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Thanks man totally appreciate it!

Thank you so much! Yup I will keep sending them out.

I hope it works out for you. I have only done a few firings with the current one I have in use. I am preheating the current crucible in a toaster oven to 500F while I set my furnace up in the backyard. The preheating hopefully will help with the temperature shock of being hit with a direct flame in my furnace. Then of course the crucible is put back in the furnace when its cooling down so it can slowly lower to ambient temperature. Thanks again for watching!

@@DamonsMetalCasting I'll probably upset some people but welcome feedback. I started years ago with "Procast" and had great luck, then used other "Off Brands" with mixed results. Never tried the Salamanders,,,,,yet. Borax or no Borax, It seems like there's not a huge difference. That's just MY experience. Again, I welcome any feedback. Thanks, and Cheers to you.

LOL! yeah you got me on that one.

I have not used Delft clay before so I will just throw out some guesses that might help. One issue could be if its been used up and has a lot of burnt binder in it preventing it from being able to stick together. It might need better mixing/mulling. Maybe a bad batch from the manufacturer? I have pounded the heck out of my sand(Petrobond) and made a real hard layer, then the next layer on top doesn't want to combine to the first layer and peels off. I have seen people scratch up the hard layer even with a hair pic so it can combine easier with the next layer added. Sorry I couldn't help more. Its difficult when not hands on with a problem and only throwing out guess. Good luck!

@@DamonsMetalCasting Thanks for the reply. I just bought the clay, so it's never been used. Maybe it is a bad batch. Thank you.

@@scotts4134 You can also look at videos online of people who use deft clay and see if its similar consistency and works the same.

Thanks man much appreciated!

In my experience an unfinished FDM 3d printed part is just about impossible to pull out of sand with out it tearing apart the sand. For my patterns to pull out I have to create a slick surface finish on them along with using a parting powder. You could probably try starting with baby powder AKA cornstarch. Its the safest on your lungs if you accidently inhale it. In the past I have sanded my 3d prints then sprayed primer and sanded some more. Then finally spray paint the surface. In my most current video of the "IDGAF sign" , I used glazing and spot putty with acetone for dilution. It worked really well. Then I finished it with a primer and coat of epoxy paint.

I have not yet tried any core work to make a casting hollow or have a void. If you look up "sodium silicate core" on youtube you will run across videos that demonstrate what you are looking for. Usually, I have seen people utilize a pattern that includes an area to lay a premade sand core in before the 2 part mold is closed up for casting. If the part is very complicated it might require investment casting. Thank you for watching my video!

Yeah those are my casting jeans and they just got worse and worse on the rip. I need more gear right now, the only things that I have protection for is my face, arms and moobs. I should probably pick up an actual full jacket and some leg covers. I can't imagine jeans would save me from +1400F aluminum. I don't think I will be doing any investment casting until I have that gear. If the investment explodes from water or expansion that is a whole lot of trouble. Thanks again for watching.

@@DamonsMetalCasting Good thinking on the investment casting. Haven't done much of that, but that aspect has always made me nervous. I think all of us don't give enough attention to lower body protection. I have a cheap leather apron, but it is warm and have "forgotten" to wear it more than once.

Thanks! The "Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty" helps with filling in the ridges of the 3d print. Just primer can do it as well but the spot putty can go on a little quicker and thicker. Its also easy to sand and doesn't bind up the sand paper so much. How smooth you can get the pattern is how the surface will turn out. Alot of people who make their accessories out of 3d prints for cosplay do this.

Hey thanks for watching. You are the first I have known about from Japan that has watched my video. Yup you are right about the pattern, "Garbage in garbage out" so its always good to have a proper pattern like you said.

Thank you very much.

I only have had to repurchase 1 crucible (the one that came with the furnace cracked). The current crucible I am running is from Amazon and listed as "MakGrand 6.9KG Clay Graphite Crucibles, Melting Casting Metal, Withstand The High Temperature 1800℃(3272°F), Refining Aluminum Gold Silver Copper Glass, Casting Tools (6.9kg)" I have only fired that a few times. Currently, I am experimented with preheating my crucible to 450-500F in a toaster oven before I put it in the furnace with a direct flame on it. Also, I am sure you do this too, I return the crucible to the furnace after use to let it slowly cool inside the furnace when I am done.

Thank you. I saw you were monetized lately that has to make you feel on top of the world. Congrats. I am still trying to work on mine almost there.

Thanks much appreciated!

That's a new one too me. LOL Looks like its origination was military. Did you serve?

LOL. Yeah its hard to hold people's attention on TH-cam. My son has some TH-camrs he watches and they keep people's attention by screaming through the video. I told him that's worse than reading a book in all caps. Thanks for the watch.

Thank you!

Thanks for watching. When opening the mold I try and do it gently to keep large parts intact. Then I use a wire brush the size of a tooth brush and rub off the burnt black sand into a pile to discard. I also will pick out chunks of burnt sand to discard. I try and minimize the amount of sand that is burnt when returning it to my used sand bucket. Most of my castings if I want a nice surface finish I will use just a little bit of new unused sand for facing sand and pack the rest of the mold with used sand. I will throw this in a video down the road.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thanks for watching!

The cost of the 190mesh when I purchased it was the same as the 140mesh. I also purchased 100lbs at a time so its greatly discounted dollar per pound. People have stated that my castings look nearly die cast. I don't really care to use substandard materials and end up with an item I have to spend time with a wire wheel or other means to clean up. Since my email is posted you are welcome to send a picture of your best casting right after opening the flask and we can talk about how your casting quality is better than mine and how you did it.

@DamonsMetalCasting oh I know for sure🤣 not dogging on ya at all. I've spent AGES making up countless batches of different greensands/delft (as cheap as possibly, processing and grinding and grading 50lb bags after bag of pure silica washed sand, a bunch of different bentonite and additives, made sodium silicate and done c02 setting molds and cores, I have separate small batch sands specifically for facing, or certain difficult mold geometries etc.. NONE of them give me the finish I want- close. Really close. Even getting fingerprints and virtually smooth print lines transfered- but to be fair I'm chasing something that is virtually impossible without spending years gaining experience or just doing step 1- pony up and spend the moola on petrobond because it WORKS right out the gate🤣 I've made hundreds of lbs of greensand now for dirt cheap. 10 bucks/50 lbs, probably 15 bucks all in per 50-60 lbs. Now.. opportunity cost I've spent a FORTUNE on the time and effort, After all the time and TONS of physical work.. I really should have just spent the 100 bucks on some high mesh oil bonded sand🤣 that said I've gained tons of experience. Many outright failures before I figured it out. But yeah. Advice for anyone with some brains- for high definition molds that just work.. buy the petrobond

I agree, I wanted to get up and running with the least amount of variables possible. If I ever did this on a large scale, reducing sand cost would be definitely something I would look into.

In my video with the match plates where I made a grenade the aluminum was dumped straight in the top of the casting flask. The grenades did have some small flaws in them. I think the goal of casting would be to get a nice even flow and fill of aluminum. Also try and use a pouring basin carved in the sand it helps with making it easier to pour along with a smooth flow of aluminum introduced into the mold. The other piece of advice I would definitely say is to use a little bit of air to remove any loose sand. I personally try and avoid a straight pour when I can.

I have never visited Romania so I am not sure what you have available there. You might have to make your own greensand rather than petrobond. There are videos on how to make your own green sand on TH-cam. Sifting the sand will get you a finer mesh. For the aluminum you will probably hit up salvage yards for car parts that were previously cast. I have tried other types of aluminum and it doesn't cast as well as an aluminum alloy that was formulated for casting. My propane burner has a ceramic wool interior that needs to be coated so ceramic fibers do not get into my lungs. There are plenty of videos on TH-cam on making furnaces you will have to choose one that fits your available resources. Basically its going to be how resourceful you can be. Good Luck!

The Fallout 76 emblem video shows a little bit about the thermocouple setup I use. The hand held thermocouple reader I picked up from Amazon there are a few like mine. The thermocouple was also purchased on Amazon but I can't find the exact one I purchased anymore.

Well I don't see why not there are plenty of resources out there like TH-cam and Facebook groups. I would probably say do the following when you finally get into it: Make sure have enough protective gear to safely work. Make or buy a decent set of lifting and pouring tongs. If you get a furnace with ceramic wool cover it up with an appropriate coating so you don't breath ceramic fibers. Good Luck!

I have not smelted lead before but I can imagine your right, it would be the same except for the temp. The only suggestion for casting I have is to avoid pop can aluminum alloy if you can help it. Use aluminum alloy that has been used for casting before if you are trying to make an actual object. Good luck! Thanks for watching.

Yup. LOL I know. I am just trying out different intro styles to see what hold people's interest. TH-cam puts a metric on the first 30 seconds of a video to see if more than half of the viewers kept watching. I just don't want to post click bait. Thanks for the laugh!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Yup I am glad it helped. The router method gives edges that are alot more straight. I just did a video using the wire method and I wish I made a template and used my router instead.

