It seems your at the level before massive manufacturing. Which is nice for us noobs to learn from as it's stuff we can afford and try. Most other videos on here are fun to watch for ideas but none as professional. My thoughts anyways. I think I have almost watched all your videos now.
Martin, this is reply to your reply to me. The steel mold that I poured into all had timers. I did 40 per hour. I could do 45 per hour but the supervisor said not to do that, because I worked by the pieces I made per hour and that would cause the pieces per hour to increase to make the bonus. There were times when I opened the mold, the only thing holding the metal, was something like a skin on the surface. I could watch it freeze. All the workers had large fans that blew in air from outside. I think at the time the minimum wage was around $2. I can’t remember what the bonus was but I had to do the 40 an hour. The day was 8 1/2 hours. No pay for lunch! No breaks in those times. I also made an error on saying it was a scissor mold. The two halves slid together on tracks. It was missable, with cold air blowing on me traveling between the furnace and molds. I’m sure you’ve seen these kinds of places. Thanks for the great job you do on your videos.
I wanted to say WOW but someone already has. This video removes you from the amateur ranks and makes you a very professional foundryman. Thanks for explaining the tilt process.
Gr eg, Go on say it again anyway, it does me good to hear it 😊. I don't know about "very" professional but I did make my living and keep the wolves from the door with it... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 OK WOW your diecasting is amazing, you make it looks so matter of fact. All from a suburban backyard shed. Most back yard casting videos are hit and miss with at best a 50% of success, with lots of disasters to learn from. You are doing a great service taking the time and effort making videos to share your skills. Cant wait for your next video in this series. Thanks Martin
Gr eg, Apart from a lack of knowledge, and insisting on copying others who share the same lack of knowledge, the main cause of the 50% reject rate (and that high a success rathe probably assumes they have low standards) is the propensity to melt down any old crap that that they can get their hands on. The old maxim "garbage in garbage out" very much applies in foundry!... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 Which leads to the question where from or what should backyard amateur hobbyist use as a source of aluminium Martin? From other videos Ive learnt extruded aluminium is not much good and avoid cans. Thanks Greg
Greg, I always advise the buying of good quality ingot. In my very early days I had a lot of problems and 90% of them went away when I started using decent ingot instead of scrap. But to be a bit more specific anything wrought - cans extruded section sheet plate billet is a no no Anything that has been pressure diecast (smooth and will have ejector pin marks) is a poor choice. Stay away from pistons (unless you are making pistons) and cylinder heads. Try to avoid very old castings. Avoid large thin castings - not an alloy that casts well. It is generally considered that alloy wheels are the best source of scrap available BUT be warned not all are made from 356 alloy, BMW wheels for example are not and I would not use them. Inside the back of at least European wheels there are letters indicating the alloy used (it's a growing recycling requirement) Look at these numbers and feed them into google and see what comes up. Typically AlSi7Mg is a European designation for the 356 alloy but the numbering is complicated by not only different countries using different designation systems and many are just marked with a manufactures code (say GMH's code for the alloy) If you get some wheels and are uncertain send me the numbers and I will try to interpret. Be aware that some scrap dealers will charge more for wheels that you have to pay for new ingot. If you live close to a foundry (preferably a small one) approach then waving cash money and see if they will sell you an ingot or two of 356 (LM25 in UK, AlSi7Mg in Europe, 601 here in Australia).... Martin
6. There is a series of three videos that show the process for the blanking prism shown in this video, the series starts here ruclips.net/video/hVdLDFAgJBg/видео.html .... Martin
Fantastic, with all explanations and examples. Gets the mind churning for what's possible and successful. Thanks so much for all the work showing this!
.I love this one especially. Simple shop-made gear for production casting. Easy, but hard. You can't get this kind of stuff just anywhere. Thanks again!
Hello Martin, nice to see you again. Simple and useful devices. The teachings of a good teacher are always well received. Greetings from Galicia, Spain
Fantastic. So interesting. I used to cast lead battery posts for solar batteries. This i think would have been a lot cleaner casting using this method. Many thanks for sharing
Rupert, Yes, for simple parts this is a good process producing a clean quality part if you ever do the posts again try it. A simple aluminium die should be quite suitable for lead casting... Martin
Another great vid Martin. I see a few comments asking for part 7 of the flask build. I have sent you a private vid of how I have done the drilling/reaming etc in case it is of interest, overall, not a very difficult process & can be easily done in a basic workshop with basic tools. Perhaps it may not be up to your standard, but I am very happy with the result & a massive improvement on the timber cnc cut boxes I was trying to use before. I now have two boxes from your generously provided files fully together and operational & some more sides rammed, ready up for the next pour. Will bring over for your critique when next able. John PS: The sand is working well, many thanks for your help, as is the reconfigured "aerator" - built with inspiration from your vid :-)
@@olfoundryman8418 Oh, dear Martin, there is no risk at all, Thank you! :-))) I just can't wait for every next episode of your broadcasts! And I really like your manner and style of narrative :-)
When you are at the bench, I always watch your videos with the view rotated 180 degrees, much better. Ever thought of turning the camera 180 deg for bench work!
