The International Hobby Metal Casting ezine.
Brought To You By:
Col Croucher: Administrator of: www.myhomefoundry.com
Australia.
March 2006. Volume: 03. Number: 29.
This year is really starting fly, in fact it's about to take off at a gallop, next thing it will be Easter. How are you going with your metal casting projects? Are you having a win here and there? As you move from one project to the next, I trust your foundry skills and project success rate is good.There's nothing like plenty of doing to hone the foundry skills is there?
A big welcome if you are a new subscriber, I hope you enjoy the ezine, and if you want to contribute any foundry/workshop articles they will be most welcome, don’t be afraid to send in a story about your foundry or your projects, we would love to read about what you do, no matter how humble your hobby foundry operation is.
I get the feeling that some people are reluctant to make a contribution about what they do, Im sure everyone has a story of interest to tell other ezine subscribers, so dont be shy or be afraid of critique, strewth, I've had more than my fair share of stuff ups and mild notoriety since being online. Life is just too damn short to worry about that sort of thing.
We have a great story in this issue about a guy who has achieved a hell of a lot since he started on his foundry learning journey, you can read the story and view the photographs further down the page.
What do you want to achieve with your hobby foundry?
Some people are more than amazed when I tell them what my hobby is... "metal casting they exclaim!.. "How do you handle the hot molten metal"? they ask? "It is really all quite straight forward" I explain.
Then they ask "What in the world do you make"? Well years ago I had a great need to cast some Go-Kart wheels for the kart I was building the boys. Then in later years I turned my skills to making obsolete cars parts from cast aluminium. At first I had enormous failures... one after the other, in fact I almost lost interest in hobby foundry. Then I called a halt to the project to discover what we were doing wrong.
We took a close look at the metal, altered the way we rammed and vented the moulds, introduced a set of steel chills to the mould, improved the feeder system, and skin dried the sand mould before closing and pouring. With these modifications the castings that followed were 100% successfull.
Most importantly were the many notes made to make sure that these results could be repeated every time this product was cast. We've since made several hundred with a very small reject rate.
Were we smart, not really... we simply applied basic foundry skills and practice, and guess what, it works!
Many times on foundry forums you see questions being asked on how to solve such and such a problem, (there's nothing wrong with good questions being qualified with good answer's) but then the replies start and everyone tries to reinvent the wheel, why?
So just what do you want to achieve?
If you just want to play around that is quite OK, hobby foundry is a great pastime and a lot of fun. But I admire people who set out with a clear goal in their mind of what they want to achieve. The goal provides a focus and desire to get the thing done that you set out to do. Whether it takes three - six - or twelve months, it does not matter... the main thing is that you are working towards your goal.
I've found that metal casting gives you total control over a project outcome in the home workshop, whether you make car parts - aero parts - motor bike parts - repro antiques- etc, etc, by being able to make things your self provides a self satisfaction that few other things can provide.
There is no need to get deeply involved in the technical side of things... foundry work overall is a pretty basic operation, and until you you get a phone call (Read, probably never) from the nearest aerospace centre to cast some parts, there's no need to confuse yourself with the mixing of exotic alloys.
Hobby foundry is just that... making relatively simple things for personal rewards and satisfaction... and maybe even doing things for financial reward when the time arrives and you feel confident enough to take an a paying job, and believe me when I tell you that you have to think about your little operation in a totally new light once you start to do something for the money... because it aint a hobby anymore.
I've been there and done that. While after several years of melting experience provides the skill and confidence to cast things for the money, you still have to weigh up all the pros and cons.
New Look Web Site.
I guess many of you have noticed the new look www.myhomefoundry.com web site if you have revisited in the last couple of weeks, we thought it was about time for an update, and within a couple of evenings of frantic web building and uploading of new files it was finally complete, there may be some links that are not working so don’t be too alarmed, they will be fixed. The ezine back issues are temporarily unavailable but we will have a new location for them soon.
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Sean Capogreco: Making a tesla
turbine.
Preparing the sand moulds
The sand mould
almost ready to pour.
The raw castings.
Machining tesla stator housing.
Tesla turbine housing.
Sean Capogreco.
North Carolina USA.
Project: The Tesla Turbine.
Nikola Tesla wanted free power for
everyone. He is Master of Lightning and father of the wireless. Gods
gift to the 21st century. Like many early inventors Nikola Tesla died
poor, but as developers we use the Internet for its original purpose.
An efficient method for scientists to communicate. I know that if Tesla were alive
today he would say we were right on target. After all it's his entire
baby. As Sean said "I didn't invent any of this, I'm just
following up on the work of those before me".
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Do you know about the Tesla
Turbine?
Sean Capogreco of North
Carolina has. He is a long time devotee and has been studying the work
of Nikola
Tesla
(Inventor of the Tesla Turbine) for quite some time now. But before
Sean could start building anything he had to learn from scratch how to cast metal so that he can
build a Tesla Turbine. Some of you may have heard about the Tesla
Turbine, a few people may have
even discounted the Tesla theories, but many scientists believe the
Tesla
Turbine will become a major force in the generation of sustainable
energy requirements for the world at large...especially with world
energy shortages (Read crisis) virtually on our
doorsteps.
"If you
can cast metal and run a lathe you can build turbines,
or anything for
that matter".Says Sean. "Learn to command the sand, and you can pretty
much do
whatever you want". Gods gift to mankind is the sun. "We need to adapt
our devices to the sun in order to survive".You can read & learn
more about the Tesla turbine here. http://www.sredmond.com/disk_turbine.htm
All of this has evolved from
the basic foundry knowledge and
techniques learnt from the hobby foundry ebooks to cast all of the
parts for the Tesla
Turbine. As the photos show above Sean has made some very nice turbine
stator
housing castings, plus many other special parts. I have followed Seans
progress for some time now and he has done some amazing things with his
metal casting skills.
As publisher of the hobby
foundry ebooks, I get enormous satisfaction when I witness success such
as this. Metal Casting is not that hard to learn,
and once you know what and how to do it, then you can put those skills
to use and build meaningful, rewarding
projects, Sean has certainly
shown that with a little effort, you will be rewarded with success.
"The ebooks
truly provided the knowledge to make this thing go. Even gave me a free
copy when I lost a hard drive". You have delivered such a rewarding
craft, you've been there for support, and answered lots of
questions.Colin, you made my castings successful.
Congratulations Sean on
being selected as the Developer
of the Month for two consecutive months, on the following web
site" http://phoenixnavigation.com/ptbc/home.htm
Ever wish "someone" would make the perfect plastic part you need for your latest project? Now someone does: YOU!
Alumilite materials let you create professional looking, high strength plastic parts at home. Alumilite castings are relatively light weight but are strong enough to withstand everyday use. Castings can be painted, glued and machined.
http://www.hobbyengineering.com/SectionBM.html
Cast Iron.
The Victorian era will
be remembered for the cast-iron items produced such as; street lamps,
domestic fireplaces, and railings were typical cast-iron products of
that period. Most of these relics are gone, as they fell victim to the
need for steel during the Second World War. But many towns still have
an ornamental cast iron drinking fountain in the local park, or a
cast-iron clock in the town square.
During the nineteenth century,
much cast iron was also used for
engineering purposes. Today, the whole production of cast iron is
directed towards these purposes, and, as in other fields of
metallurgical technology, considerable progress has been made during
the present century. Special heavy-duty and alloy compositions have
made cast iron an extremely important engineering material which is
used to manufacture:Crankshafts & Connecting Rods. Gear Box &
Diff Casings & many other components which were once made
from forged steel.
Ordinary cast iron is similar
in composition to the crude pig iron
produced by the blast furnace. The pig iron is generally melted in a
cupola, any necessary adjustments in composition being made
during the melting process. At present, the high cost of metallurgical
coke, coupled with the desire to produce high-grade material, has led
the foundry-man to look for other methods of melting cast iron;
consequently, line-frequency induction furnaces are being used on an
increasing scale.
The hobby worker whos passion
is Cast Iron will need to find a source
of coke, or undertake to make a suitable quantity of high grade
charcoal, this is not difficult to do. Simple methods to make charcoal
at a low cost are outlined in one of the free ebooks we offer on our
web site. You need to have access to a large quantity of hardwood
somewhere way out in the country on a farm, where you wont anoy anyone
with the smoke during the processing.
The following features make cast
iron an important material.
(1) It is a cheap metallurgical
substance, since it is produced by
simple adjustments to the compositions of ordinary pig irons.
(2) Mechanical rigidity and
strength under compression are good.
(3) It machines with ease when
a suitable composition is selected.
(4) Good fluidity in the molten
state leads to the production of good
casting-impressions.
(5) High-duty cast irons can be
produced by further treatment of irons
of suitable composition; e.g. spheroidal-graphite irons are strong,
whilst malleable irons are tough.
The
Composition Of Cast Iron.
Ordinary cast irons contain the
following elements:
Carbon
3.0-4.0%
sulphur up
to 0-1%
Silicon
0-3.0%
phosphorus up to 1.0%
Manganese 0.5-1.0%.
The Hobby
Foundry - Five Reasons Why You Should Build Your Own.
01: To Be Able To Melt Metal Just For Fun.
People do all sorts of things "For Fun" they drive fast cars & motorcycles, they jump out of planes & parachute to the ground, some climb mountains, & others play lot's of different types of sport, you
could name another hundred things that people do everyday just "for fun". What do you like doing just "for fun"? Are you a practical hands on type of person? Not afraid to get your hands dirty? Then you might be the type of person that will enjoy having a little fun and enjoy the challenge & rewards of hobby metal casting.
Understand that hobby foundry work is not for everyone, it's hot dirty work, but it's great fun on a cold winters day, there is something addictive about pouring molten metal into a green sand mould, to
smell the sweet aroma of the vegetable oil bonded sand cores as they cook in the sand moulds from the effect of the molten metal.
02: To Enable Custom Parts To Be Made.
The desire to learn about metal casting usually begins when you have a need to make a special part that you know only to well will cost a small fortune to have made at a commercial foundry, especially is a pattern has to be made before you even think about producing a casting. Many people around the globe reproduce their own high quality aluminium and bronze castings for vintage and veteran motorcycles & vehicles.
Many of these people also machine and finish their own castings ready for use. Of course you need to have a well-equipped workshop to carry out all of these operations.... but the point is, it is all possible, and it can be done right in the home workshop.
Metal casting is an amazing, but quite simple process, you can take something from a design concept, through to pattern production, which is then used to make the impression, or cavity in the sand mould, where in the molten metal is poured. When the metal has solidified & cooled, the shiny new metal casting is removed. The process may sound complex, but it is not really, once you learn and begin to understand what to do.
03: To Reproduce Old Machine Parts.
There are large numbers of old antique machinery lying around in museums, farm sheds and backyards that are well past their use by date, many of these machines could be brought back to life
with some old time practical knowledge such as that required to do metal casting, perhaps you could be the person that will set to and "save" these old machines from the scrap heap, it is such a shame to see so many old historic machines discarded to the scrap heap, most just need a few parts and some fettling to get them up and running again, so that they could be displayed as working exhibits at fairs and vintage farm machinery rallies. Old machinery provide a great interest to people who have a connection with things from yesteryear.
04: To Reduce The Cost Of Car & Motorcycle Restoration Projects.
Rebuilding/restoring old cars and motorcycles is an exacting - painstaking occupation, trying to source new parts to replace old worn or broken parts can be a tiresome, expensive exercise. Just imagine the huge time reduction that's possible with your projects if you Could simply "make them your self", you could learn how, just as thousands of other people have. Can you imagine the personal rewards and satisfaction you'll feel when someone compliments you on your handiwork at a vintage rally...especially when you can say to them "I made all of these parts in my own workshop". Isn't this true restoration work, making replacement parts by hand, just as they did in years gone by.
05: To Complete Your Metal Craft Journey.
There are literally tens of thousands of people around the globe who can fabricate many things from metal using normal metalworking skills and tools, but many of these same people are quite lost when
it comes down to knowing how to go about melting and casting metal. Learning the art of metal casting will provide a well-rounded set of metal working skills, no longer will you have to find other people to "cast parts" for you, because once you have learnt the skills, (which are not difficult to grasp), you will be able to create all manner of things from metal. Call it multi-skilled if you like, but there is nothing quite like have a wide repertoire of skills that you can call on to help create the things you want to.
A well-rounded metal worker should be able to weld & fabricate using heavy or light steel, as well as sheet metal, and to make the metal working skills complete,learning about metal casting or foundry skills will help expand your total knowledge way beyond the normal parameters.
If you are already an established hobby metal caster you'll be nodding your head and agreeing with all of the above, but if you are still sitting on the fence...then;
What are you waiting for?