Thanks for watching and the feedback!

Check out my other video "Why you should use a refractory coating for casting and another way to cut foam patterns" I used a router and a PLA pattern from a 3d printer. Just watch your fingers! Also, some people use a CNC machine, I just don't have one yet. Thanks for watching.

This is the description on amazon of the unit that reads the thermal couple. It does come with thermal couples but they can not reach the temperature of melting aluminum. Its about $30 usd. Digital 2 Channels K-Type Thermometer w/ 4 Thermocouples (Wired & Stainless Steel), -50~1300°C (-58~2372°F) Handheld Desktop High Temperature Kelvin Scale Dual Measurement Meter Sensor I can't find the exact thermocouple I have used, I believe though that mine could read to 2000F. My video called "Making a Fallout 76 emblem out of aluminum using the sand casting process and tooling upgrades" has the most detail in it about the probe. Also, in the video I use it against a IR point thermometer. I think the reflectiveness and distance of alot of objects interfere with those. I had previously purchased an IR thermometer that was supposed to cover the melting point of aluminum and it never seemed to work correctly so I returned it. My opinion, I get the best reading by a thermocouple. th-cam.com/video/bF10FhQx03Q/w-d-xo.htmlsi=oNaloIFK7OoRrQE9 Thanks for watching!

The sand that I used in this video is Teton-bond Petrobond 190mesh. Its oil based.

@@DamonsMetalCasting Thank you so much. My friend and I were trying to sand cast some rings today and could not for the life of us get the printed pattern to release from the mold without taking chunks of sand with it.

@@sp0764 I hope it helps. The petrobond I purchase has been pretty good stuff. I have used babypowder with it before and it works ok but for me Talc works a bit better on the pattern, except its an inhalation hazard. I only apply talc with a makeup brush to the part. My parting powder for the 2 halves of the mold, I use baby powder/corn starch because it does work fine for that. Hope you can get some success, good luck and thanks for watching!

Thank you!

I totally agree.

Awesome, I am glad this subject is relevant. I have ran into this problem too with converting text or graphics to something useable. Believe it or not AI generators for graphics are pretty addicting, its fun just to see what it keeps throwing out. Thanks again!

I looked it up and yes it certainly has some resemblances to Louis Wain's psychedelic cat art. I never thought someone would combine those 2 subjects in art but he did. Thanks again for checking out my video!

Yup, I made the flask from wood on my table saw. The outer flask dimensions are 9" long, 5" wide and one half of the flask is 1.25" deep. The total depth of both halves together would be 2.5". The inner dimensions are 7.5" long and about 4.25" wide. The ends have thick wood on them so I can screw the sides in and attach a handles. I agree, I like using flasks that are closer to the dimensions of the part I am casting. Thanks for watching my video!

Thanks man I really appreciate the complement. I think its a matter of just paying attention to details and following it through. If a person starts out with a smooth surface quality on their pattern, uses a high mesh petrobond, and uses an alloy of aluminum meant for casting, there should be some good results. I have seen alot of videos of pop can aluminum, rough surfaces on patterns and homemade casting sand, that just won't give a good product. Thanks for watching!

You are the second one to bring that up, now I am regretting not doing it. LOL

Thank you so much I appreciate the support!

Thanks for your feed back, I will try and add more light. Honestly, I am probably stuck with using the 3D printer because of my lack of artistic skills. I have Zero skills for carving. I also plan to distribute some of my original 3d print pattern STL files which I can't do if I carve by hand either. The used 3d printers of Facebook market place and craigslist are selling for as low as $100. I do agree 100% that watching the old school pattern making is great but I am just lacking in the skill to be able to do that and time to learn.

That is something entirely different! The title doesn’t read SCULPTING and casting If you’re unable to find a way of making your own objects to place within a mould or just duplicating something, then you’re obviously not very bright 🙃 Who types in CAPS honestly 🥸

It's ridiculous to expect every content creator to work around the restrictions of what the viewers may or may not have. The entitlement of people is mind boggling.

@@chrisgenovese8188 Yup I agree, they should really have the mindset of it being a benefit to have the ability to experience something they can't or don't want to invest in. I will never be able to purchase a sports car like a Ferrari, but I can have an experience of watching and learning about one that somebody shared in their video.

I was hoping it would help. The worry was with the aluminum being dumped in and the air not leaving soon enough. I am not sure if it helped or not honestly.

lol! Yup exactly.

Thanks for watching my video. My clamps still worked it just would have been better to design it to grab the top surface too.