Tre, You are not the first person to raise this issue😊. In truth I have struggled with camera position over the years and have never really found one I am entirely happy with. I have tried all sorts of positions including the one you suggest - sorry - but the one I use is what I think best..... Martin PS. If only I could afford a second camera
Hi Martin, I am glad to see you broadcasting again. I have been casting moulding boxes to your pattern, sometimes with excellent results. Will you be making an episode 7 for that series?
Phil, Yes I am back at it again, but only sort of. Health issues hold me back and that is the problem with part 7 of the box series. I have had a box sitting under my drill press for 18 months now but cannot stand for long enough to do the drilling and reaming for the pins. Normal pain killers do not help and anything strong enough sends me to sleep 😊. I am trying to organize some pain mitigation surgery and it may (50 50 chance) help. I would love to get the box series finished as many ask just as you have. Please note that we have realized that the pattern for the pin ears is in error - it has to steep a side slope - this causes trouble with drill wander - a new file is being prepared.... Martin
This is incredible! I’m trying to build a permanent steel gravity mold for aluminum clock plates. I’m having great difficulty getting it to completely fill without turbulence. Would you have time to take a look at my setup if I send you pictures?
Bower, Yes, I guess I can have a look but no guarantees that I can solve whatever the problem(s) are. Send photos of die and examples of failures to olfoundryman@gmail.com Include information as to what alloy you are using, your source for this alloy, and what die sprays, metal temperature, die temperature, and what you are melting it in. If you can a short video of the die in operation might be a big help... Martin
Thank you Martin. This is great to watch and very inspiring. Can bronze be used to cast a complete mold for aluminum or will the aluminum want to bond to it?
Charlie, I showed a bronze die in part 1 that I had cast. It was not as good as cast iron for I had minor soldering problems in the pouring basin sprue radius area and I had to sleeve the bronze core with steel as it soldered badly because the casting contracts against it. The two bronze dies I made were only used for a few hundred castings so Ican not speak to their life with prolonged use. Cast iron wil last many thousands of castings and is vastly superior to bronze in this regard. But for short term hobbyist work by all means give bronze a go but keep the die spray up -once it wears away soldering will start.... Martin
Martin , thunk you so so so much for this videos they worth Gold ❤️❤️🙏🙏 Martin. I have I question : does adding starch ( potato powder) to sodium silicate sand core mold improve surface finish???
Bobo, Corn starch to improve surface finish of silicate sands - Hmm, it's a new one on me I have never heard of it but that does not mean that it does not work! Maybe though it's along the line of why I add glucose powder to my silicate sands it is as a breakdown agent as silicate without such an agent is very hard after casting and has to be chiseled out - note that commercial silicate binders for sand usually have such an agent incorporated in them. Starch is sometimes added to ordinary sand moulds to stop expansion defects (I use corn flour) and thus can definitely improve surface finish but in silicate sand ??? But to be honest If I wanted to improve the admittedly poor finish that silicate gives me I would use a mould wash sprayed dipped or painted on. I have seen things like talc lightly rubbed on in an effort (presumably) fill in some of the moulds roughness not exactly easy to do with some mould shapes.... Martin
Thank you very much for these videos! Watching, and rewatching, your videos really got the quality of my sandcasting up! Do you have any experience, or opinion, about lost foam casting of aluminium parts? I'm about to cast some more intricate parts that are hard to form with sandcasting. With kind regards from the Netherlands, Pieter
Pieter, I have never tried lost foam so I cannot claim to know much about it. I regard Kelly Coffield as the best exponent of it that I have seen. He has a number of videos showing his expertise - check them out, he is also a most helpful person. Regards, from Melbourne Australia.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 thanks again Martin! Kelly makes very good videos too indeed. Just was curious about your opinion because, apart from Kelly there aren't so much clear videos about that subject.
Pieter, we did this in our freshmen year in engineering school. I can still remember the smell almost 30 years later. The foundry portions seemed very simple compared to most of the more advanced techniques discussed by Martin on this channel. However, there are some cool things you can do with LFC such as cutting large pieces with hot wire cutters, milling foam with a CNC router, and gluing pattern pieces together. My main take, (albeit incorrect), was that all LFCs had the ugly surface finish of porous foam, but I was wrong. I have since learned that the TYPE of foam you use will determine how smooth you can make it. My advice is to consider looking into hot wire cutting. It can be as simple as using a battery connected to a guitar string or as advanced as a multi-axis CNC machine, but either way it will help improve your surface finish.
