Art & Inspiration How to cast a drag plaque

I’m just trying to cast a custom drag plaque without paying out the wazoo, any tips is welcome, thanks


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Hmm, let´s see.... I´d fab up a positive form using wood, press it into casting sand and fill the footprint with molten aluminum. I guess that´s what I ´d do...

 

Do you have a way to melt a volume of aluminum to cast your parts? You need to heat the aluminum to 1220° F.

Sand casting is very simple and easy to do.

 

What Baumi said. Check you tube.

 

Just make damn sure the mold is DRY before pouring molten aluminum in it... any moisture in the mold and you WILL have a bad day.

 

I've never done it , do you have to allow for shrinkage?

 

Not much shrinkage on a plaque....since it a "drag" plaque and it will be mounted on chains under you car dragging on the street, I'd add a little extra on the bottom.

 

One trick I saw on Utube was the guy used a "sifter" on the sand that he put on the detail side of a plaque and it came out with really good definition. That's everything I know,.......

 

You can melt aluminum with Good charcoal if you hav an air source blowing in the bottom. Know a guy that buried a 5 gallon bucket in his back yard and made small tags out of a sand mold. Might check your local Library for books on it, or maybe Google.

 

Make sure that your pattern (letters, logo and borders) are wider at the bottom and get slightly narrower at the top. This allows the plug to release from the sand cleanly.

Or you could contact O’Brien Truckers, pay the small set-up fee, let them do all the dirty work, and get amazing looking plaques for a couple bucks.

 

With all the 3D capability with machining and printing now I'd be surprised if you couldn't make one out of aluminum and then have it bead blasted to give it that rough cast look. Probably easier...

 

Draft is not required for sand casting as the mold is destroyed in the process. You will have to clean all the sand that adheres to the part off with a wire brush. In production sand casting, the parts are often shot peened to clean them.

 

I knew there was a word for it, just couldn’t remember it! I have always been told that it makes it easier to remove the wooden plug from the sand, leaving a cleaner impression for the aluminum to flow into.

 

Check this guy out, he has alot of casting tips and tricks.

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Sure draft is required for sand casting. If there is no draft how are going to pull the pattern out of the sand before casting? The sand would crumble.