To all that asked about reusing filters by melting out the trapped metal, it will not work. Here is why, metals expand much quicker than ceramics when heated up so the ceramic filter will shatter as the trapped metal expands.
Hi there mate, I've been using ceramic foam filters for the last 30 years and they are fantastic. I basically use them to reduce the metal velocity and not to keep slag out, but it does help for that as well. The yellow filter you are using there is called a Stelex filter and contains a high amount of zircon. Foseco Australia stock these and others. They are not cheap though and normally one has to buy a box full at a time. I'm across the ditch here in New Zealand and we get it from Vesuvius/Foseco. Great videos, keep em coming, I really enjoy seeing your work!
@@sargetester99 Yes I had the same question. How well would it work to reheat it, and let it drain out. Aside from some sand and slag that may get imbedded in some places, it should clear out good enough to reuse at least a few times.
Regarding the spill onto cement, it at least *looked* like something called the Leidenfrost effect, where the surface water flashing to steam would insulate the cement from the molten iron. But this doesn't quite work, as that steam layer would run out quickly.
Ceramic filters are commonly used in commercial foundries. I think Vesuvius/Foseco Group UK supplied the filters and Induction furnace linings for the foundry I once worked in, those filters were grey. They do help when it comes to fighting slag inclusion, but one of the best parts about them is that it slows the rate of metal flow a bit, so there is less turbulence in the metal as it flows through the runner system and cavity ingate, preventing grains of sand in the mould detail from shearing and becoming unwanted inclusion. It was common to modify the runner system to take a filter when we in technical identified non-metallic inclusion was a big problem, along with runner system design. As a foundry consumable, I expect producers sell filters in bulk by the ten thousand. As such, I would recommend to reach out to any steel and iron manufacturing businesses within your locality, and see if you can buy any surplus off them or to see if you can place an order through them the next time they buy more filters.
Wrong filter for cast iron, that's a zircon filter for stainless. Grey Sedex filters are for cast iron and non ferrous metals. You'd only need a 50mm filter for that job, Foseco/Vesuvius sell them.
I seen a pattern for casting a cylinder head. The pattern was mounted to a board and it also had a pattern for the gates and runner. The runner was made to install a filter like that but it was standing on its side so the metal would run through it horizontally.
Hey Luckygen101, good to see a video from you again! I will have to watch it later today, but just wanted to say Hi and looking forward to the video. Mark from Melbourne Australia
Very interesting! I've never seen that done before. Seems to have worked fantastic - the crankshaft looks perfect. Too bad it's a one time filter. As I didn't know about this, I made and refined a search and, for "ceramic foam filters", I got lots of results - maybe there's a supplier near you.
Try a search for "Alumina Foam Ceramic Filter" they are available from China, or perhaps local resellers. A similar thing is sold for aquarium filtration, if it is the same material, pore size, and the block is large enough then it should work as well, furthermore they are cheap at 10 for $20.
Btw, I work at a manufactory of fondry filters in China , established more than 20 years , we supply all kinds of filters. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
I love your videos. I live in the desert of Nevada and have been planning on doing some foundry projects. But I need to be careful about fires. So I need a sheltered place to do it. How big is your shop? I'm hoping to build a shop this summer.
Thanks as always. I've never used a filter and have no plans to ... But I learned a lot from you as always. Funny story. I kept a visor over the melt too long for a picture and melted the gold on my visor. Still works but big blind spot on the middle.
I bought my aluminium filters from Vesuvius Foseco. For my small castings I cut the filters into quarters with a hand hacksaw. They cost me a $1 ea and minimum order was 600 filters.
Cool vid, thank you. I reckon these could be made with a fire clay or alumina/ball clay/silica/porcelain clay slurry. By adding a material such as sawdust or polystyrene balls of various particulate sizes being mixed into the slurry and then firing once dry. Where the burnout material was, a hole or void will remain. i.e a ceramic sponge. Because of the porosity they could be fired quite quickly. And none of the concerns potters usually have with things exploding if ramping up the temp too fast would apply here. You could do a firing in 4 hours and just open the kiln to let it cool quickly when done. I had a potter friend that purchased a small electric kiln that would get to 1300˚C and cost $5 bucks to fire. 240VAC 10amp so no special wiring. Luckygen could use his foundry probably and waste oil.