@@brad3378 i allready tried it with eps and the smell and surface -finish where indeed terrible! 😁 I've build a cnc-router a couple of years ago and i plan to make some parts with it. It's hard to find the extruded foam here...
@@CulinaireZaken I haven't seen anyone do it yet, but I think it would be fun to mimic a CNC sinker EDM but exchange the sinker with a hot probe for making plunge cuts. I don't even know if it would work. Maybe it would snap off the heated probe the first time it tries to cut sideways. Maybe it would make a sticky mess. But if it could be done successfully, it would be nice to have the ability to create pocket shapes.
Dear Martin, thanks for the very informative videos. What material is the die made from? {It looks like clay but that wouldn’t be so tough}. Do you have a video of making a die? Cheers from a fellow Australian.
Peter, The dies are usually made from cast iron. I used to buy it in the form of continuously cast bar - it's getting a bit hard to get now though. I don't have any videos of dies being machined but the die that features in this video the one for the blanking prisms is cast from aluminium. I have a three part video series on the "making" of that die. this series starts here ruclips.net/video/hVdLDFAgJBg/видео.html The pouring basins attached to the die are made from a lightweight insulating ceramic - its proprietary and I believe made by Morganite
ViSc, At this stage I do not really know what answer to give you. Currently I am unable to finish the boxes I am working on and I cannot yet bring myself part with the boxes that I already have and have used for years. I can only suggest that you keep "lurking" in the background and see what develops.... Martin
good day Maartin. is there any thing about casting that you dont know. you should write a manual with your knowledge. . im looking now at casting replica ship binicals of a 1900s ship in brass. like tall Bell's. conserned with brass penetration in the sand because of the hight. maybe i can seel the sand with some magic suge. dont know if casting them on there side like thay cast lamp post will work. dont want distortion as thay must be turned smooth after casting.. any sugestions?
Manus, There is rather a lot that I do not know about foundry - it is such a big topic with so many branches that it is impossible to know all of it. I hate casting brass - those zinc fumes! Firstly do not deoxidize with phosphor copper as any leftover phosphorous in the copper will form a low melting eutectic of exceptional fluidity that will run right into the sand and give you a very rough casting. Old time foundrymen used to add what they called "beamings" to their facing sand. "Beamings" is the dust that has settled on the beams in the roof of the foundry - basically it's just fine dust and it helps to close up the gaps between the sand grains and help prevent metal penetration. However this gives a very low permeability sand which can cause its own problems. It's likely that such moulds were at least skin dried to ease the need for good permeability. The easiest thing to do is use a good mould wash - those based on alcohol can be flamed off. Companies like Foseco make a range of such washes. That side cast lamp post was quite something wasn't it, impressive core work!.... Martin
Martin a question thought not related to this topic. Sand. I have lots of sandblasting sand. Do you think this would work? I can mill it down very fine as necessary. Wild sand is hard to find, it hides. We have lots of clay mind you. Thank you David.
Iafarms, Well, it depends on exactly what your sandblasting "sand" is. These days using silica sand for sandblasting is a bit frowned upon because of the silicosis risk and much sandblasting is done with garnet sand. Garnet is heavier and harder but of course more expensive. I am unsure as to if it would make a moulding material but it is so heavy that handling the moulds would be a pain. New sands can be all the one grain size and that does not usually make for a very good moulding material, a bit of a range of sizes is probably preferable. What sort of size is your sand? Mine is probably about AFS 150 and finer, with a micrometer the largest grains measure 0.006 inch (silly way to measure sand ) Yep, I have spent many hours trying to find good sand - it sure does hide! Once we were lucky here in Melbourne as about 1/3 of it is underlain by sands although much of it is a bit too coarse, or has been turned into parks or golf courses. Can still see deposits on Google earth though, just don't know if its sized right for foundry work.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 Hi Martin The bag indicates that it contains no silica yet contains recycled glass. Number on the bag is 60. The grains are not uniform in size, I think I will simply give it a try and se what happens. I will ball mill some down for the famine sand until I can find a couple suitable plates for a millstone like yours. Thank you.
Eirik, No, I have never tilt cast into sand moulds. But I do think it a viable process. It would be easiest with moulds parted vertically - if you look at this blokes YT channel - d. lászló - you will see that he often uses vertically parted moulds and it would not be too difficult to organize most parts to be cast in such moulds. Then all you need is a quick and accurate way of positioning moulds up against a pouring basin in a tilting mechanism. I don't think the process would be difficult and it certainly would have advantages.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 The more I think about this the more sense it makes. Sadly I haven't even mastered plain sand casting yet (just getting started), so it might take a while before I can test this out properly.
Jamie, Without wishing to be a smart ass its a bit like "how long is a piece of string". It depends on the actual alloy concerned, how hot its poured, how hot, the die is die design, and surface area of the thin part. For the alloy I work with most I like to keep thickness above 4 mm but will risk down to 3 and possibly even 2 mm for small areas that I can adequately vent - what were you thinking of trying?.... Martin...
@@olfoundryman8418 tilt pouring process it about 495.3 mm long it a 1/8 thick at the bottom it’s 4 inches diameter round the long skinny part is 2 inches wide, half-inch, thick on the sides 3/8 in the middle it’s 17 inches long is it possible to make good copies? Thanks for replying and your help.
Jamie, Do you have a photo, a drawing, or even a sketch that you could send to olfoundryman@gmail.com so Ican see what we are dealing with here?... Martin
Hoppercar, Fair question. One of the biggest problems in casting metals is that the process often involves a lot of turbulence in the flowing metal stream as the mould fills. This mixes in air. Oxygen in the air (and to some extent the nitrogen too) reacts with the molten metal to form oxide films that act as cracks in the solidified casting. In late 19th century France efforts to cast aluminium bronze ingots to be rolled down to stock for making coins were so riddled with these films that on rolling the material split and was useless. Almost all metals suffer from this problem but aluminium bronzes are particularly susceptible. A Frenchman - M. Durville - developed a process where the ingot mould was placed directly above the crucible full of molten bronze and the whole rotated so that the metal slowly transferred from the crucible to the ingot mould. Essentially the metal transferred horizontally across from the crucible to the mould thus eliminating any turbulence and therefore any air entrainment. Tilt casting as I do here is a version of Durville’s process. It is the avoidance of, or at least minimization of metal fall that is important and provided that the filling of the basin is carried out with care the actual mould filling is a non-turbulent process and capable of producing castings with superior properties. The sort of direct fill that you allude to would involve a considerable metal fall and thus lots of air entrainment, casting properties would be lower. In addition, surface finish would be poorer as the higher metal fall would increase metal stream impact into the mould wall - roughness in the case of sand castings, die wear/erosion for gravity die work. Also plunging of the metal stream down through the filling feeder would cause poorer feeding and thus porosity in the casting. Direct pouring straight into the mould cavity is to be avoided at all costs if good castings are to be produced…. Martin
By far the best casting videos on the internet
Mark, Thank you for your wonderful comment. I like to think so too but then Iam a little biased 😊.... Martin
Agreed Mark. The ingenuity is incredible
It seems your at the level before massive manufacturing. Which is nice for us noobs to learn from as it's stuff we can afford and try. Most other videos on here are fun to watch for ideas but none as professional. My thoughts anyways. I think I have almost watched all your videos now.
Wow, that was a very quick 14:47 minutes filled with a lot of information Martin.
Looking forward to Part 3.
Mark from Melbourne Australia
Mark, Part 3 being edited a week or two away.... Martin
Another awesome video, very interesting mate!
Wikus, Glad that you liked it.... Martin
Absolutely clever.
Roger, Thak you.... Martin
Glad to see you back. Hope your doing well.
Tralbnd, Good to be back, but not doing as well as I would like so I am only sort of back 😊.... Martin
Very informative video here, Martin.
Mister, If the information is of use then I am well pleased.... Martin
Had a friend print all the sizes of casting box, looking forward to casting them next week!
Silicone, Good luck with it but please note my comment to Phil Cleaver.... Martin
Martin, this is reply to your reply to me. The steel mold that I poured into all had timers. I did 40 per hour. I could do 45 per hour but the supervisor said not to do that, because I worked by the pieces I made per hour and that would cause the pieces per hour to increase to make the bonus. There were times when I opened the mold, the only thing holding the metal, was something like a skin on the surface. I could watch it freeze. All the workers had large fans that blew in air from outside. I think at the time the minimum wage was around $2. I can’t remember what the bonus was but I had to do the 40 an hour. The day was 8 1/2 hours. No pay for lunch! No breaks in those times. I also made an error on saying it was a scissor mold. The two halves slid together on tracks. It was missable, with cold air blowing on me traveling between the furnace and molds. I’m sure you’ve seen these kinds of places. Thanks for the great job you do on your videos.
I wanted to say WOW but someone already has.
This video removes you from the amateur ranks and makes you a very professional foundryman.
Thanks for explaining the tilt process.
