Sponsor Message.

It doesn't matter in which country you live, you can do your own metal casting. For the past three years our free information, plus our collection of hobby foundry ebooks has helped thousands of people to begin exploring the art of metal casting. Perhaps you are ready to begin your journey now? Read about the fun & personal satisfaction some of our clients have experienced.
Customer Testimonials

You may think that you can't do metal casting because you don't have the skills, remember you are no different to others  before you, many of whom thought they could not cast metal either. Look at the castings made for old engines opposite, they are good quality castings made in the hobby foundry, just like we explain in the ebooks.

You don't have to be an engineering genius.
You don't need a degree in metalurgy.
All you need is the desire. Be willing to read, learn & practice the skills and methods required to do metal casting.

The ebook package available from our web site could save you many months, perhaps years in understanding how to do it. Not to mention the personal help and guidance we will provide to you. Now, is a good time to make the start.

And to make it easier for you to get crackingt, the ebook package price for the next five days will be reduced to $30.00US. Grab it now while you can, the discount price only applies if you order and buy through pay pal.
Click on the link below, then scroll to the bottom of the library page to the pay pal button.
Buy Ebook Package.

John Harmes metal casting project photographs. Western Australia.
      
      Cast brass rocker arm: McDonald diesel.   
               

      
     
1926 McDonald diesel. Items made: Muffler, Air Cleaner Cover, Exhaust Valve Rocker Arm (Brass)

   
  
Clockwise from top left: Muffler for Sunshine 3hp 2stroke engine timing Cover for Cooper Little Wonder engine; Air Cleaner Cover;   Air Cleaner Cover for 1938 McDonald Crude Oil Diesel engine; 2 Aluminium Wheels or Pulleys; Muffler for Roseberry engine;Centre - Rocker Arm. 

  
   
Home built gas fired crucible furnace, works extremly well. Built as per design in The 3- Vol metal Casting Made Easy ebook.The furnace will melt Bronze or Aluminium.

         
    
      Polystyrene pattern for muffler with threaded pipe insert.

We would like to congratulate John on his metal casting efforts, he has achieved so much in the relatively short time that he has been involved with hobby metal casting. The vintage engine project certainly provides plenty of scope to apply the skills of metal casting. Now scroll down the page to read the story behind the pictures.             
                        

Build A Sheet Metal Rolling Machine

Necessasity & Enginuity is the mother of all inventions they say, well what would you do if you lived many miles/kilomtre's out of town, and you just had to roll some sheet metal and light plate for your foundry projects, would you be able to design and build a set of rollers, if you are not too sure how to go about it, then fear not, because all you need to do is follow some plans and written directions to begin building your own set of 20" metal rollers. Gordon Bland from New Zealand has been through the whole excercise and recorded and photographed the step-by-step sequence to produce a nice how to build manual, now there is no excuse to say you can't roll metal, because Gordons Machine will do the work for you. If you want to learn more about this machine then visit the web page at
http://www.myhomefoundry.com/rollers.html  to read and learn more about this workshop building project, the ebook manual is only $9.97US, and it will save you from pulling your hair out trying to nut out the design by your self, and rolling metal with this machine is just so easy. Gordon has done all of the hard yards for you, and what's more, you definitely wont break the bank gathering the materials to build it. A great project to do on the next spare weekend.

Feature Article.
John Harmes. I Did It My Way.

Hi my name is JOHN HARMES and I live in TAMBELLUP just south of Katanning in the Great Southern district of Western Australia.

My background is largely in the Motor Trade where I spent over forty years both as a mechanic and Service Manager, part of which also included 25 years experience with Mercedes Benz vehicles. At the age of 55, I had to have an operation to have a heart pacemaker fitted, after the operation, I had to make a major change in life style, but as the old story goes NO body wants to employ you.

We moved from Perth to the country and bought a Delicatessen and operated the Deli for four years before selling the business and moving onto a bush block to build a house and then setting up a workshop. After we had established ourselves, I found that I needed some kind of a hobby, and after some thought I decided on restoring vintage oil engines, the make of engine was not important, most of the engines I found were in reasonable condition, but often several parts were missing or broken. These  old vintage engines from the early 1900s onwards and there are few spares available, if at all. So I was now at a loss as to how to obtain parts.

Early in June 2004, a copy of The Old Machinery Magazine (TOM) which I subscribe to arrived in the mail, and to my delight an article on building a furnace and doing your own foundry work appeared in the magazine by our mentor Col Croucher, it was then that I new I was in luck.

My next problem was how to contact Col as at the time, we did not have a computer, but a friend came to my rescue and in no time at all, I had built my furnace as per instructions in the ebooks except for one minor change, a removable burner assembly was used. This enabled me to happily experiment with the moulding sand as well as making patterns, I will admit to a few failures, and a few successes along the way, but now I find it easier to make patterns from polystyrene set in hard packed sand in the normal way.

The Items I have cast so far are; small mufflers, air cleaner cover, timing cover for a Cooper Little Wonder Shearing plant built somewhere around the year 1910-1915, small pulleys & wheels, & end caps for a long muffler for the Cooper.

