coarse. Pretty good casting though. Nice work.
best way is to put a tin can over the entry point, this creates head pressure as well, which helps fill the mold better
fantastic, maybe you didnt notice but just the start where your comparing foams, including the noise it makes speaks on the desk speaks volumes about what foam can be used, thanks!
He's so passionate about this - love it
Love it. Glad to see a young man playing with real big boys' toys.
Fantastic work and an even better attitude!
I'm happily surprised to see a large creature that I watch commenting here
I love the joy and patience and excitement you display as you work
+Pat Corrigan thank you! :)
I'm a 30 year foundry man,,,,good to see the young people taking interest in this!
Good job! If you spend about a week putting on layers of soupy sheet rock mud (the kind made from a dry, non-aggregate mix), your surface finish will be exactly the finish of the original foam since sand won't come into actual contact w/ the foam. Also, you wouldn't need to use a flask (an old metal bucket or coffee can will work) and you can also use regular, loose sand (not green or petrobond). Basically paint on or dunk the whole part, let it dry completely and repeat until you've got a good 1/4" or more shell. You want your mix to be like pancake batter.
+Jake Mercer Yeah that's probably the best method however I'm kinda lazy and I like a fast turn around on my projects! :P With just doing it layer by layer do I still burn the foam out before casting? Thank you!
+Makerj101 There are times I don't bother coating my foam before casting and it just comes out with the sand texture. I do with this with normal loose sand. No need for green sand with this method. The sheetrock mud is just a barrier between the sand and the foam. I have also just wrapped the foam in wide masking tape (without sheetrock mud). It works ok but doesn't look as good as a piece done using the sheetrock/investment method. To answer your question, yes, the foam burns out fine. You're already venting so keep doing that and the gasses will have somewhere to go when the foam burns out. You might want to put some masking tape on the straws to make the sheetrock mud to stick to them.
Hey Jake
When you say "sheetrock mud" are you refering to Drywall filler mix? If so I take it you dilute it into a slurry with water?
Coating the pattern with plaster will not do anything to improve the finish as the plaster will not melt and the finish will be exactly like the pattern dip the pattern in melted wax smooth it off by dipping it in hot water that way the wax will melt out with the foam you are not alone in this misconception i have heard this many times before try it and see J.B.
Your humility is refreshing
Every pour you keep getting better! Looking forward to seeing it mounted into one of your engines.
+Rouverius Yep! Thanks!
+Makerj101 Looks pretty good! I've read that if you cover the styrofoam with drywall mud it will give you a much better surface. You need to let it dry before casting of course. If you do it this way, you don't need green sand, you can use almost any kind of sand. Do a search on the particular kind or brand of drywall mud, some works better than others, or so I've read.
I'm floored by how that came out. One thing that helps on the machining, especially our home brew aluminum, is to spray water on the piece as you're cutting. It gives you a better finish and prevents much of the galling on your cutter. You might already know that. Again, awesome job and I'm going to have to give this process a shot.
If you are using a steel can as crucible, it is unlikely you will melt it. An open charcoal furnace will not get hot enough. Steel melts about 1500C. However, the risk is actually the use of charcoal. If you are using this crucible frequently, the carbon will diffuse gradually into the steel (look for cementation or carburizing). As the carbon concentration increases, the melting temperature of the alloy gets modified. (Look for the Iron-Carbon phase diagram). With only 2 % of carbon, the steel becomes kind of fluid above 1150C due to the coexistence of a solid and a liquid phase.
There is another risk. If aluminium gets overheated, it gets oxidized rapidly. The aluminium oxidation is a high energy reaction that release a lot of heat and that perpetuates the reaction.(some solid rocket fuel used have aluminium or magnesium powder to produce a constant source of heat). It can get as high as 3000C! and that will melt everything, including any refractory material. That is more likely to happen than melting your crucible. Additionally, if you are doing this frequently and you have noticed that sometimes the final product has more porosity, it is also related with temperature. Too high temperature dissolve gases from air. When it cools down the solubility decreases (in the same way that you can dissolve more salt in hot water than in cold ice water), the gases form bubbles but the solidification is quicker than what would let the bubbles reach any surface. You may know that some people use degassing materials, but that is usually for large aluminium castings where you really need to overheat the melt to prevent it to solidify before complete the casting. Maybe you already know all this. .... It occurs to me that perhaps covering the foam with plaster or airbrush it with several layers of water paint may improve the surface finishing. Nice job!
what is more dangerous is that iron is soluble in molten aluminum - in other words, aluminum will dissolve steel. if a decent oxide layer is there, this lessens the effect, but it is still there. it is best, if using a steel crucible, to use one that has at least a 1/4" wall all around.
