first let me say that loudpedal did this tech thread. and that is what got me interested.so thank you bud. and all i can is read his thread a couple of times.i have read it no joke probably twenty times! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=464599&highlight=sand+casting so my club member and I losthope picked up a used furnace on craigslist a few months a go. he is the resident wood worker in the club.so he built the boxes. in that pick you can get a pretty good idea of how he did them. as i fired up the furnace to melt the aluminum he started the first box.
the first pour we poured directly into the plaque. it didn't really work out as seen here. I think the aluminum blows out the sand if it hits the mold directly. the next pour we decided to only use part of the box. while this might work.It did not for us. as seen here.
so then we decided to do it the way loudpedal does. and cut a vent and a fill hole with channels to direct it the plaque. as seen here. and although they are not perfect we made them our selves. all i can say is practice sand mixture for sure helps.and here we are now.
Believe it or not, in my High School metals shop class we had one the width of a standard 50gal drum, graduated in 2001 and still to this day it shocks me that myself and any of the other young punks never got hurt..... Our teacher was the best and put up with no Bull Shit, probably the only reason we really were careful... Anywho I remember using a Red clay that you could re-use after many mods, as long as it held its red-ish color. When re-using it you had to ADD OIL to make the sand sticky and almost clay like... Due to the clay like strength it never washed out !!!
We only got one plaque out of each mold, after i made the first two I got the hang of it and easy to make them after that!
You get those long ram intakes cast for me yet? How many plaques did you end up making that were keepers?
I've done some sand casting at home. I built the Gingery furnace a few years ago. Here is a link to my blog showing a water pump that I built http://jkcallin.blogspot.com/ Go to the bottom of 2010. The vehicle is OT. Try not to let it bother you too much
...Better do it in this one just in case you die and go to that place where the furnaces are burning 24/7!!!
Hey, So how many beer cans gave their all so these could be cast? Can kustom trim parts for the Plymouth be far off? " Swanky Devils C.C. ''
Yeah...we did it in H.S. Metal Shop in '55-'58. Made many Moon gas pedals, fuel pump blockoff plates, flathead side generator mounts, plaques... sold 'em out of my bud's trunk along with reversed steel wheels and bootlegged Traction Masters...
you guys are lucky..when i was in high school,we built model cars in shop..then 2 months later they cut the program..
The hole you pour in the molten metal is called the sprue. The vent hole or holes is called the riser. The tunnel that the molten runs through are called the runners and gates. I used to teach Metal Shop
In Jr. High wood shop all I got to make was a pair of walnut book-ends, but in metal shop I at least got a chance to pound a sheet of copper into an ash tray. Wish we could have done some sand casting, but I'm sure we would have burned the school down.
The establishment, because they have better vision, have decided classes like that are not important. I taught just about every "shop" class there is, from wood and metal to auto to Engineering. Through Engineering I have talked to several business owners who said they couldn't find Engineers who knew what to do with a screwdriver. For that reason a new program was started and it's called Project Lead the Way. Its not for every student, but it brings the theoretical and hands on together. I enjoyed teaching those classes as well. But it's a shame that all the "hands on" courses are gone in most of the country.
Haha we did use some cans, but also used my old crutchs, beat up chevy truck door sills and one plaque was made from a old yblock oil pump that will be put back on my 54 ford, soi thought that was pretty cool,we do have plans to make some parts,we made some shift knobs also but not worth showing since they are still in rough form and not polished,all in all it was fun trial and error ,and fun to just hang out and be able to say we made something.
Yeah, Coronas come in bottles Reminds me of high school, too, but there's no kids buffing all the deail out of fresh castings in the background.
Something you need to know is that the cast object shrinks. When the metal cools, it is smaller than the mold and the actual item it was made from. When you are making things that MUST fit correctly, that makes a big difference.
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