They're made using polystyrene to form the holes. The yellow ones are zircon based for stainless steel, there is a light grey silicon carbide one for cast iron and non ferrous metals, and a dark grey carbon aluminium oxide one for steels.
@@OllieVK thanks, have you working in a place that made these? I wonder about whether there is the big voids from the styrene and smaller very fine ones made with something like fine sawdust (i.e. two burnout material sizes), so that the hot metal does not get much resistance. Having not used ceramic sponge I am surmising. I guess it would break through at the weakest points.
Is this even reusable? I can only think of flowing more liquid metal to wash it or use acid but many ceramics are just metal oxides like the dross as well.
I'd be curious to know if your concrete slab was finished with a 'council finish' ie. just a broom finish, or if it was finished using a 50/50 stone dust and cement mix, that is sprinkled on the concrete (after it's screeded) and trowelled in. The latter finish gives it a harder top, but I'm not sure if that would be good or bad when hot metal splashes on top. Your slab mustn't get that damp. I think you've answered in the past it is at a highpoint on your property, hence water shouldn't collect underneath too much.
Yep had a look. Seems made in China also has them These aquarium filters looks suspiciously similar Microporous Alumina Foam Ceramic Filter Brick for Aquarium Filtration
The water in the concrete was turned to steam and lifted the molten metal off the concrete just enough to keep it from making little craters. that is my answer boss. lol
@@walterbeech because it's cleaner to put the filter in a print before closing the mould? You should only have ~5mm of print around the edge of the filter anyway... so I dont' see how ramming it up with the mould is in any way effective.
@@OllieVK Most of my copes are a foot thick, I ram petrobond so I get some head pressure with a deep cone. I ram up one every night for several weeks to get a full day of pouring so I simply clamp 3/4 plywood on top of the copes to keep the mice out and with the TP I can blow the pour hole out just before casting .I get filters that are 6x6 inches, they are a dollar each and I cover much more than you do with out any ill resaults . It has worked great with me, easy to ram up moulds in advance and appears to be pretty common practice with hobby people.
If there isn't a heat resistant binder, it will probably be swept into the casting by the pressure of the molten metal above it. Secondly, the sand might just turn to molten glass if exposed to such heat in a confined area.
To all that asked about reusing filters by melting out the trapped metal, it will not work. Here is why, metals expand much quicker than ceramics when heated up so the ceramic filter will shatter as the trapped metal expands.
Then use chemical means. Maybe alum like when dissolving broken taps in Aluminum.
Hi there mate, I've been using ceramic foam filters for the last 30 years and they are fantastic. I basically use them to reduce the metal velocity and not to keep slag out, but it does help for that as well. The yellow filter you are using there is called a Stelex filter and contains a high amount of zircon. Foseco Australia stock these and others. They are not cheap though and normally one has to buy a box full at a time. I'm across the ditch here in New Zealand and we get it from Vesuvius/Foseco. Great videos, keep em coming, I really enjoy seeing your work!
Can you reuse them? If heated up again?
@@sargetester99 Yes I had the same question. How well would it work to reheat it, and let it drain out. Aside from some sand and slag that may get imbedded in some places, it should clear out good enough to reuse at least a few times.
Great to see a fellow foundry man watching my videos. I will have to contact .Foseco about their filters.
@@sargetester99 no.
Stelex ZR, there's also Stelex Pro for steel.
Regarding the spill onto cement, it at least *looked* like something called the Leidenfrost effect, where the surface water flashing to steam would insulate the cement from the molten iron. But this doesn't quite work, as that steam layer would run out quickly.
I had another look at my video and it does look like the iron was floating on the concrete.
Ceramic filters are commonly used in commercial foundries. I think Vesuvius/Foseco Group UK supplied the filters and Induction furnace linings for the foundry I once worked in, those filters were grey. They do help when it comes to fighting slag inclusion, but one of the best parts about them is that it slows the rate of metal flow a bit, so there is less turbulence in the metal as it flows through the runner system and cavity ingate, preventing grains of sand in the mould detail from shearing and becoming unwanted inclusion. It was common to modify the runner system to take a filter when we in technical identified non-metallic inclusion was a big problem, along with runner system design.
As a foundry consumable, I expect producers sell filters in bulk by the ten thousand. As such, I would recommend to reach out to any steel and iron manufacturing businesses within your locality, and see if you can buy any surplus off them or to see if you can place an order through them the next time they buy more filters.
Wrong filter for cast iron, that's a zircon filter for stainless.
Grey Sedex filters are for cast iron and non ferrous metals.
You'd only need a 50mm filter for that job,
Foseco/Vesuvius sell them.
Fantastic video as always! Thank you for taking the time to record your pours.
I seen a pattern for casting a cylinder head. The pattern was mounted to a board and it also had a pattern for the gates and runner. The runner was made to install a filter like that but it was standing on its side so the metal would run through it horizontally.
The filter will work both ways.
Fantastic video. I’ve been watching you for years and every video is so very informative. Thanks again.
That worked really well! A nice casting Lucky 👍
Thanks 👍
Hey Luckygen101, good to see a video from you again!
I will have to watch it later today, but just wanted to say Hi and looking forward to the video.
Mark from Melbourne Australia
Very interesting! I've never seen that done before. Seems to have worked fantastic - the crankshaft looks perfect. Too bad it's a one time filter.
As I didn't know about this, I made and refined a search and, for "ceramic foam filters", I got lots of results - maybe there's a supplier near you.
Thank you for watching my video, I try to cover subjects that are not on youtube.
@@luckygen1001 And I thank you for that. Always interesting and informative to watch your videos.
Try a search for "Alumina Foam Ceramic Filter" they are available from China, or perhaps local resellers. A similar thing is sold for aquarium filtration, if it is the same material, pore size, and the block is large enough then it should work as well, furthermore they are cheap at 10 for $20.
Btw, I work at a manufactory of fondry filters in China , established more than 20 years , we supply all kinds of filters. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
I love your videos. I live in the desert of Nevada and have been planning on doing some foundry projects. But I need to be careful about fires. So I need a sheltered place to do it. How big is your shop? I'm hoping to build a shop this summer.
25 ft x 60 ft In the summer time I have to be careful not to start fires as it can be very dry then.
@@luckygen1001 Oh I see. That's a decent size shop. Thanks.
Thanks as always. I've never used a filter and have no plans to ... But I learned a lot from you as always.
Funny story. I kept a visor over the melt too long for a picture and melted the gold on my visor. Still works but big blind spot on the middle.
I bought my aluminium filters from Vesuvius Foseco. For my small castings I cut the filters into quarters with a hand hacksaw. They cost me a $1 ea and minimum order was 600 filters.
You should try using filter in the vertical position you'll catch more impurities that way.
They're not designed to work end-on.
Excellent video, thank you for making and sharing it.
Hoping you baked the mold and kept it above 800-900 °f during the pour. What kind of anti flux did you coat the filter with?
The mold was not baked,poured at room temp. What is a antiflux?
Great video. What are you using the crankshafts for?
I plan to make a steam engine some time in the future so these crankshafts are experiments to see how strong they are.
Very nice what you offer if it is possible to allocate a stake on the Damascene iron if possible, how can we make it from the scrap. Thank you
Cool vid, thank you. I reckon these could be made with a fire clay or alumina/ball clay/silica/porcelain clay slurry. By adding a material such as sawdust or polystyrene balls of various particulate sizes being mixed into the slurry and then firing once dry. Where the burnout material was, a hole or void will remain. i.e a ceramic sponge. Because of the porosity they could be fired quite quickly. And none of the concerns potters usually have with things exploding if ramping up the temp too fast would apply here. You could do a firing in 4 hours and just open the kiln to let it cool quickly when done. I had a potter friend that purchased a small electric kiln that would get to 1300˚C and cost $5 bucks to fire. 240VAC 10amp so no special wiring. Luckygen could use his foundry probably and waste oil.