Gr eg, Go on say it again anyway, it does me good to hear it 😊. I don't know about "very" professional but I did make my living and keep the wolves from the door with it... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 OK
WOW your diecasting is amazing, you make it looks so matter of fact. All from a suburban backyard shed.
Most back yard casting videos are hit and miss with at best a 50% of success, with lots of disasters to learn from.
You are doing a great service taking the time and effort making videos to share your skills.
Cant wait for your next video in this series. Thanks Martin
Gr eg, Apart from a lack of knowledge, and insisting on copying others who share the same lack of knowledge, the main cause of the 50% reject rate (and that high a success rathe probably assumes they have low standards) is the propensity to melt down any old crap that that they can get their hands on. The old maxim "garbage in garbage out" very much applies in foundry!... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 Which leads to the question where from or what should backyard amateur hobbyist use as a source of aluminium Martin?
From other videos Ive learnt extruded aluminium is not much good and avoid cans.
Thanks Greg
Greg, I always advise the buying of good quality ingot. In my very early days I had a lot of problems and 90% of them went away when I started using decent ingot instead of scrap. But to be a bit more specific anything wrought - cans extruded section sheet plate billet is a no no
Anything that has been pressure diecast (smooth and will have ejector pin marks) is a poor choice. Stay away from pistons (unless you are making pistons) and cylinder heads. Try to avoid very old castings. Avoid large thin castings - not an alloy that casts well. It is generally considered that alloy wheels are the best source of scrap available BUT be warned not all are made from 356 alloy, BMW wheels for example are not and I would not use them. Inside the back of at least European wheels there are letters indicating the alloy used (it's a growing recycling requirement)
Look at these numbers and feed them into google and see what comes up. Typically AlSi7Mg is a European designation for the 356 alloy but the numbering is complicated by not only different countries using different designation systems and many are just marked with a manufactures code (say GMH's code for the alloy)
If you get some wheels and are uncertain send me the numbers and I will try to interpret. Be aware that some scrap dealers will charge more for wheels that you have to pay for new ingot. If you live close to a foundry (preferably a small one) approach then waving cash money and see if they will sell you an ingot or two of 356 (LM25 in UK, AlSi7Mg in Europe, 601 here in Australia).... Martin
Very cool work. I hope you will upload a video on how to make a mold and the materials used in making the mold. Thank you very much
6. There is a series of three videos that show the process for the blanking prism shown in this video, the series starts here
ruclips.net/video/hVdLDFAgJBg/видео.html .... Martin
Fantastic, with all explanations and examples. Gets the mind churning for what's possible and successful. Thanks so much for all the work showing this!
James, The possibilities with this sort of stuff are truly endless even on a small scale like this... Martin
.I love this one especially. Simple shop-made gear for production casting. Easy, but hard. You can't get this kind of stuff just anywhere. Thanks again!
James, Thank you.... Martin
Well I missed this one. Had some trouble with my monitor. So much food for thought, I will watch this a few times Martin!
Mark
Mark, You need to get out of bed earlier 😊 but please watch it lots of times I could do with the views...Martin
I wish RUclips allowed multiple likes-I'd pop the like button at least 10 times.
Jim Thank you 😊. I will imagine the 10 likes... Martin
Hello Martin, nice to see you again. Simple and useful devices. The teachings of a good teacher are always well received. Greetings from Galicia, Spain
Pedro, Thank you very much for your comment. Greetings back to you from Melbourne Australia... Martin
Fantastic. So interesting. I used to cast lead battery posts for solar batteries. This i think would have been a lot cleaner casting using this method. Many thanks for sharing
Rupert, Yes, for simple parts this is a good process producing a clean quality part if you ever do the posts again try it. A simple aluminium die should be quite suitable for lead casting... Martin
Excellent diecasting equipment great video Martin.
Graham.
head, Glad that you liked it.... Martin
I really enjoy you sharing your experiences, and showing your craft is the icing on the cake.
Cobrin, Thank you for saying so... Martin
Great stuff! Love the belly of the Foundry. Thanks for the look and your time.
John, My pleasure.... Martin
Another great vid Martin.
I see a few comments asking for part 7 of the flask build. I have sent you a private vid of how I have done the drilling/reaming etc in case it is of interest, overall, not a very difficult process & can be easily done in a basic workshop with basic tools. Perhaps it may not be up to your standard, but I am very happy with the result & a massive improvement on the timber cnc cut boxes I was trying to use before. I now have two boxes from your generously provided files fully together and operational & some more sides rammed, ready up for the next pour. Will bring over for your critique when next able.