Not sure if it matters, but it looks like he's using actual coal, not charcoal
I love the free coal!
Great job bro! I love it that there is a renascence of people experimenting with doing "stuff" from home.
Nice job kid! When I took cast metals in college we did lost foam using dry loose sand in a metal 5 gallon bucket.
you sound young, learning all these skills early is going to pay off big time later on $$$$$$$. Hats off to you man keep up the good work.
Love the mentality of a learning experience instead of failure
I worked for a company that made styrofoam casting patterns (my side), then they poured metal from them. Liked your video. I would suggest making pattern out of foam just like used to make drinking cups (EPS), and density makes a difference (like 1.5). It makes a smother surface. Also putting a coating as stated before helps the most for surface finish, foundries have their own mix (yes sand, the finer the better, will get into cracks and pits of foam no matter how small they are). Hope this helps, your looking good at it so far.
By no means am I trying to berate you, but if I may offer some advice. I have to say, I applaud your ingenuity, effort and sense of creativity.
1.) Please wear a respirator when working with molten metals, especially if using the lost foam method and adding things such as plastics (the straws).
2.) Also, you should really wear proper eye PPE as well. Just be aware of which end of the spectrum they are protecting from as traditional welding lenses protect UV and forging/casting is IR if I recall correctly.
3.) If you are using something such as the straws for venting the gases, haha, don't point one towards yourself when you are pouring. All it takes is a drop and then you will react. Next thing you know, you have an entire crucible of spilling molten metal to worry about.
Other than that, really great work for starting out. I hope you continue doing this and having fun. Just stay safe. :)
Nice work, we (the older generation) were taught this at an early age. Fantastic to see younger people making things and using home made stuff. Well done..
Well done young man..! You are a good example to other youngsters, there is a whole lot more in life than playing PC games and being on facebook. Keep honing your skills and you'll get far.
I like your determination. "Burning hot cast. Must see how it turned out.
Burns heal, who cares!" LOL
wood coal....coal..from..the wood.... man, you are killing this, epic stuff, excellent reuse of cast off materials
Damn Makerj101...I see that your still kicking ass and taking names!
I haven't taken a look at your channel for about a year.
You have come a long way! You should be proud of yourself!
Just like George Jefferson on "Good Times", your... "Movin on up"!
Don't stop! Keep on learning!
If you haven't tried it yet ..dried sifted sand works good with lost foam, wrap the sprue with tin foil and with a funnel like top for pressure ,when you pour, don't let up..so the sand doesn't cave in. dried sifted sand can pack good as you shake it it and tap when preparing the part,,leaves a great finish..but the part needs to be deep enough..cause it can grow if there isnt enough weight to keep the aluminium cavity down lol.ive had finishes that you can see the factory foam marks .
That's an awesome flywheel !!! The right temperature is probably key to the right result, perhaps even more important than the sand grade. Maybe a bit hot? So many variables, including moisture. No matter what, great job!!
+ch300fnqi Thank you! Yeah probably a little too hot. I was just kinda paranoid that the foam would not all melt.
haha turned out way better than i thought it would!! that was a rad pour
Hey look, its AVE Jr
shout out to AvE
Ryan E I wonder how many Canadian pesos it took him to build this lol
yeah he forgot to get rid of the schmoo on top too
Ryan
Ryan E that's very high praise. May he honor it.
"Wax's on, wax's off"
Thanks for the video!
Working with metal is so cool. Excellent product.
You need a shaker table to set your castings forms on when you add the sand. It packs it down really well. Also you could use a drum (can or something) that rolls with steel BBs or possible sandblasting sand and toss the part in and let it turn for a good bit. It would clean off a lot of those bumps that your not going to turn off. Both items are easy enough to make and can save a lot of time and make clean up a lot smoother.
make your next crucible out of an old fire extinguisher and weld a hook on the bottom so you have more control when pouring. you did a good job dude.
im so proud of you makerj
nice. great to see welders gloves. AND outside casting
this is all already looking a hundred times more proffesional then the other flywheel video.
Just some advice from someone who's done a lot of machining. You can take a lot more material off on a rough pass like that. With soft metals like aluminum it won't matter much. With things like steal the chips you were making would have been about right. The thing you have to be careful about is chatter between the tool and the work. Always make sure your tooling is sharp too. While it's not as important for brass, copper, and aluminum you definitely want to make sure your tool insert is sharp for harder materials.
