Sand casting unobtainium parts at home.
- Thread starter 56 Fregate
- Start date
I don't think it's carved, resin more like it. The table is carves circa 1995 when I had better eyesight and more energy.
What was the brass thingy you posted on Wednesday?
All will be revealed Grasshopper.
Lost foam casting for home hacks..
Nailed it first go, As predicted the surface was dirty from the melted foam and a few small squiggly marks that look like cracks but are just 1/2mm deep. It was incredibly easy, I just added a coupla bits of foam for a sprue and riser, buried the whole thing in greensand and poured in the metal. There is a huge scope for tinkering with lost foam casting, after all that's how they cast engine blocks these days.
While I was at it I made a cupla blanks for a spacer I need, easy as.
Footnote: I used plain old building insulation for the foamwork.
Nailed it first go, As predicted the surface was dirty from the melted foam and a few small squiggly marks that look like cracks but are just 1/2mm deep. It was incredibly easy, I just added a coupla bits of foam for a sprue and riser, buried the whole thing in greensand and poured in the metal. There is a huge scope for tinkering with lost foam casting, after all that's how they cast engine blocks these days.
While I was at it I made a cupla blanks for a spacer I need, easy as.
Footnote: I used plain old building insulation for the foamwork.
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More from the home hack sand caster..
I had a hit rate of 100% today which included the lost foam items. I sand cast 2 hollow shells for a secret mission but forgot to photograph the sodium silicate sand core I made for them, oh well I'm sure you can picture what it would look like.
Footnote: The astute members of the audience would have noticed my deliberate mistake 'sprew' is actually spelt 'sprue' but you new that right
I had a hit rate of 100% today which included the lost foam items. I sand cast 2 hollow shells for a secret mission but forgot to photograph the sodium silicate sand core I made for them, oh well I'm sure you can picture what it would look like.
Footnote: The astute members of the audience would have noticed my deliberate mistake 'sprew' is actually spelt 'sprue' but you new that right
Bah its easy, I'm a 5 minute internet expert didn't you know.You are a clever Dick
This should work shouldnit..?
I've been tinkering with home sand casting for 2 or 3 years now and seem to be getting the hang of at last, my failure rate has gone from about 95% down to 5% or so. Sand casting can be so much fun I am surprised everyone else isn't doing it too. Sand casting can be time consuming though because a pattern has to be made to reflect the finished article and depending on the shape of the item the sand mould itself might need to be made in several pieces to get around undercuts and odd corners etc. Hollow parts will need a core box of some fashion to make the internal sand mould and for a one-off item it can be difficult to justify the time it takes to make a complete cast part.
I have a solution, if you have a close look at the pattern in the first image below you will see that it is made from a coffee cup, a piece of cardboard tube, some cork and a couple of sand biscuits all glued and taped together to form the shape of the required part but is also hollow so is used as a core box at the same time. Making a piecemeal pattern like this is really fast but there will be a bit more fettling after the casting is done to remove marks and make it look pretty. I did say it was fun..
I have a solution, if you have a close look at the pattern in the first image below you will see that it is made from a coffee cup, a piece of cardboard tube, some cork and a couple of sand biscuits all glued and taped together to form the shape of the required part but is also hollow so is used as a core box at the same time. Making a piecemeal pattern like this is really fast but there will be a bit more fettling after the casting is done to remove marks and make it look pretty. I did say it was fun..
And another, this was a one-off so I made the pattern out of foam insulation board, hollowed out and the same process was followed as the one above
And another (pair) using the same process ready for machining and port matching.
Excellent work, young fella!I've been tinkering with home sand casting for 2 or 3 years now and seem to be getting the hang of at last, my failure rate has gone from about 95% down to 5% or so. Sand casting can be so much fun I am surprised everyone else isn't doing it too. Sand casting can be time consuming though because a pattern has to be made to reflect the finished article and depending on the shape of the item the sand mould itself might need to be made in several pieces to get around undercuts and odd corners etc. Hollow parts will need a core box of some fashion to make the internal sand mould and for a one-off item it can be difficult to justify the time it takes to make a complete cast part.
I have a solution, if you have a close look at the pattern in the first image below you will see that it is made from a coffee cup, a piece of cardboard tube, some cork and a couple of sand biscuits all glued and taped together to form the shape of the required part but is also hollow so is used as a core box at the same time. Making a piecemeal pattern like this is really fast but there will be a bit more fettling after the casting is done to remove marks and make it look pretty. I did say it was fun..
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Why thank you, I do wot I can.
Thanks PeterT. I have been under pressure by a few to get setup for 3D printing but I can bang out a proper timber pattern quicker than a printer could do it but lately I have been making disposable patterns for one offs.
Seeing as Graham is a master craftsman with wood maybe a CNC router would be the way to go.
At present I work in a foundry that makes ferrous castings, the parts that make up the pattern are made on the CNC router.