Technical What should I cast?

Wow, not bad for a first post!

 

Did you see the add in the classifieds with in the past week. A guy in the pacific northwest wants to sell all his patterns and inventory.

 

Nice job on both the Intake and the foundry. I'm working on a 3d printed intake right now and about to the point of investing it. Wondering what you used if you don't mind sharing. All I have cast so far has been with Petrobond or greensand, I plan on using a stucco investment for this but having a tough time figuring out the right product and or a supply source for it. Making a solid block investment would be quite large.

 

dash panel & large single filter 2x2 air cleaner for flatheads.

 

Rat fink statue and tiki

 

I wanted some of these so that 's where I started. I've also done some other unobtainable pieces for my project.

 

I found this site to have lots of useful information. http://www.alloyavenue.com/vb/forum.php

 

Matt at Gear Drive is already tooling up on these. They will be available very soon.

 

Cool! Thanks!

 

Is the last picture how you plan to rig it? Do you plan on doing investment or greensand casting?

If you are planning on using greensand I would highly recommend having your parting line go the other way and setting it up on pattern boards. That way you will have a much shorter draw and the draft will be built in by the geometry of the part. The advantage of greensand being much faster turnaround. You could basically cast as many as you have metal for back-to-back. Investment casting is a much more labor intensive process (although you can cast more complicated parts and get better surface finish). Sorry if you already knew all this. Good luck with your project!

EDIT: Just thought about this more... if you go this way you will need to add cores and coreprints to your pattern - bonded cores are pretty easy to make though so it is not much more complication.

 

The reason that i have it laid out the way i do is to avoid having to make cores on my first casting. I hope to be playing around with core making soon, but i thought i ought to start basic. The stack is designed with an ever so slight taper to help with pulling the match plate out. Hopefully it all flows well, and if i doesn't i will have to change my process. Luckily, with my CAD software and 3d printer, it can be easily edited. Also, i would like to try some lost pla casting (a form of investment casting) but as you pointed out above, not for anything that i want to make a large number of. If this cast goes well, i will make a larger match plate to be able to cast four or more at a time. Thanks for the advice! I will keep you all posted!

 

I used R&R's SuspendaSlurry FS. SuspendaSlurry FS is a purpose made super easy to use slurry that is made for investment casting (comes premixed liquid, just stir it). The company R&R is out of Maumee, OH. They won't ship in the winter because the product can't freeze. I take my 3D print complete with printed in sprus and dip it in the slurry and then in a bucket of sand I bought with it and let it dry for a day then do that again. First two layers get fine sand, outer three get the course stuff, five layers total ends up being 1/4" -3/8 thick. I change up the orientation of the part each time it drys to get a more uniform thickness when complete. For the burn out of the PLA, I've been taking it up to 1350 deg f over about 2-3 hours. The suspenda slurrry FS is pricey, but I wanted to eliminate variables and using this stuff accomplished that for me. Others may find success a hundred different ways.

 

Thanks for the info. That's the product that seem to be the go to, I'll have to dig deeper so far I haven't been able to find a supplier in CA. Starting to wonder if it's a VOC compatibility issue to ship it to CA.

 

I have this random paper weight thingy that an old co-worker left in her desk when she quit. I thought it would make a cool shift knob so I plan to drill and tap the end. It would be a pretty easy job to cast something like it.

 

my car club plaques! i have designs and ill pay!

 

You might want to start with trying to cast one as a lose part, mounting on a match plate can be more difficult to get a clean pull from the sand. Those look nice but will be hard to get out vertically in less you build in taper even the groves and fins might need to have some draft over their length. I started out using greensand, met a guy that grew up around a foundry and he suggested trying oil bonded or petrobond - night and day as far as finish and ease of use. Also not sure what type of printer your going to use, I print with PLA filament and seem to have a lot of post cleanup in order to get a nice finish.

 

That's fricken funny

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Random, out of context... took a minute. Yep. You should totally drill and tap that.

 

Isn't that a dolly to get into tight places?

 

Sounds good. If you do want to try some cores I've had luck with linseed bonded cores. I just got some sodium silicate cement sealer I want to try too.

 

What's it smell like? I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Haha! Sorry, I didn't mean to derail this thread but I couldn't help myself. Carry on gents.

 

Some of us know what that is...

 

Yep! My wife busted out laughing when I showed her.

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Beat me to it, I was going to jump on that myself when I saw the picture. Well, not literally...

I have been wanting to get into casting over ten years, since I built my furnace but never used it. Got a 3D printer now, and 30 years CAD skill...

I'd say definitly something that is unavailable would be the thing to do. The intake manifolds, I would have thought would be over-ambitious, until I saw what you guys are doing. How's about some 45 fin Buick brake drums, to fit some type ready-made turnable guts?

 

I’ve done home aluminum casting for years and I can tell you that you’re in for a long and winding road. Moulding isn’t easy with complex patterns, start off with car club plaques, or something else 2 dimensional, cut your teeth with pot metal before moving into aluminum, just melt down old carburetors and pulleys. Lay in a good supply of fluxes and degassers, ain’t nothing worse than polishing a casting and finding gas porosity holes just under the surface. Use good sand, I recommend Petrobond. And look into lost foam casting.

 

I would pay for a burn style model B side cover with my name on it. Of course that isn't a set up once and make 20 of them thing. Not till I get famous anyway.....LOL

 

Fuel blocks would be a good simple part to get your feet wet. That's how Dean Moon got started.

 

Sign me up for a 300 Ford six valve cover (ala "Cal Custom" - no name.)

 

LOL!!! I don't know what it smells like, but I hope he washed his hand's before he ate lunch!!!