You sir are a winner in the game of life.
Your videos are an inspiration...good work!
Nice job !
To check if there's any void, weight it and calculate it's water displacement ;)
Eureka!
I shall do no such thing
The biggest issue I see is most times when making a sand mold you do the two sides separately to assure a tight packing. Still watching it so I hope this works for you. Great to see young people doing this stuff.
"Don't breathe that"
-Willit Blend?
If you use some flux it will improve the finish and reduce the chance of small bubbles.
Very engaging video.
Very nice furnace.
Lovely old lathe.
Great skills.
Result!
my teacher plays your videos for our class, we all love them
I like your attitude. Keep doing your stuff.
Cool! I think maybe it helps this sort of pour to have a high 'head' of aluminum to make sure it pushes into all the corners and overcomes the vapors pumping out. You had a good height on this. I've always liked myfordboy's risers.
Hot things are hot. Im so glad I came here and learned that! But all joking aside, Love your video! Ive melted my first aluminum my self just recently. Liked and subscribed!
Man I wish we had youtube when I was young. Great job kid amazing actually.
When you pour aluminum too hot (close to boiling)-- it'll want to wick into the sand; essentially bubbling into it. I've cast a few nice pieces of slag before I figured that one out.
You might also want to get a spray bottle. Spray down your over-spill to solidify it pretty quickly, and having a spray nozzle to blast onto the hot metal once you pull your workpiece out is really good for cleaning it off; the sand flies right off when the metal is hot.
You might also want to invest in building an LP gas furnace, since that's generally the easiest smoothest way to do aluminum and lightmetal alloys that I've seen.
+ParadoxPerspective He's got some pretty sulfurous coal, with ceramic he could do some cast iron work. sure, the iron would probably suck, but he's not wanting for temperature.
I'd still recommend LP gas in a proper furnace to anyone wanting to do aluminum. It's just a cleaner burn. You don't get sparks everywhere, or risk contaminating your crucible with carbon-- and your crucibles are going to last a lot longer on propane than they will on virtually anything else.
Nice! I´ve seen in other videos that people use talc powder on the molds. Maybe that will give you a smoother finish.
Also, have you done some strength test on your productions? because cooling metal slowly vs cooling it quick has a direct effect on the hardness and flexibility of the piece. Although that is dangerous: try it only with small moldings (make an oval and submit it to weight tests, and see when it breaks.
A flywheel wrongly casted might break apart (look for videos of CDs and drills, and you´ll see what I mean). That's why you need to find out the limit of your casting technique, I think.
Nice video. Turned out well!! Take you jewelry off around machines. Thanks for sharing.
+sam yeates Yeah, ive met people who lost fingers thanks to jewelry. Scary old open Lathe.
Amazing work creating the part. I was excited watching the video.
makerj that lathe is a very similar design to mine which was built in the 1920s you can certainly tell they were made to last
If you coat the pattern with plaster or thinned wall plaster, and let it dry for at least 24 hours, then you only need to back the pattern with regular sand. A vibrator will insure the sand fills in underneath, and you don't have to worry about packing the sand,because you don't pack it at all. You just fill in around it and vibrate.
you are quite amazing
and your videos are refreshingly entertaining
+Cavan griffin Thank you!
Great work, You my friend are going places. Well done
Nice job. That turned out great.
You are Lucky you have that atlas. I have been wanting a bench for so long time. Money has always been the first problem :( Thank's for sharing :)
The surface impurities you got there probably are the charred remains of the foam that didn't make it out.
One thing I don't get: So you know Myfordboy's channel, probably saw how and where you make the risers and that you keep some vessel for the surplus molten Aluminium around.
Your cast might have worked even smoother.
OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!
ahh man looking forward too more vids. i waited long for another one hopeing youd upload
That worked amazingly well! I am impressed! Good work.
Inspirational! You are going places.
I like that experimental, "wing it" approach, and you're very candid about the mistakes made. Keep up the exploramenting! And yes, you do have a very good location for your stuff- coal mind seriously?
Aluminum melts= 1,220F (660c) Talcum Powder= 1,472F (800c). Use 1" of Talc around foam object, then sand to pack tight. Way smoother, more uniform surface. A large, well made coffee mug is suitable as a crucible for aluminum. What you're doing is basically this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractory You can make your own crucible if you have access to good clay and a kiln or fire your own right there. "Fire Clay" fuses (melts) at 1,580c ~ 1,780c so great for a crucible.
