TECH: How to make a sand casting master in your basement

This is cool, good job on making your pattern. I used to work in an aerospace foundry, the A-356 aluminum they poured for you has a tensile strength 32k psi. I made a hood scoop pattern and poured it. Fun stuff! Thanks for sharing.

 

It's all in the details. Good job

 

outstanding work ! great tech post

 

So impressive! Amazing attention to detail, but the design is my favorite part. You nailed the vintage feel!

 

Actually, the guy that bought and sold my setup does do some small castings. He uses the end from a large air tank to fill with wood and charcoal, then uses a common hair dryer attached to a piece of tailpipe as his blower to get it hot enough to melt the aluminum in a ladle. Instead of sand, he's been experimenting with plaster, but I know it's not going to work very well.
An alternative to this though, is to make the part out of wax, add a sprue and vent also of wax, and invest it in high heat investment like that used in the dental or jewelry industry. Then, bake it in the oven till all the wax runs out and the investment is dry, then pour it. The advantage to this method, is that you can make any shape since you don't have to remove the model from the mold. The disadvantage is you can only make one, unless you make a rubber mold of the wax item before you invest it, and then use the rubber mold to pour more wax models, gets kind of complicated.

 

Great job!

 

Great post hopes this goes into the tech section of the HAMB. What is the name of the casting company that you used.

 

I hope you had more than one cast. I want one for my coupe... and roadster! Really great job.

 

But what if we don't have a basement?

Good job there!
On the pattern and the lesson.
(I used to make molds for several companies, including the auto crash test dummies.)

That wood master looks great.
I used to have a first item cast and then if no adjustments are necessary,pull a plaster female mold off the pattern, seal it, and cast several permanent copies in aluminum filled Epoxy.
Foundries have been known to abuse or lose patterns and it's always nice to have a back up.
The plaster mold won't shrink so copy patterns from it should be close enough to original size.


The 2º (±1º) draft is typical but the more the easier it is to pull the sand mold.
In some instances you may need to put all the draft on one side of walls.
If so, make sure its on the same side on all walls. It is possible to pull a sand mold on an angle to the base as long as there isn't any 0º combination "locking" walls.

If you are basement or backyard casting and need a core in a part and don't have another "real" source" for green sand, self clumping cat litter has green sand in it to make it clump.
Sift out the "odor control chips and dampen it to form in your core mold.
Use the hard clumping and make sure the core is dry before casting or the steam could blow molten metal out at you.

SO, how about a making a match plate demonstration?

 

Jeff, you are the MAN! That is the coolest tech piece I've seen for a long time and my hat is off to you! Fantastic part with "the look" that really stands out when you look a car over closely. Thanks for sharing it with us!

 

Way cool and inspiring tech,THANKS!

 

Cool!!! That makes me want to fire up the forge.

 

you win! that was awesome!!!

 

Nice work, Jeff...the bracket's a beauty!!!

 

That's a very nice looking fuel filter bracket. As a Machinist/Fabricator myself I've made a lot of very similar looking brackets by TIG Welding Stainless and Aluminum. It's quick and easy but I've always had an an admiration and envy of guys that make molds and pour castings. I really wish I knew how to do it! In the CNC-Age that we live in currently, it's almost too easy to program a Lathe or Mill and carve a product from Billet without even getting your hands dirty. Castings are becoming a lost art! Besides, there's just something macho about melting down and pouring molten metal into shapes!

 

Nice work

 

Great Tech!!!

 

You took the time with the master and it shows, very nice peice of art....

 

how about making me 2 of them ? i,d like them for my old flat bottom speed boats

 

One caveat when dealing with the foundry. Make sure that you know in advance what their policy is in regards to the molds and patterns. Get it in writing. While most foundries are probably good, some will not give you the molds back, insisting that THEY own the design, and the reproduction rights.

Others have been burned.

 

i need to find a foundry.....thanks for the inspiration

 

wicked tech...VERY high standard for this tech week so far!

I am amazed you found a foundry that would cast ONE of anything...I think That would be the first thing to scope out if anyone wanted to try this themselves..Im going to do a ring around Melbourne and get some prices for one off casting..if any of them come in under $100.00 I will be flabergasted..

 

I was gonna ask where you cut the master, but I re-read your post & you made the mounting surface flat so you didn't need to split it - clever idea. Very cool work. Makes me want to make something now

 

Nice post! It gets the ideas rolling around in my head.

 

Killer post!

 

Yes, please.

 

Nice finished product, and a really useful and informative thread.
Thanks
Gerry

 

Wow, nice tech post!
Nice aluminum part, too bad that it will be hidden inside frame rail!
Done some casting molds myself too and posted 'em here at HAMB few years ago. You have a LOT better photos than I had...

Lately I've done some searchin' how to cast aluminum at home. We'll see results some day...

 

Thanks for the praise guys. Maybe next winter I will teach myself how to build match plates and core stuff, and do a tech post in the spring.

The name of the foundry is in my "thanks" at the bottom of the post. But don't overload them or it will take me longer to get my parts.

I've seen many posts about making your own forge to cast at home, but I guess I enjoy the "pattern-making" part of the project more than the "burning-stuff-up" part. But maybe someday......