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

Nice work Alchemy! Good luck.

 

awesome tech, you got my vote. can you make swords i have this neighbor who keeps complaining about a paint smell....

 

Alchemy, having a shop where I work with metal is a blessing, but having continuing positive input/ideas that have long festered in the back of my mind, Priceless! Thank you for posting your build of this bracket and the steps you took to get there from here! I am gathering 'stuff' to build my own foundry and it's posts like this that keep me following the dream!

Good luck on your own path to continuing to improve/learn more complex casting proceedures.

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

My brain's riddled with ideas now! subscribed.

 

Just be careful with the router bit in the drill press idea for working on wood.
I can show you a short pointer finger on my right hand that didn't live to tell the tale.

 

If I could make a suggestion: medium density fiberboard, MDF is much cheaper than balsa wood and will shape very nicely, try lightweight MDF, I think you will like it.

 

Production pattern:

 

BTTT, I have been digging these threads recently and never thought I would need to actually try it. Well, today I realized a part I am doing out of bar stock SHOULD be cast and will be really easy to make a mold for! Now just gotta find someone to cast a tril run for me!?

Thanks for a great thread!!!!

 

what percentage of shrinkage would you expect on a thin part, i have an existing plastic timing belt cover which is ugly as anything, i would love to turn one into a master and have one out of aluminum, just really hard to recreate one bigger then it already is

 

Depends on the alloy, usually 1/8" - 5/32" per Foot fro Aluminum.

 

I am making a pattern today, that 2% really is not much! Had to set the copier at 4% to see that I really did get 2% the first time around! More like a wide pen tracing and you cut outside the line!

 

This thread rules! Carry on...

 

very cool

 

You can buy sheet wax and wrap the original part or use "Celastic' (not sure if that is spelled right ) from a pattern supply like Freeman.

 

This was a great help. Thanks.

 

I love this site, where else am i going to learn that?

 

This is an amazing thread. That filter mount looks great. Now off to search out all of the threads referenced in this one. Go HAMB!

 

Before final sanding, it's at the foundry right now.

 

bump

 

I did these a while ago to mount locally available Strombergs to a Wade blower , and the front housing because none were available . Didnt bother finishing them up too much .

 

Cool!

 

This is a killer thread! Unkl Ian, you might wana do some tech on how you made THAT!

I honestly have a LOT of research to do.

In regards to shrinkage: Everything is built 3% larger than what it really is. I would imagine everything shrinks in towards the center??? E.g. if you made a circle, all shrinkage would go towards the center, much like the design of a wagon wheel? This kinda hurts my small brain.

I was staring at my Y-block the other day. I'm thrifty (cheap). If I can make it, I'll do it. Why pay a ton of cash for something that's 50 years old, when you can have the fun and gain the knowledge of making a new one? I'm going to get with an older freind of mine who used to cast Club Plaques back in the day. He went into shrinking a little bit. I thought he said something about 20% shrink. (???)

Three things I would like to have look like the above part: 1) The Intake Valley Cover (Pan), the 2) water pump housing/timing cover, 3) Valve Covers. SOMEDAY, I'm going to build a racer out of that motor, sans water pump.

Maybe McTim has something he could cast...

 

great how to for us home garage builders.....we need more so we can spread the talent that we all have....

 

I made the pattern, based on a pic of a part that used to be available.

If you put mine beside one of the old ones,
there would be slight differences;
so the value of the original parts should be maintained.

 

Triumph points cover?

 

Alternator cover, goes on the left side of a 650/750 Triumph Unit motor.

 

where is this foundry located. I am in Iowa also Thanks

 

I knew that but I'm dyslexic.

 

Work in progress.
Fins are tapered, with a rad at the bottom.
Needs more sanding.
I hate sanding.

 

Now that part looks like this: