I know I am a deity heathen for not knowing this. But, what was the point of the green sand in this? Why not A) build the ducts into the original plaster mold. Or B) just heat the mold and pour the metal in on top with a retaining wall?
It would be easy to add the gate to the plaster mould but my burn out oven is too small to take it. The extra height with the sand gives the metal some pressure to feed the mould as the metal shrinks as it cools.
@@myfordboy "It would be easy to add the gate to the plaster mould" What does that mean? What "gate"? Sorry im german. In my understanding a gate is something like a door.
What I like in your videos is the lack of any dumb get on your nerves music, and you don't have to say a word. Just watching you do your thing is easy enough to understand everything. Kudos sir!
Edward Hamilton Actually, for me, just watching the video made it enough for me to understand what he did. Add to that my Army days as a mechanic , so it might help.
It's a pleasure to learn from someone who has, through many years of trial and error, just about perfected this art. I really appreciate you putting these videos online. A wealth of information here.
Have seen others cast pieces like yours but none have the quality you produce, well done sir, from a person who worked 25 years in a Grey Iron foundry !
Simply amazing! What you do is a lost art. I had the most enjoyable time in Jr. High shop class with our foundry back in 1979. Too bad they don't teach this kind of art anymore in schools.
Thank you for sharing. I found this very interesting and educational. In my years of manufacturing I'm sure I've purchased millions of alum casted parts, but never saw how they were made. Now being retired I found your video fun to watch.
This is seriously such a good video. It's so rare to see such a detailed process clearly, understandably, and performed by someone who knows exactly what they're doing. Great job my friend; very well made video and casting.
At 3:06 in the morning, your Video, Sir, was refreshing. A simple, no fuzz method, done the old way: with care. Thank you very much. It certainly compares in a good way with all the IDIOCRACY exposure out there in TH-camrs. Thank you, again.
So you know any well paid youtube golfers? 😏 If you want to get rich on TH-cam fast you have to be the sort of creep that laughs at the bodies of suicide victims.
youtube golfers :DDDD I mean golfers (or footballers, hockey players, formula racers....) are rich because of the advertising. If there was no advertising that people see while watching the match, there would be no rich golfers, footballers, etc, etc, because there would be no other way to generate that much money :D Same with youtubers. If there was no advertising, there would be no motivation to pay them :D So thats why i made such a comparison. Anyways... Channels like this one and others showing craftsmanship are much more interesting indeed. Sadly, we are minority :(
Very much enjoyed your video. I too appreciate the simple live audio and especially appreciate that you held the camera still. Good content, good video. Excellent. Thanks.
Very neatly done, sir. I have been 50 years in the metals craft and i have only just started 3d printing. It is quite exciting and you have shown me a fine example of a home process to add to my workshop. Thank you.
I must say this is a nice printer and you should be very proud of your work shop, I served my time as turner at rose brothers I wish I had your shop 80 year old man
This is neat how you combined both sand casting and investment casting in the process. I work for one of the largest investment casting companies in the world. I am actually a Rapid Prototype engineer where I setup builds to create patterns on our Stereolithography machines. We’ve built segmented patterns that we assemble and cast one piece castings of 60”+ out of super alloys and titanium. Mostly for the Aerospace industry like fan frames and such for large jet turbine engines. We also have a few 3D printers but mostly use those to build fixturing. I’ve been in the industry for almost 40 year but still love watching all sorts of castings being poured. Especially at small shops like yours. Nice project!
Exceptional and inspiring mate, thank you. I just stumbled onto your channel and am really pleased that I did. The brain is spinning now with thoughts of what I could make with my little old 3D Printer and your metal working techniques. Thank you so very much, great work and truly inspirational, thank you
Brilliant! No stupid endless crappy music - just pure instruction. Now we want to see more of your work! Really have to do something about furnace prices tho!
This opens up a whole new realm of desktop manufacturing possibilities. I always thought you needed wax-like material to be able to burn it out and some companies are charging ridiculous amounts for SLA wax-like resins. Assumptions challenged and thank you, sir!
You are so right! We used to carve stuff in (then new) polystyrene foam when I was an engineering student in the '60s. The metal was mostly 'pistominium' from scrap pistons. Very rough and ready indeed! Health & safety would not have approved of our furnace, never mind the working practices.
@@250tegra That sounds great! I've heard that in "lost foam" casting the hot metal just does the burnout itself. This makes a lot of sense, since there is plenty of styrofoam around, and it's easy to work with the hot wire saw, hot tools and so on. This seems like it would be just the thing for a certain size and not too much detail.
Wonderful. I have used investment plaster to do lost wax casting in bronze in a centrifuge , to make masters in a figurine factory. Brought back many memories.
dear myfordboy your videos inspire me The only thing I haven't achieved yet is emptying the plan. I don't have the right oven, but we're going to keep trying. Thank you very much for entertaining my mind!
Really enjoyed your video. I remember during the late 80's when i was in Junior high we had shop class and learned woodworking, welding etc. This was demonstrated to us by our instructor but I never tried it. I have Adult ADHD (ADHD) back then, but that was when it wasn't even heard of. The point is I could not focus on things as paying attention to the instructor describing the technique or the type of sand. So I was apprehensive. Now that I self-manage my ADHD I look back and see how I did not understand, but yet when I was focused on something I liked, my mind went wild with it. Now I have embraced my learning condition. Not that this means anything other than the point that I remember this being done. To do this at home though. I would need a refresher and where to get the materials. Finally, with all the different casitng methods I have seen people demonstrating and talking about bubbles in their molds. I am thinking to myself. "Why are they not using a massaging vibrator to get the bubbles out. And you sir are the first to do that. Yay! Again, Great video.
The definition of that part was outstanding, you could even see the grooves from the printing! Very interesting technique to learn, thank you for the knowledge you put out there good sir :).
Reminds me somewhat of Primitive Technology. Simple direct guidance that demonstrates how something is prepared without frills or anything to get in the way of understanding the method.
Absolutely ingenious use of household items repurposed as tools! This is like watching Bob Ross paint. How could ANYONE give this a thumbs down? Now I know what to do with our old furniture. I better check with my wife first though, so that I don't use an antique or heirloom from her aunt.
Ive done some casting, at my job years ago for a railroad foundry. Your technique is a little different but you just showed me that you can get more detail without a bunch of cores,,, well done! Also, I never knew plaster could hold up to that kind of heat. 👍
Found your blog, answers A LOT of my questions. Wow. What a treasure trove! Stuff you don't learn in school and plans that are not found anywhere else. Thank yo!
it must be SO nice to have a local supplier of small volume supplies. Nothing close to me that sells in hobby quantities. I'm always impressed with the "gooiness" of your green sand. It's soooo smooth. I use lost foam all the time and it's a lot of work for one off castings. The pla makes an excellent end product but just one of them. :-(
Such an inspiring thing to watch! I agree with the others, I appreciate the no-frills approach to the video presentation (no music). It's strangely calming but also exciting to watch, and informative. I absolutely LOVE how your box frames, work surface and tools all look like they're re-purposed parts of an old desk! I really want to make a little foundry for myself, now!
Love your videos and I'm constantly in awe of how flawless your casts turn out and how rarely you have failures. That being said, I can't say I've ever seen you remove dross from the molten aluminum or add anything to de-gas it. As clean as your casts are straight out of the sand mould, I have to assume that you do those things so I'd love to have some insight on that process. Hopefully it isn't a "secret recipe" kind of thing. At any rate, thank you. Your videos are informative and educational without you saying a word and I love it that you don't add any of the typical repetitive music.
I do remove dross, degass and flux. I have shown this in most videos I thought but not all as It was repetitive. To degass I use sodium carbonate and a drossing flux is added afterwards.
@@myfordboy Thanks for the reply. I'm just in the process of setting myself up to start casting aluminum and trying to learn all I can to achieve decent quality. I must not have found any of your videos that show that process but I will look closer. I knew you had to be doing this based on the quality of your casts even before post processing.
I enjoyed working in the foundry,making moulds and cors,and casting 1 to 2 tonns of pig iron,aluminum,brass and phosphor bronze.The sheer heat of the furnace in winter was a warm comfort.You had to keep safe with molten metal around you.
I devised this process for soluble filament but I have a toddler and limitations atm; however, I'm glad I saw this for my future projects. You are a scientist and a scholar.
This is rather clever. With investing casting generally the metal if forced into the investment mold. Either by spinning the mold while casting or sucked in using a vacuum. Placing the open top investment into the drag allows air to escape up through the sand in the cope.
@@watchtheskies The part volume doesn't rise into the cope (top of mold); it is essentially flat at that interface, save the gentle slope to the downsprue. This, gives little place for air to 'catch' and displace the molten metal. Most castings displace a significant volume of sand in the cope (for symmetric parts, as an example), that may trap air, hence the need for a vent.
Very nice result! I would like to try this but my parts will be much smaller so I can probably get away without the greensand and just do the whole thing in plaster. I like how large you made the sprue and vents. This is probably a big part of your success. Vents and sprues should be HUGE compared to the part being cast. I have some "woods alloy" as used in the ophthalmic industry (Eyeglass lens manufacture) so i can practice the whole process with low temperatures until I am getting good results. THEN I can start melting aluminum and probably get a good casting first time!
Thank you for that video. I learned a lot. 2 questions: 1. Could you leave the plaster away and sand form it right the way? 2. Does the first electric oven melt the aluminum too? I reeeaally appreciate your work in silence - by the way!
So this is really a hybrid investment/sandcast technique. Great job. I use a little soapy water or hairspray on the pattern - helps the bubbles lift away.
I’ve been watching you for years, sterling engine days, just subscribe, sorry it’s been so long, great work, stuff I’m doing. Love the casting vids. Thanks
Never seen this done before with the combination of the plaster and green sand. Hope to some day start learning to do this - I've started to love working with metals.
gotta say, using the sander to vibrate the table is a stroke of genius. When I was silvercasting, I spent a few days making a vibrating table.... (I just can't do anything without over-complicating it ;)
1 AC motor, 2 mounting straps, 1 small metal clamp attached to the motor spindle. Attach to the bottom of the table. Wire to Power. Done. Or, remove the bottom plate of an old orbital sander, screw to the bottom of the table. Re-attach sander.
This is a very informative video. I like the idea of combining investment for the cavity and sand for sprues, etc. I have comparable tools and still probably can’t match the quality you’re getting.
The sand could be replaced with all plaster mould without any problem. My oven would not allow for this and i have plenty of greensand. . You do need the height of the feeder for aluminium to give "head" to the metal.
@@myfordboy Can you explain a little further? I was wondering why your feeder attaches from the side. I've done some aluminium casting at university and with blacksmithing groups. They all had some problems with gas as well as the aluminium sometimes cooling before it got to the edges of the mould. Each time the feeders went straight into the mould void. If we'd had larger and taller feeders that would have held the heat better and the weight of the metal in the taller feeder pushes more metal into the mould form? Is that what you've done here? Great video and cast by the way.
@@chrisvickery445 You need the extra height and volume of metal to feed the mould as the metal cools and shrinks. It's bad practice to pour directly into the mould. The well I make slows the flow and catches any debris.
I can't say anything. All the engineering I know in this video No subtitles,no music Only brain is talking,good video and the mastery of your hands I want to kiss your hands master
I watched this video and then, to my horror, realised that I wasn't subscribed to your channel! Needless to say, I sorted that out quickly! As others have said, your videos are very well done and the natural soundtrack is all it needs.
It looks pretty straightforward. It's just that most people don't have this kind of oven and a crucible to make things as a hobby. I think the hardest part is printing the part properly in PLA
Pouring directly into the mould is not a good idea. The well traps any debris. If it were a full greensand mould it would also prevent the force of the metal damaging it.
get a vacuum mix bowl to mix the investment material to minimize the bubbles and slowly add the investment material to all the precision areas to capture the details.
Great video. I think 10 people haven’t seen you other videos and think “it’s a trick”. I love your videos and watch some 10 times to do a project or a cut on the machine watch pause cut watch pause cut... take notes watch pause rewatch cut happy perfect parts! Or that setup would make that easier then the way i did it. Rewatch take notes. Thanks for sharing
It's not a good idea to pour directly into a mould. if it were a greensand one the metal could damage the mould. The well traps any debris in the metal.
It's more about the fluid hammer than the heat (the mold's already been proven at close to aluminum's melting point in the oven, and should be fully dry). Aluminum isn't dense for a metal, but it's denser than water - so when it drops into the molding height, it _hits_, causing the potential for erosion and/or cracking. The well prevents damage to the mold by absorbing that impact, and limits the inclusion of eroded sand into the investment.
There is also a recent idea that ideally hot metal should come in from the bottom. This almost achieves that idea but keeps a more standard method of working. Doesn't require an opening in the bottom that would have to be cut either.
brilliant! i've been wondering about "lost pla" for a long time, I can't believe how clean it looked after the burn-out. Did you use and especially low infill? i love to 3D print and i'm building my own foundry right now (incidentally love your videos on burners - i came up with a simple design for a central heating nozzle burner and in researching some porblems with it, I saw you'd allready done it, but better!, I'm hoping to branch out from just Painting Videos to other interesting things i do too. You're an inspiration! thank you so much for making all these videos. o/
ahh 10% yes thank you. I'm using diesel at the mo (with the siphon nozzle) it seems to work well, but i've not added the forced air part though. It's early days yet, thank you for your reply!
That is one nice looking part mate. Thank you for your time and labor doing these video's. learn a lot watching you work. Over the years you have made some very nice projects, and again thank you.
Really surprising quality produced, despite not having flues through the investment (blind spots) and drying the mold only 2 1/2 hours (one thing is removing the PLA or wax but another is removing the existing humidity from the investment). I'll have to try your method, mixing lost wax with green sand.
I think the reason the PLA burnt out so quickly was the there was a large area for it run out from. Once the oven had reached a temperature greater than that of the hot metal i figured it would be ready to pour.
When using wax, you might get all the wax out in an hour, but wax residues stick on to the investment (ceramic plaster) however long you heat the model. The wax needs to be burned out with high temperatures, otherwise it reacts with the molten metal causing gases and bubbles. The same happens with existing water/humidity. This humidity is not superficial, it is embedded (interstitial), so it is not high temperature that gets it out, instead it's prolonged forced evaporation.
Have you ever thought about casting, and building any of the gingery projects? like the shaper, lathe, or mill? i think it would be a cool project you could split into a series. and with the advent of 3d printing, many of the patterns could be modeled up and print off rather than spending a lot of time with wood working.
3D printing does speed up pattern making but I have a shaper, mill and lathe so not something I would want to do. I don't rate the Gingery lathe, I don't see you could do serious work on it. I know a lot have been stated and not finished.
MFB I notice you only have a feeder hole but not a vent for exiting gasses or putting various wire punctures around the mold also for venting the gasses I have seen just about all your videos and am extremely impressed and I know the way you do it does give you excellent success rates I am just curious to why you dont use them a lot of the other foundry / metal casting folk all use them IE Olfoundryman Brian Oltrogge swdweeb sandrammer Love the idea of the investment for a smoother end product between the 3d printing and investment you have got the process down pat Tony From Western Australia
Any layer lines or other artifacts from the 3D printing will show up in the cast aluminum. That kinda negates the good finish. The real advantage is you can cast parts without worrying about draft and undercuts.
I am going to machine some surfaces for a top finish and fit to matching parts. The part was printed with a 0.2mm layer height. it could have been printed finer if i needed a better finish.
Dom Reale SV Seeker ( Doug Jackson ) has done a lot of Sodium Silicate casting of stuff for their 74 foot sailing Junk th-cam.com/play/PL8E01EB3F0312D0A3very.html interesting work But it seams like you cant use the sand a second time though I love your term For MFB Silent Bob LOL I think he has Just been given a MEME ! What do you think MFB? Tony from Western Australia
Nice to see a person using older tech to upgrade new tech with more robust components, Personally i dont much care for plastic and as for tools and machines plastic should never be considered unless its a bearing surface of some kind and dont even get me started on so called polymer (fancy word for plastic) firearms. great video as always keep them coming and thank you for sharing.
yesssss! No porn-music! Thank you so much! And I will try myself, what you did here! thanks for posting! This investment how you call it is a game changer!
you also do not need the green sand just use a steel ring with a rubber bottom that can be removed after you pour the investment material. the melt your metal into the pattern while it is still hot. id heat the pattern to 1200F melt your metal and while the pattern is still hot pour it in. then once it cools a bit dunk in water to break away the investment material, sand blast and you are done.
I know I am a deity heathen for not knowing this. But, what was the point of the green sand in this? Why not A) build the ducts into the original plaster mold. Or B) just heat the mold and pour the metal in on top with a retaining wall?
It would be easy to add the gate to the plaster mould but my burn out oven is too small to take it.
The extra height with the sand gives the metal some pressure to feed the mould as the metal shrinks as it cools.
Thank you
@@myfordboy sorry to ask but how much does it shrink? 1nm every cm? And does it shrink in the same way on all axes? (Xyz)
@@fireworm91 I make the pattern 1.5% larger than I want to the finished casting to be to allow for shrinkage. Shrinks in all axis.
@@myfordboy "It would be easy to add the gate to the plaster mould"
What does that mean? What "gate"? Sorry im german. In my understanding a gate is something like a door.
What I like in your videos is the lack of any dumb get on your nerves music, and you don't have to say a word. Just watching you do your thing is easy enough to understand everything. Kudos sir!
No distracting music IS A GREAT CHOICE THAT YOU HAVE MADE SIR!!!
Well said! I hate those videos with music too!
I'd add more: it's a pleasure to hear the tweeting of European birds. I miss it a lot!
Edward Hamilton Actually, for me, just watching the video made it enough for me to understand what he did. Add to that my Army days as a mechanic , so it might help.
You can all turn the volume off if you find music... just an idea
It's a pleasure to learn from someone who has, through many years of trial and error, just about perfected this art. I really appreciate you putting these videos online. A wealth of information here.
Have seen others cast pieces like yours but none have the quality you produce, well done sir, from a person who worked 25 years in a Grey Iron foundry !
Simply amazing!
What you do is a lost art. I had the most enjoyable time in Jr. High shop class with our foundry back in 1979.
Too bad they don't teach this kind of art anymore in schools.
It's more than an art, it's an invaluable skill with a huge amount of potential applications even today
Thank you for sharing. I found this very interesting and educational. In my years of manufacturing I'm sure I've purchased millions of alum casted parts, but never saw how they were made. Now being retired I found your video fun to watch.
what i am impressed is by how the pla melted without leaving any residue behind! great stuff mate well done
I noticed the same. It Was 500 celcius organic molecules probably vaporize into CO2 vapor at those temps.
This is seriously such a good video. It's so rare to see such a detailed process clearly, understandably, and performed by someone who knows exactly what they're doing. Great job my friend; very well made video and casting.
Certainly the most intelligent and elegant home casting technique I've seen on this site. Thank you and Bravo!
Another 15 minutes of my life that wasn't wasted. I could watch this stuff for ever. I'm thinkin a Netflix special. Ha, Thanks again Myfordboy.
If you watch it forever then your your time will be wasted. Now go and do yourself a nice part. That would be the best outcome. Greetings.
@@wd9102 this was made 2 years ago
At 3:06 in the morning, your Video, Sir, was refreshing. A simple, no fuzz method, done the old way: with care. Thank you very much. It certainly compares in a good way with all the IDIOCRACY exposure out there in TH-camrs. Thank you, again.
That’s a beautiful part! It looks like it was die cast in a factory, not done in a home foundry. Nice work!
Not only hugely informative but a Zen like experience to watch... I feel better already!
You sir are one of the masters of this craft. I love to watch a master at work.
I agree, it is crazy that we pay people so much money to play golf when watching this sort of thing is so much more interesting.
We dont pay them anything :D Advertising pays them so much money... Just like youtubers. Number of viewers is the issue, unfortunately :(
So you know any well paid youtube golfers? 😏 If you want to get rich on TH-cam fast you have to be the sort of creep that laughs at the bodies of suicide victims.
youtube golfers :DDDD I mean golfers (or footballers, hockey players, formula racers....) are rich because of the advertising. If there was no advertising that people see while watching the match, there would be no rich golfers, footballers, etc, etc, because there would be no other way to generate that much money :D Same with youtubers. If there was no advertising, there would be no motivation to pay them :D So thats why i made such a comparison.
Anyways... Channels like this one and others showing craftsmanship are much more interesting indeed. Sadly, we are minority :(
Mature Patriot
I agree, he's a Master of a Multitude of Skills.!
Very much enjoyed your video. I too appreciate the simple live audio and especially appreciate that you held the camera still. Good content, good video. Excellent. Thanks.
Very neatly done, sir. I have been 50 years in the metals craft and i have only just started 3d printing. It is quite exciting and you have shown me a fine example of a home process to add to my workshop. Thank you.
I must say this is a nice printer and you should be very proud of your work shop, I served my time as turner at rose brothers I wish I had your shop 80 year old man
Unbelieveable! The most clean and perfect lost PLA I have seen in youtube! God Bless you and your knowledge
This is neat how you combined both sand casting and investment
casting in the process. I work for one of the largest investment casting companies in the world. I am actually a Rapid Prototype engineer where I setup builds to create patterns on our Stereolithography machines. We’ve built segmented patterns that we assemble and cast one piece castings of 60”+ out of super alloys and titanium. Mostly for the Aerospace industry like fan frames and such for large jet turbine engines. We also have a few 3D printers but mostly use
those to build fixturing. I’ve been in the industry for almost 40 year but still love watching all sorts of castings being poured. Especially at small shops like yours. Nice project!
Exceptional and inspiring mate, thank you. I just stumbled onto your channel and am really pleased that I did. The brain is spinning now with thoughts of what I could make with my little old 3D Printer and your metal working techniques. Thank you so very much, great work and truly inspirational, thank you
Brilliant! No stupid endless crappy music - just pure instruction. Now we want to see more of your work! Really have to do something about furnace prices tho!
This opens up a whole new realm of desktop manufacturing possibilities. I always thought you needed wax-like material to be able to burn it out and some companies are charging ridiculous amounts for SLA wax-like resins. Assumptions challenged and thank you, sir!
You are so right!
We used to carve stuff in (then new) polystyrene foam when I was an engineering student in the '60s. The metal was mostly 'pistominium' from scrap pistons. Very rough and ready indeed! Health & safety would not have approved of our furnace, never mind the working practices.
@@250tegra That sounds great! I've heard that in "lost foam" casting the hot metal just does the burnout itself. This makes a lot of sense, since there is plenty of styrofoam around, and it's easy to work with the hot wire saw, hot tools and so on. This seems like it would be just the thing for a certain size and not too much detail.
I got a 3D printer. Now the only thing I miss is a metal melting oven... and a backyard.
I enjoyed sir.
VERY impressive work, very elegant and accurate. Definitely a master at work.
Puòuh. K.
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When you do it, you do it right.
Wonderful. I have used investment plaster to do lost wax casting in bronze in a centrifuge , to make masters in a figurine factory. Brought back many memories.
Fascinating! I subscribed for more of the same! Easy watching, no crappy music, just a good engineer at work!
dear myfordboy your videos inspire me
The only thing I haven't achieved yet is emptying the plan. I don't have the right oven, but we're going to keep trying. Thank you very much for entertaining my mind!
I have been day dreaming about doing this since i first got my printer
I'm dreaming but I don't have 3d printer👨🌾
Big stacked forges. I ordered one.
I admire people like you. Smart, resourceful, very well skilled.
That's awesome. It's really cool to see you learning new and mixing in old technologies.
Wow, such crisp corners and high detail. Just beautiful
Very clever!
And the quality of the cast is awesome!
I was surprised..! But removal of the excess is missing.
Really enjoyed your video. I remember during the late 80's when i was in Junior high we had shop class and learned woodworking, welding etc. This was demonstrated to us by our instructor but I never tried it. I have Adult ADHD (ADHD) back then, but that was when it wasn't even heard of. The point is I could not focus on things as paying attention to the instructor describing the technique or the type of sand. So I was apprehensive. Now that I self-manage my ADHD I look back and see how I did not understand, but yet when I was focused on something I liked, my mind went wild with it. Now I have embraced my learning condition. Not that this means anything other than the point that I remember this being done. To do this at home though. I would need a refresher and where to get the materials. Finally, with all the different casitng methods I have seen people demonstrating and talking about bubbles in their molds. I am thinking to myself. "Why are they not using a massaging vibrator to get the bubbles out. And you sir are the first to do that. Yay! Again, Great video.
The definition of that part was outstanding, you could even see the grooves from the printing! Very interesting technique to learn, thank you for the knowledge you put out there good sir :).
Reminds me somewhat of Primitive Technology. Simple direct guidance that demonstrates how something is prepared without frills or anything to get in the way of understanding the method.
Beautiful how the filament lines are visible in the aluminium :)
Absolutely ingenious use of household items repurposed as tools! This is like watching Bob Ross paint. How could ANYONE give this a thumbs down? Now I know what to do with our old furniture. I better check with my wife first though, so that I don't use an antique or heirloom from her aunt.
Remarkable outcome. Interesting how no pla leftovers in the mold after heating it in oven. The mold looks very clean
And there is no PLA in the tin underneath, it has completely vapourised.
10:12 The most beautiful part...
Ive done some casting, at my job years ago for a railroad foundry.
Your technique is a little different but you just showed me that you can get more detail
without a bunch of cores,,, well done!
Also, I never knew plaster could hold up to that kind of heat. 👍
It is a special plaster.
Ok, this is reallly clever. I like how you blend the 2 techniques.
Found your blog, answers A LOT of my questions. Wow. What a treasure trove! Stuff you don't learn in school and plans that are not found anywhere else. Thank yo!
Franklin Moore Glad you like it.
Amazing work!
Imagine how you could easily fit cooling tubes inside an engine or something.
I would love to see some more complicated parts!
it must be SO nice to have a local supplier of small volume supplies. Nothing close to me that sells in hobby quantities.
I'm always impressed with the "gooiness" of your green sand. It's soooo smooth.
I use lost foam all the time and it's a lot of work for one off castings. The pla makes an excellent end product but just one of them. :-(
I cant believe how relaxing it was watching this!
Exactly what I was thinking 👍
Such an inspiring thing to watch! I agree with the others, I appreciate the no-frills approach to the video presentation (no music). It's strangely calming but also exciting to watch, and informative.
I absolutely LOVE how your box frames, work surface and tools all look like they're re-purposed parts of an old desk!
I really want to make a little foundry for myself, now!
I’m showing the guys at my local foundry this technique tomorrow! Brilliant. And what a high quality casting.
Love your videos and I'm constantly in awe of how flawless your casts turn out and how rarely you have failures. That being said, I can't say I've ever seen you remove dross from the molten aluminum or add anything to de-gas it. As clean as your casts are straight out of the sand mould, I have to assume that you do those things so I'd love to have some insight on that process. Hopefully it isn't a "secret recipe" kind of thing. At any rate, thank you. Your videos are informative and educational without you saying a word and I love it that you don't add any of the typical repetitive music.
I do remove dross, degass and flux. I have shown this in most videos I thought but not all as It was repetitive.
To degass I use sodium carbonate and a drossing flux is added afterwards.
@@myfordboy Thanks for the reply. I'm just in the process of setting myself up to start casting aluminum and trying to learn all I can to achieve decent quality. I must not have found any of your videos that show that process but I will look closer. I knew you had to be doing this based on the quality of your casts even before post processing.
It is important to note two things: One must use the correct plaster, and heat it slowly in order to avoid cracking.
I enjoyed working in the foundry,making moulds and cors,and casting 1 to 2 tonns of pig iron,aluminum,brass and phosphor bronze.The sheer heat of the furnace in winter was a warm comfort.You had to keep safe with molten metal around you.
I am amazed by the finish quality of that part it is as good as a multi million dollar casting plant thumbs up
I devised this process for soluble filament but I have a toddler and limitations atm; however, I'm glad I saw this for my future projects. You are a scientist and a scholar.
This is rather clever. With investing casting generally the metal if forced into the investment mold. Either by spinning the mold while casting or sucked in using a vacuum. Placing the open top investment into the drag allows air to escape up through the sand in the cope.
I was wondering why he didn't put a vent channel in there somewhere
@@watchtheskies The part volume doesn't rise into the cope (top of mold); it is essentially flat at that interface, save the gentle slope to the downsprue. This, gives little place for air to 'catch' and displace the molten metal. Most castings displace a significant volume of sand in the cope (for symmetric parts, as an example), that may trap air, hence the need for a vent.
Very nice result! I would like to try this but my parts will be much smaller so I can probably get away without the greensand and just do the whole thing in plaster. I like how large you made the sprue and vents. This is probably a big part of your success. Vents and sprues should be HUGE compared to the part being cast. I have some "woods alloy" as used in the ophthalmic industry (Eyeglass lens manufacture) so i can practice the whole process with low temperatures until I am getting good results. THEN I can start melting aluminum and probably get a good casting first time!
I have never tried Woods metal . I would check it is fluid enough when melted to flow well.
Thank you for that video. I learned a lot. 2 questions:
1. Could you leave the plaster away and sand form it right the way?
2. Does the first electric oven melt the aluminum too?
I reeeaally appreciate your work in silence - by the way!
Due to the shape this particular one could not be removed from a sand casting mould hence this method.
The oven will melt aluminium and brass too.
@@myfordboy thanks great video this answered my question to
You just learn so much with this guy, amazing stuff, all that firing of the plaster and its still soluble.
So this is really a hybrid investment/sandcast technique. Great job.
I use a little soapy water or hairspray on the pattern - helps the bubbles lift away.
I have heard of using the soapy water, I'll try that next time.
Excellat creation. Idea enthusiasm focus and patient execution is appreciated
Investment plaster is so weird; somehow "able to withstand the temperatures of molten aluminum" and "water soluble" seem contradictory.
Ever heard of salt
I’ve been watching you for years, sterling engine days, just subscribe, sorry it’s been so long, great work, stuff I’m doing. Love the casting vids. Thanks
Never seen this done before with the combination of the plaster and green sand. Hope to some day start learning to do this - I've started to love working with metals.
You are quite skilled at displaying the methods that can be used to make castings!!! Thank you for sharing!!!
This appears to be a mix between sand and investment casting. Thank you for making this video, it's very informative.
Very nice work. You’re castings is just on another level.
In the post-apocalyptic world to come, I'm definitely looking you up!
I notice your comment was 1 year ago. Looks like you were not too far off. But who knew It'd be toilet paper lol
gotta say, using the sander to vibrate the table is a stroke of genius. When I was silvercasting, I spent a few days making a vibrating table.... (I just can't do anything without over-complicating it ;)
1 AC motor, 2 mounting straps, 1 small metal clamp attached to the motor spindle. Attach to the bottom of the table. Wire to Power. Done.
Or, remove the bottom plate of an old orbital sander, screw to the bottom of the table. Re-attach sander.
Sir, it a well explained video. Please, could you tell me what machine did you use for vibration to make the air bubbles go out.
It was an orbital sander.
Great work! What software did you use to design your plug mold for 3-d printing?
6,000 years ago we had the Lost-wax casting so what's new . great video thanks for the time
You made my day.. I was struggling to cast a 1/6 scale gun breech.. Many failures. Thanks. Attila
Did filament form came out after heat it? I want to cast same and it interest to me did it possible
This is a very informative video. I like the idea of combining investment for the cavity and sand for sprues, etc. I have comparable tools and still probably can’t match the quality you’re getting.
amateur question: could you not have done this without the sand?
seems like you could have just poured the metal into a plaster mold... no?
The sand could be replaced with all plaster mould without any problem. My oven would not allow for this and i have plenty of greensand. . You do need the height of the feeder for aluminium to give "head" to the metal.
How to let the air out when molten metal fills into the moid?
@@myfordboy Can you explain a little further? I was wondering why your feeder attaches from the side. I've done some aluminium casting at university and with blacksmithing groups. They all had some problems with gas as well as the aluminium sometimes cooling before it got to the edges of the mould. Each time the feeders went straight into the mould void.
If we'd had larger and taller feeders that would have held the heat better and the weight of the metal in the taller feeder pushes more metal into the mould form? Is that what you've done here?
Great video and cast by the way.
@@chrisvickery445 You need the extra height and volume of metal to feed the mould as the metal cools and shrinks.
It's bad practice to pour directly into the mould. The well I make slows the flow and catches any debris.
I can't say anything.
All the engineering I know in this video
No subtitles,no music
Only brain is talking,good video and the mastery of your hands
I want to kiss your hands master
I watched this video and then, to my horror, realised that I wasn't subscribed to your channel! Needless to say, I sorted that out quickly! As others have said, your videos are very well done and the natural soundtrack is all it needs.
this is the best video i have ever seen for teaching casting with best details with easy tools ... you are master
Amazing. Thank you so much for your ongoing posts like this. It really inspires me to keep going on my own stuff as well. keep up the great work!
It looks pretty straightforward. It's just that most people don't have this kind of oven and a crucible to make things as a hobby. I think the hardest part is printing the part properly in PLA
7:11 - I've never seen that done before. What does the well do?
Pouring directly into the mould is not a good idea. The well traps any debris. If it were a full greensand mould it would also prevent the force of the metal damaging it.
get a vacuum mix bowl to mix the investment material to minimize the bubbles and slowly add the investment material to all the precision areas to capture the details.
Show the machining of the part you just made
Yeap Indiana, thats exactly what I was thinking lol
Yes, please do.
Nice. So much effort! Imagine doing this for every single component of your printer
hello Sir how many hours you left the plaster mold in the oven .?
It was in the oven about 2 1/2 hours from cold. When I checked it after that time all the PLA had gone so i knew it was ok to cast.
thanks master i hop all the best for you your friend from morocco
Great video. I think 10 people haven’t seen you other videos and think “it’s a trick”. I love your videos and watch some 10 times to do a project or a cut on the machine watch pause cut watch pause cut... take notes watch pause rewatch cut happy perfect parts! Or that setup would make that easier then the way i did it. Rewatch take notes. Thanks for sharing
What is the purpose of the well in the cope?
It's not a good idea to pour directly into a mould. if it were a greensand one the metal could damage the mould. The well traps any debris in the metal.
Any greensand that fell down the cope would fall into the well, not out horizontally into the mould. (one hopes.)
Still would not work.
It's more about the fluid hammer than the heat (the mold's already been proven at close to aluminum's melting point in the oven, and should be fully dry). Aluminum isn't dense for a metal, but it's denser than water - so when it drops into the molding height, it _hits_, causing the potential for erosion and/or cracking. The well prevents damage to the mold by absorbing that impact, and limits the inclusion of eroded sand into the investment.
There is also a recent idea that ideally hot metal should come in from the bottom. This almost achieves that idea but keeps a more standard method of working. Doesn't require an opening in the bottom that would have to be cut either.
Really nice of you to share the process in such detail. Great quality.
brilliant! i've been wondering about "lost pla" for a long time, I can't believe how clean it looked after the burn-out. Did you use and especially low infill? i love to 3D print and i'm building my own foundry right now (incidentally love your videos on burners - i came up with a simple design for a central heating nozzle burner and in researching some porblems with it, I saw you'd allready done it, but better!, I'm hoping to branch out from just Painting Videos to other interesting things i do too. You're an inspiration! thank you so much for making all these videos. o/
I used 10% infill.
If you want to use waste oil you need a siphon nozzle. Central heating one would be OK for a pumped kerosene burner.
ahh 10% yes thank you. I'm using diesel at the mo (with the siphon nozzle) it seems to work well, but i've not added the forced air part though. It's early days yet, thank you for your reply!
That is one nice looking part mate. Thank you for your time and labor doing these video's. learn a lot watching you work. Over the years you have made some very nice projects, and again thank you.
dang I need to make some parts....if I only had a 3d printer....&furnace...and green sand....and....
Skill
and some will.....huh?
buy an Anet A8 3d printer. youll have to build it, but I built mine and had it printing in 12 hours. its only 150$ USD
@@MCsempfi or spent 50 bucks more and buy ender 3 pro...man the creality one is much better than this Anet A8 thing
@@domentrontelj2148 the standard ender 3 is good enough and it's only 10 dollars more than the anet
Really surprising quality produced, despite not having flues through the investment (blind spots) and drying the mold only 2 1/2 hours (one thing is removing the PLA or wax but another is removing the existing humidity from the investment). I'll have to try your method, mixing lost wax with green sand.
I think the reason the PLA burnt out so quickly was the there was a large area for it run out from. Once the oven had reached a temperature greater than that of the hot metal i figured it would be ready to pour.
When using wax, you might get all the wax out in an hour, but wax residues stick on to the investment (ceramic plaster) however long you heat the model. The wax needs to be burned out with high temperatures, otherwise it reacts with the molten metal causing gases and bubbles. The same happens with existing water/humidity. This humidity is not superficial, it is embedded (interstitial), so it is not high temperature that gets it out, instead it's prolonged forced evaporation.
Ye good olde table leg tamper, love it!
You have hands down the best channel for casting on youtube. Cheers!
Your wife already know that you stole her tupperware and ruin it...?
Beyond the joke an excelent work, very clever.
Creativity 3D print, but your way to creating this object is very good. Thank you for share, I was trying to do something objects with ashes.
Gorgeous work as always! Looks like it might be time for a new quenching bucket, though... ;)
Have you ever thought about casting, and building any of the gingery projects? like the shaper, lathe, or mill? i think it would be a cool project you could split into a series. and with the advent of 3d printing, many of the patterns could be modeled up and print off rather than spending a lot of time with wood working.
3D printing does speed up pattern making but I have a shaper, mill and lathe so not something I would want to do. I don't rate the Gingery lathe, I don't see you could do serious work on it. I know a lot have been stated and not finished.
MFB I notice you only have a feeder hole but not a vent for exiting gasses or putting various wire punctures around the mold also for venting the gasses I have seen just about all your videos and am extremely impressed and I know the way you do it does give you excellent success rates I am just curious to why you dont use them
a lot of the other foundry / metal casting folk all use them IE
Olfoundryman
Brian Oltrogge
swdweeb
sandrammer
Love the idea of the investment for a smoother end product between the 3d printing and investment you have got the process down pat
Tony From Western Australia
Any layer lines or other artifacts from the 3D printing will show up in the cast aluminum. That kinda negates the good finish. The real advantage is you can cast parts without worrying about draft and undercuts.
I have not found it necessary to add vent holes in any castings. The sand porosity takes care of venting.
I am going to machine some surfaces for a top finish and fit to matching parts. The part was printed with a 0.2mm layer height. it could have been printed finer if i needed a better finish.
Dom Reale SV Seeker ( Doug Jackson ) has done a lot of Sodium Silicate casting of stuff for their 74 foot sailing Junk
th-cam.com/play/PL8E01EB3F0312D0A3very.html interesting work But it seams like you cant use the sand a second time though
I love your term For MFB Silent Bob LOL I think he has Just been given a MEME ! What do you think MFB?
Tony from Western Australia
Can't argue with the silent comment.
Nice to see a person using older tech to upgrade new tech with more robust components, Personally i dont much care for plastic and as for tools and machines plastic should never be considered unless its a bearing surface of some kind and dont even get me started on so called polymer (fancy word for plastic) firearms. great video as always keep them coming and thank you for sharing.
yesssss! No porn-music! Thank you so much!
And I will try myself, what you did here! thanks for posting! This investment how you call it is a game changer!
Did you try yet? Can you share with me a result of it?
Part turned out great!
you also do not need the green sand just use a steel ring with a rubber bottom that can be removed after you pour the investment material. the melt your metal into the pattern while it is still hot. id heat the pattern to 1200F melt your metal and while the pattern is still hot pour it in. then once it cools a bit dunk in water to break away the investment material, sand blast and you are done.
Greensand:
Im pretty sure the guy who named it was Daltonic.
jajajaja
I am colorblind (aka Daltonic) and it looks very green to me hahaha