John
PS: The sand is working well, many thanks for your help, as is the reconfigured "aerator" - built with inspiration from your vid :-)
Down, Have watched and will respond via email.... Martin
Love your wealth of knowledge and the fact you enjoy sharing it with us Martin. Many thanks from Perth WA
Allan, Sharing what I know is what I am here for.... Martin
This is a greatly enjoyable video! I look forward to the third installment.
elit, Thank you for saying so - third installment currently being edited and perhaps a week or so away... Martin
Fascinating! Thanks for explaining.
Rex, My pleasure!... Martin
Greatly explained and shown
gafrers, Glad that you liked it..... Martin
I remember the prism casting vid... glad to see you back Martin!
Luddite, Good to be back.... Martin
I canceled a taxi to watch the video at home and not on the road ! :) I'm late for work right now!!!
Andrey, Thank you, but please don't put your job at risk on my account - the video will still be here when you get back from work!... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 Oh, dear Martin, there is no risk at all, Thank you! :-))) I just can't wait for every next episode of your broadcasts! And I really like your manner and style of narrative :-)
I never do casting, never will, never did, but it is fascinating to see all these inventions explained in detail.
Oliver, Glad that you liked it but never say never..... Martin
Thanks for sharing 👍 I really enjoyed this series.
Craig, Thanks for saying so.... Martin
Always a learning experience, Thanks
Skip, Well , that's my aim and thank you for watching.... Martin
When you are at the bench, I always watch your videos with the view rotated 180 degrees, much better. Ever thought of turning the camera 180 deg for bench work!
Tre, You are not the first person to raise this issue😊. In truth I have struggled with camera position over the years and have never really found one I am entirely happy with. I have tried all sorts of positions including the one you suggest - sorry - but the one I use is what I think best..... Martin
PS. If only I could afford a second camera
4:18 Xanax 12 , yep, that's about the dosage I could use right now... Luckily I have videos like yours to keep my sanity within spec ♥
Luke, Sanity within spec! Hmm, not much fun in that, all us foundrymen are mad.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 😂
Hi Martin,
I am glad to see you broadcasting again.
I have been casting moulding boxes to your pattern, sometimes with excellent results. Will you be making an episode 7 for that series?
Phil, Yes I am back at it again, but only sort of. Health issues hold me back and that is the problem with part 7 of the box series. I have had a box sitting under my drill press for 18 months now but cannot stand for long enough to do the drilling and reaming for the pins. Normal pain killers do not help and anything strong enough sends me to sleep 😊. I am trying to organize some pain mitigation surgery and it may (50 50 chance) help. I would love to get the box series finished as many ask just as you have. Please note that we have realized that the pattern for the pin ears is in error - it has to steep a side slope - this causes trouble with drill wander - a new file is being prepared.... Martin
Chronic pain is the bane of many of us tradesmen, unfortunately. Here's to a quick recovery and positive results, should you go through that surgery.
This is incredible! I’m trying to build a permanent steel gravity mold for aluminum clock plates. I’m having great difficulty getting it to completely fill without turbulence. Would you have time to take a look at my setup if I send you pictures?
Bower, Yes, I guess I can have a look but no guarantees that I can solve whatever the problem(s) are. Send photos of die and examples of failures to olfoundryman@gmail.com Include information as to what alloy you are using, your source for this alloy, and what die sprays, metal temperature, die temperature, and what you are melting it in. If you can a short video of the die in operation might be a big help... Martin
Thank you Martin. This is great to watch and very inspiring. Can bronze be used to cast a complete mold for aluminum or will the aluminum want to bond to it?
Charlie, I showed a bronze die in part 1 that I had cast. It was not as good as cast iron for I had minor soldering problems in the pouring basin sprue radius area and I had to sleeve the bronze core with steel as it soldered badly because the casting contracts against it. The two bronze dies I made were only used for a few hundred castings so Ican not speak to their life with prolonged use. Cast iron wil last many thousands of castings and is vastly superior to bronze in this regard. But for short term hobbyist work by all means give bronze a go but keep the die spray up -once it wears away soldering will start.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 Thanks Martin! I'll give it a try.
Martin , thunk you so so so much for this videos they worth Gold ❤️❤️🙏🙏
Martin. I have I question : does adding starch ( potato powder) to sodium silicate sand core mold improve surface finish???
Bobo, Corn starch to improve surface finish of silicate sands - Hmm, it's a new one on me I have never heard of it but that does not mean that it does not work! Maybe though it's along the line of why I add glucose powder to my silicate sands it is as a breakdown agent as silicate without such an agent is very hard after casting and has to be chiseled out - note that commercial silicate binders for sand usually have such an agent incorporated in them. Starch is sometimes added to ordinary sand moulds to stop expansion defects (I use corn flour) and thus can definitely improve surface finish but in silicate sand ??? But to be honest If I wanted to improve the admittedly poor finish that silicate gives me I would use a mould wash sprayed dipped or painted on. I have seen things like talc lightly rubbed on in an effort (presumably) fill in some of the moulds roughness not exactly easy to do with some mould shapes.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 respect ❤️🙏
Thank you very much for these videos!