Now here’s a good hint, for scrap metal stock, I use aluminium race horse shoes cut in half, approx fifty shoes provides 5-6 lbs of ingots, and I have a ready supply of shoes for free.

I also make new fuel and water tanks, being way out of town I have to be resourceful and make a lot of stuff myself, so I made two sheet rolling machines for making the tanks plus a heavy duty rolling unit for making wheels with 6mm thick rims, the same style as the old vintage wheels used on old machinery,  this metal rolling unit was made using heavy duty bearings.

A sheet metal bending machine was also made, which I use for making square tanks. I cut all my styrene patterns using a wire cutter powered by a battery charger.

A sand Muller of my own design was also built, and powered by a heavy-duty 12v motor. Another useful machine I made was a de-rusting tank, which is also powered by the battery charger. All the equipment I have made is proving to be very effective, I am really enjoying my engine restoration hobby and being able to cast the special parts required.

John Harmes.
Western Australia.

Basic Pattern Making In The Hobby Foundry.

Success or failure in the hobby foundry will depend to a large degree on the skills & ability to create timber patterns that work, i.e. patterns that are easy to mould, lift or separate from the sand mould. Patterns that have incorrect draft on vertical surfaces, badly finished corner fillets or a pattern that has not been finished to an ultra smooth finish will be difficult to work with in any kind of moulding sand.

Pattern making is a special skill and art in itself, most apprentices spend several years learning the trade. But the average hobby foundry worker most likely won't have the time, or the patience to get involved with the art of pattern making to that extent. But the basic skills are worth the effort to learn, without the skills to produce patterns, you wont find the success you may desire with your hobby foundry work... unless you pay to have patterns made for you, but that would take all of the fun out of it, and also cost you a sizeable amount of money.

Construction costs of professional pattern making can vary from a few hundred dollars for simple patterns up to several thousand dollars for complicated pattern designs. I happen to a know a pattern maker who designs and builds patterns & core boxes to produce alluminium & cast iron cylinder heads, it is not unusual for pattern tooling costs to be around $20,000.00 AU before you even think about melting & pouring any metal. 

If you were a student of the old tech school system of the sixties & seventies, there is a good chance that you still remember how to skilfully use basic woodwork hand tools.

Some of the finest foundry patterns were made from timber using very basic hand tools. More than likely you still have a chisel set tucked away in a drawer, a spoke shave, wood plane & handsaws, plus a host of other tools that could be used to make excellent patterns in the home hobby shop. It does'nt matter if they happen to be a bit rusty, get them out and bring them back to life again, re grind the cutting edges and hone the cutting edge with an oil stone.

Remember Sharp tools give the best results.

Do the same with the wood plane and any other tools, such as a small set of carving chisels which can be used to carve intricate shapes in wood.

You'll need some good pattern timber, and there are many types of timber suitable for pattern making, but, you'll probably be limited to what's available in your area or region. Quality pattern timber is expensive to buy, so ask for off cuts at the local timber merchant, which you may get for a considerable discount

You'll be looking for a soft timber that doesn't splinter, has a straight grain, and easy to work or carve and also finishes to an ultra smooth finish. One of the easiest timbers to use is jelutong, this timber comes from the Philippines, I don't know whether it is from plantation timber, or old growth forests, but it is great to turn on a lathe, or shape and carve with sharp hand tools. Some of the other pattern timbers in use are cherry wood, mahogany, maple, white pine, and many others.

Quite often a master pattern can be made from timber, and then a replica mould can be made using RTV 585  silicone, This is a reliable method to remake replica production patterns. The replica patterns can then be mounted onto a match plate along with the runners & gates, this method will enable you to mould & cast multiple parts at the same time.

With a little practise you will soon know enough to make reasonable quality patterns that create good sand moulds. A pattern making rule is an important item to have if you want to make accurate patterns where shrinkage rates are concerned. The rule is the "Pattern Makers Rule", this is a ruler about 500mm (20") long. Made by Rabone Of England. No B5. And the graduations are marked as: 1/30-1/40- 1/60-1/80.
The graduations represent the amount of shrinkage allowance for different types of metals. The pattern makers ruler provides a built in shrinkage percentage, which means you don't have to calculate the final  measurement or size of your pattern, you simply take your measurement from your shrink rule, and transfer the measurement to the pattern being made. The system is quite clever in the way it's all been calculated.

Machining allowance on specific parts of a given pattern may also need to be considered, generally your own judgement can be used to judge that. Pattern making can be quite a challenge for the hobby foundry worker, but once you learn the basics and develop the skills, with a little practice your patterns will get better, and so will the overall casting quality.

If you intend on making lots of patterns, the investment in a shrink rule is worth the money. You may need to read a book on pattern making, which is an interesting study, and certainly forms an integral part of foundry work, and because you're the boss of your own workshop, you have to learn to wear the hat of the pattern maker & that of the sand moulder & founder.

Sounds like a whole lot of work doesn't it, but you'll soon learn what will work best for you. Spend the time to learn all you can, and you'll be rewarded with encouraging results.

Primitive Foundry Practices in Third World Workshops.