They're made using polystyrene to form the holes. The yellow ones are zircon based for stainless steel, there is a light grey silicon carbide one for cast iron and non ferrous metals, and a dark grey carbon aluminium oxide one for steels.
@@OllieVK thanks, have you working in a place that made these? I wonder about whether there is the big voids from the styrene and smaller very fine ones made with something like fine sawdust (i.e. two burnout material sizes), so that the hot metal does not get much resistance. Having not used ceramic sponge I am surmising. I guess it would break through at the weakest points.
@@waynoswaynos no, it's just polystyrene. They're specified sieve sizes, either 10ppm or 20ppm. Go through hundreds of them at work.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing the result.
Is this even reusable? I can only think of flowing more liquid metal to wash it or use acid but many ceramics are just metal oxides like the dross as well.
I'd be curious to know if your concrete slab was finished with a 'council finish' ie. just a broom finish, or if it was finished using a 50/50 stone dust and cement mix, that is sprinkled on the concrete (after it's screeded) and trowelled in. The latter finish gives it a harder top, but I'm not sure if that would be good or bad when hot metal splashes on top. Your slab mustn't get that damp. I think you've answered in the past it is at a highpoint on your property, hence water shouldn't collect underneath too much.
That concrete slab is exposed to weather and I have had a lot of rain lately as you can see in the video moss is growing on the concrete.
Loads of those filters on Ebay, Selee seems to be a big manufacturer of them.
Yep had a look. Seems made in China also has them
These aquarium filters looks suspiciously similar
Microporous Alumina Foam Ceramic Filter Brick for Aquarium Filtration
The water in the concrete was turned to steam and lifted the molten metal off the concrete just enough to keep it from making little craters. that is my answer boss. lol
Great work!
Can you melt the metal out and reuse the filter?
Maybe but they would be cheaper to replace.
Most people I know ram the filter up in the mold, just put some toilet paper over it so you can blow it out before pouring, the iron vaporizes the TP.
No, do not do this.
@@OllieVK Why, We have done it for years in cast iron. Mostly Victorian lamp parts, it catches junk and helps the flow in complexed parts.
@@walterbeech because it's cleaner to put the filter in a print before closing the mould? You should only have ~5mm of print around the edge of the filter anyway... so I dont' see how ramming it up with the mould is in any way effective.
@@walterbeech also, no mould coat at all?
@@OllieVK Most of my copes are a foot thick, I ram petrobond so I get some head pressure with a deep cone. I ram up one every night for several weeks to get a full day of pouring so I simply clamp 3/4 plywood on top of the copes to keep the mice out and with the TP I can blow the pour hole out just before casting .I get filters that are 6x6 inches, they are a dollar each and I cover much more than you do with out any ill resaults . It has worked great with me, easy to ram up moulds in advance and appears to be pretty common practice with hobby people.
I wonder if small stones/coarse sand could be used instead
It may work if the small stones/coarse sand are dry.
If there isn't a heat resistant binder, it will probably be swept into the casting by the pressure of the molten metal above it. Secondly, the sand might just turn to molten glass if exposed to such heat in a confined area.
Thank you. Good information.
The concrete might have been so wet that not enough metal dropped to flash boil the water to steam fast enough?
Greatly interesting
Damn that crucible looks hot like the sun!
It has to be hot so the molten iron will flow through the filter.
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Very informative, thanks! By the end of this video, you'll know if you have trypophobia. :)
Here mate: ZC2328 Zirconia Ceramic Foam Filters. Stanford Advanced Materials makes them.
Yes, but can they be bought in small quantities? That typically is the problem.
Thanks.
not sure i have ever needed to use them, I use risers as a place for the sand to go.