Watching, and rewatching, your videos really got the quality of my sandcasting up!
Do you have any experience, or opinion, about lost foam casting of aluminium parts? I'm about to cast some more intricate parts that are hard to form with sandcasting.
With kind regards from the Netherlands,
Pieter
Pieter, I have never tried lost foam so I cannot claim to know much about it. I regard Kelly Coffield as the best exponent of it that I have seen. He has a number of videos showing his expertise - check them out, he is also a most helpful person. Regards, from Melbourne Australia.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 thanks again Martin!
Kelly makes very good videos too indeed. Just was curious about your opinion because, apart from Kelly there aren't so much clear videos about that subject.
Pieter, we did this in our freshmen year in engineering school. I can still remember the smell almost 30 years later. The foundry portions seemed very simple compared to most of the more advanced techniques discussed by Martin on this channel. However, there are some cool things you can do with LFC such as cutting large pieces with hot wire cutters, milling foam with a CNC router, and gluing pattern pieces together. My main take, (albeit incorrect), was that all LFCs had the ugly surface finish of porous foam, but I was wrong. I have since learned that the TYPE of foam you use will determine how smooth you can make it. My advice is to consider looking into hot wire cutting. It can be as simple as using a battery connected to a guitar string or as advanced as a multi-axis CNC machine, but either way it will help improve your surface finish.
@@brad3378 i allready tried it with eps and the smell and surface -finish where indeed terrible! 😁
I've build a cnc-router a couple of years ago and i plan to make some parts with it. It's hard to find the extruded foam here...
@@CulinaireZaken
I haven't seen anyone do it yet, but I think it would be fun to mimic a CNC sinker EDM but exchange the sinker with a hot probe for making plunge cuts. I don't even know if it would work. Maybe it would snap off the heated probe the first time it tries to cut sideways. Maybe it would make a sticky mess. But if it could be done successfully, it would be nice to have the ability to create pocket shapes.
Dear Martin, thanks for the very informative videos. What material is the die made from? {It looks like clay but that wouldn’t be so tough}. Do you have a video of making a die? Cheers from a fellow Australian.
Peter, The dies are usually made from cast iron. I used to buy it in the form of continuously cast bar - it's getting a bit hard to get now though. I don't have any videos of dies being machined but the die that features in this video the one for the blanking prisms is cast from aluminium. I have a three part video series on the "making" of that die. this series starts here ruclips.net/video/hVdLDFAgJBg/видео.html The pouring basins attached to the die are made from a lightweight insulating ceramic - its proprietary and I believe made by Morganite
@@olfoundryman8418 Thanks. Probably a bit too far out of my league. Cheers.
Hi Martin. Before your hiatus, I was badgering you to buy some of your casting boxes. Is that possible?
ViSc, At this stage I do not really know what answer to give you. Currently I am unable to finish the boxes I am working on and I cannot yet bring myself part with the boxes that I already have and have used for years. I can only suggest that you keep "lurking" in the background and see what develops.... Martin
good day Maartin. is there any thing about casting that you dont know. you should write a manual with your knowledge. . im looking now at casting replica ship binicals of a 1900s ship in brass. like tall Bell's. conserned with brass penetration in the sand because of the hight. maybe i can seel the sand with some magic suge. dont know if casting them on there side like thay cast lamp post will work. dont want distortion as thay must be turned smooth after casting.. any sugestions?
Manus, There is rather a lot that I do not know about foundry - it is such a big topic with so many branches that it is impossible to know all of it. I hate casting brass - those zinc fumes! Firstly do not deoxidize with phosphor copper as any leftover phosphorous in the copper will form a low melting eutectic of exceptional fluidity that will run right into the sand and give you a very rough casting. Old time foundrymen used to add what they called "beamings" to their facing sand. "Beamings" is the dust that has settled on the beams in the roof of the foundry - basically it's just fine dust and it helps to close up the gaps between the sand grains and help prevent metal penetration. However this gives a very low permeability sand which can cause its own problems. It's likely that such moulds were at least skin dried to ease the need for good permeability. The easiest thing to do is use a good mould wash - those based on alcohol can be flamed off. Companies like Foseco make a range of such washes. That side cast lamp post was quite something wasn't it, impressive core work!.... Martin
Martin a question thought not related to this topic. Sand. I have lots of sandblasting sand. Do you think this would work? I can mill it down very fine as necessary. Wild sand is hard to find, it hides. We have lots of clay mind you. Thank you David.