Nice work! You made the aluminium cannon :D
You can get rid of the ruff finish from the sand if you use a refractory coating. Drywall mud works great. It takes about 2 coats. Just be sure you give it time to completely dry before the second coat and before you cast.
is that a promise ring? Just curious. Anyway FINALLY new videos from you! ive learned more from you than I have from any teacher. I applaud your work man! Keep it up!
+Energy Man Yep! It's a purity ring that I got when I went to The Silver Ring Thing in high school. Basically a promise that I won't have sex until after marriage. www.silverringthing.com/ Yeah sorry about not posting a video in a while. I needed a break I guess. Thank you!
Totally understand taking a break hahah. That's cool though. If you can make it that long, I command you lol. I unfortunately didnt. Just dont ever let someone put you down for wearing it. I look forward to your next your next video!
+Energy Man. When Makerj101 disappears for a long time we're know he got married... and has a new hobby lol. great video anyway I'm gonna have to subscribe...
Well done mate well impressed now you've given me inspiration to cast my own belt grinder wheels you got talent bro keep it up
I really am enthralled by your videos. Wonderful experiences to share. As another young enthusiast, I envy your knowledge and experience ^^
Brilliant, so cool! Keep up the great work
nice! good work, I gotta admit I learned something tonight
Keep exploarmenting? That's unpossible! :D
now that was fairly entertaining, good job ace.
awesome!!!! looks great man!
+Dumpster Marcus Thanks!
Great video. Not that I'm an expert but I've seen a few videos on casting in general you'd want to sieve the sand onto your project that way you get more detail after casting once covered with sieved sand you can continue filling up with lumps and stamping it down.
Lost Foam is good way for cast aluminum, learn much, thank you.
I love his personality
watching this makes me want to try it
Kiddo I love your creativity!!!
Not bad man. Not bad at all.
Awesome. I learn't alot thank you my very good friend. Did you find the foam you lost?
+Raymond Earle LOL no I didn't find the lost foam! I think I lost is pretty good!
Fantastic job
Nice work! Looks great.
Great vid! We're going to have to start calling you MyfordJr :P
Congratulations ! Nice work. You have my sincere admiration.
very cool fellow uptown neighbors.
Excellent job, very professional...!!!
If you use high density foam (blue stuff) and you coat it in drywall plaster first, you will get a much smoother surface and not have to sand/file hardly at all. You want to coat the foam part with plaster to keep the sand away
Suggest that you use the lighter expanded foam, It vaporises easier and it is not the foam that produces the surfaces but it is the sand.
Excellent video, well done, you must have been very pleased with the result, regards Doc Cox.
Pot metal or pewter would make a heavier flywheel, just in case you need one. That flywheel is just gorgeous.
+MisterTalkingMachine Yep! I don't have a enough of either of those though. I might have enough brass. Thanks!
What about risks of alu spill and casting quality due to bubbling by burning foam gases outflow ? Did you find cavities with charcoaled foam remains inside casting when do machining ?
loads of fun
im doing this now
i made a aportable bucket furnace using sand and white cement but it failed it wanted to melt but it did not keep the heat in well
so im making a donought cover to help prevent heat from escaping...the hole in the middle is big enough to melt cans
It came out brilliant
Bro, you're STOKED! That flywheel came out really nicely, I'm glad to see a young guy like you taking an interest in metal working. Very cool to have that fuel stockpile in your yard, what a trip. That's a very alien thing for someone in Hawaii or California to see. I'll be subscribing and looking though your channel, thanks. Aloha...the Farmer.
most people that do the lost foam use a hot glue gun for glue because it burns out just like the foam, and you also may get a better surface finish by dipping the while mold in some watery investment. you have to let it dry for a few days though it make a "skin" barrier in-between the Styrofoam and sand the investment will be as smooth and the mold. I have even herd of people using drywall mud but I have never tried it myself jot sure how well that works great video by the way I loved it, I was doing the same thing at your age :) my friend and I cast an aluminum frame in metal shop for a go cart , our crushable was big enough to hold about 2 gallons of aluminum lol
Great job! If you ever see the inside of a Saturn engine a the wrecking yard you will think it was made out of silver painted Styrofoam. They use lost foam on the cylinder heads for sure...the weak stuff like foam cups are made of.
Great work. Sounds like the kind of things I made over 40 years ago...lots of one of a kind things. What's the flywheel for? A home built engine?