Hi John, What I do is use old tin cans of varying diameters and pour my ally in them. Leaves a much more rounded slug to begin with, and also no chance of tool destroying sand inclusions. Just pop them in your furnace for a little while first to evaporate any moisture in the seams and burn out the inside food barrier lining. Then just tear/cut the can off when cool. If you want to pour them in sand, even a piece of pvc pipe will give you a more rounded cast slug. Also round flat cookie tins are good for pouring large round discs into (I even incorporate hubs on some).. I wish my Chinese chuck was as accurate as yours :S
Hi John Have just come across your Stuart V10 build videos, I plan on doing the same build & watching your vids has given me some nice tips. I am concerned tho' that in a few of your vids you are constantly holding on to your tailstock chuck as though it is not holding into the tailstock taper, do you have a damaged taper, or are you just not clamping it up when in use? also you tend to wear gloves a fair bit, I realise it can get cold across the pond but we get cold here in the UK too... & gloves plus rotating equipment are not a good mix, after 50 years in the engineering business I have seen, been told of & investigated results of gloves & rotating machinery meeting up... never the less a nicely produced set of videos, keep up the good work. George.
George Barczi George, Thanks for the concern and you re correct gloves and machinery are not a good mix. Nevertheless, I tend to use them when it gets cold and take my chances, As for the tailstock, it's in good shape and I tend to leave the tailstock chuck a little lose when working on small parts so as not to damage them. ~John
Thanks for following along. Pure aluminum melts at ~1200 F. Alloys may be a little more or less. I use an easily built propane furnace in my shop, much info can be found on the web if you'd like to build one. John
Ok you said you had to move the tool point back 0.375, but when you counted it as you moved it back you went 100, 200, 300, 25, that's only 0.325 0.050 out right.
Thanks for taking time to comment. It looks like your math is correct. Sometimes my mouth and brain don't connect while making the videos. I'll try to do better :) ~John
I just hope that you caught it before it was in metal (which I see you did). I just discovered you videos and am working my way from the beginning.. I am enjoying them very much and like the emphases on keeping things clean and tidy.
As a tradesman I would be worried about being pulled into the lathe with those gloves on.i know its cold in the Usa at the moment as we here have 30c and summer. Cheers colin vk2jcc
With all due respect I think you could talk the metal off rather than using a lathe? Ha ha.only joking my friend.your a Font of knowledge with this stuff.very nice job indeed
Very interesting John .
I am sat here stitching up a knife sheath and watching your videos.
Sandy
Hi John, What I do is use old tin cans of varying diameters and pour my ally in them. Leaves a much more rounded slug to begin with, and also no chance of tool destroying sand inclusions. Just pop them in your furnace for a little while first to evaporate any moisture in the seams and burn out the inside food barrier lining. Then just tear/cut the can off when cool. If you want to pour them in sand, even a piece of pvc pipe will give you a more rounded cast slug. Also round flat cookie tins are good for pouring large round discs into (I even incorporate hubs on some).. I wish my Chinese chuck was as accurate as yours :S
Thanks for watching and for your comments. That is a good idea about using cans for excess pour.
~John
enjoyed this, thanks for sharing...I didn't see any porosity in the casting...looks pretty good.
Thanks for the comment...I got lucky that time and did not get any porosity. Sometimes things just work out :)
John
Hi John
Have just come across your Stuart V10 build videos, I plan on doing the same build & watching your vids has given me some nice tips. I am concerned tho' that in a few of your vids you are constantly holding on to your tailstock chuck as though it is not holding into the tailstock taper, do you have a damaged taper, or are you just not clamping it up when in use? also you tend to wear gloves a fair bit, I realise it can get cold across the pond but we get cold here in the UK too... & gloves plus rotating equipment are not a good mix, after 50 years in the engineering business I have seen, been told of & investigated results of gloves & rotating machinery meeting up... never the less a nicely produced set of videos, keep up the good work.
George.
George Barczi George, Thanks for the concern and you re correct gloves and machinery are not a good mix. Nevertheless, I tend to use them when it gets cold and take my chances, As for the tailstock, it's in good shape and I tend to leave the tailstock chuck a little lose when working on small parts so as not to damage them. ~John
Thanks for your reply... just take care
George
What is the melting temperature for aluminium? Do you use coal?
Thanks for following along. Pure aluminum melts at ~1200 F. Alloys may be a little more or less. I use an easily built propane furnace in my shop, much info can be found on the web if you'd like to build one.
John
W5CYF / TinkerJohn Thanks
Ok you said you had to move the tool point back 0.375, but when you counted it as you moved it back you went 100, 200, 300, 25, that's only 0.325 0.050 out right.
Thanks for taking time to comment. It looks like your math is correct. Sometimes my mouth and brain don't connect while making the videos. I'll try to do better :) ~John
I just hope that you caught it before it was in metal (which I see you did). I just discovered you videos and am working my way from the beginning.. I am enjoying them very much and like the emphases on keeping things clean and tidy.
happy new year john love your vids
Earni,
Thanks for watching and for your comments.
John
As a tradesman I would be worried about being pulled into the lathe with those gloves on.i know its cold in the Usa at the moment as we here have 30c and summer. Cheers colin vk2jcc
Colin,
Thanks for watching and for your comment.
~John
Thank you. I'm learning a lot...
David,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
John
Great video series! But I get dizzy when you hold me upside down like that.
use plastic pipe instead of toilet roll tube for a better finish billet
With all due respect I think you could talk the metal off rather than using a lathe? Ha ha.only joking my friend.your a Font of knowledge with this stuff.very nice job indeed
I like your videos John, but that camera angle needs to go. Gives me a headache. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for your comment about the camera angle. It's gone!
~John
You scare me to death on that lathe.i know you know what you are doing but it scares me to watch you using it....
3/8 is.375 not.325.
Thanks for watching. Sometimes brain and mouth aren't in sync with each other. ~John