Iafarms, Well, it depends on exactly what your sandblasting "sand" is. These days using silica sand for sandblasting is a bit frowned upon because of the silicosis risk and much sandblasting is done with garnet sand. Garnet is heavier and harder but of course more expensive. I am unsure as to if it would make a moulding material but it is so heavy that handling the moulds would be a pain. New sands can be all the one grain size and that does not usually make for a very good moulding material, a bit of a range of sizes is probably preferable. What sort of size is your sand? Mine is probably about AFS 150 and finer, with a micrometer the largest grains measure 0.006 inch (silly way to measure sand ) Yep, I have spent many hours trying to find good sand - it sure does hide! Once we were lucky here in Melbourne as about 1/3 of it is underlain by sands although much of it is a bit too coarse, or has been turned into parks or golf courses. Can still see deposits on Google earth though, just don't know if its sized right for foundry work.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 Hi Martin The bag indicates that it contains no silica yet contains recycled glass. Number on the bag is 60. The grains are not uniform in size, I think I will simply give it a try and se what happens. I will ball mill some down for the famine sand until I can find a couple suitable plates for a millstone like yours. Thank you.
And threth be more info than some put on there channels ever!
Andy, I know I know I owe you an email (or two) I will get around to it I promise.... Martin
Nice setup. Have you ever done a tilt casting in sand? It seems like it should be possible, even though I can't quite figure out how...
Eirik, No, I have never tilt cast into sand moulds. But I do think it a viable process. It would be easiest with moulds parted vertically - if you look at this blokes YT channel - d. lászló - you will see that he often uses vertically parted moulds and it would not be too difficult to organize most parts to be cast in such moulds. Then all you need is a quick and accurate way of positioning moulds up against a pouring basin in a tilting mechanism. I don't think the process would be difficult and it certainly would have advantages.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 Huh, I was sure you were going to poke a big hole in my dumb idea 🙂
Vertically split moulds sounds like a good place to start.
@@olfoundryman8418 The more I think about this the more sense it makes. Sadly I haven't even mastered plain sand casting yet (just getting started), so it might take a while before I can test this out properly.
How thin of a diecast can you go?
Jamie, Without wishing to be a smart ass its a bit like "how long is a piece of string". It depends on the actual alloy concerned, how hot its poured, how hot, the die is die design, and surface area of the thin part. For the alloy I work with most I like to keep thickness above 4 mm but will risk down to 3 and possibly even 2 mm for small areas that I can adequately vent - what were you thinking of trying?.... Martin...
@@olfoundryman8418 tilt pouring process it about 495.3 mm long it a 1/8 thick at the bottom it’s 4 inches diameter round the long skinny part is 2 inches wide, half-inch, thick on the sides 3/8 in the middle it’s 17 inches long is it possible to make good copies? Thanks for replying and your help.
Jamie, Do you have a photo, a drawing, or even a sketch that you could send to olfoundryman@gmail.com so Ican see what we are dealing with here?... Martin
Why dont you just pour it into the die to begin with ....and not bother with the tipping ????
Hoppercar, Fair question. One of the biggest problems in casting metals is that the process often involves a lot of turbulence in the flowing metal stream as the mould fills. This mixes in air. Oxygen in the air (and to some extent the nitrogen too) reacts with the molten metal to form oxide films that act as cracks in the solidified casting. In late 19th century France efforts to cast aluminium bronze ingots to be rolled down to stock for making coins were so riddled with these films that on rolling the material split and was useless. Almost all metals suffer from this problem but aluminium bronzes are particularly susceptible. A Frenchman - M. Durville - developed a process where the ingot mould was placed directly above the crucible full of molten bronze and the whole rotated so that the metal slowly transferred from the crucible to the ingot mould. Essentially the metal transferred horizontally across from the crucible to the mould thus eliminating any turbulence and therefore any air entrainment. Tilt casting as I do here is a version of Durville’s process. It is the avoidance of, or at least minimization of metal fall that is important and provided that the filling of the basin is carried out with care the actual mould filling is a non-turbulent process and capable of producing castings with superior properties. The sort of direct fill that you allude to would involve a considerable metal fall and thus lots of air entrainment, casting properties would be lower. In addition, surface finish would be poorer as the higher metal fall would increase metal stream impact into the mould wall - roughness in the case of sand castings, die wear/erosion for gravity die work. Also plunging of the metal stream down through the filling feeder would cause poorer feeding and thus porosity in the casting. Direct pouring straight into the mould cavity is to be avoided at all costs if good castings are to be produced…. Martin