Casting Your Own Unique Tools.

It is possible to cast all manner of tools that you might use in your own workshop, the "C" spanner project below is  just one example.

         
Image 01. Make and layout the patterns on pattern board.

   
      
Image 02. The open green sand mould after melting and pouring the metal.      

     
          
Image 03. The raw tool castings after being pulled from the sand mould. The sprue, riser and runners are still attached.

  
        
Image 04. "C" spanner tools after cleaning, linishing and adjusting to fit the slotted alloy ring.  The two front "C" spanners are ready for use.

          
Image 05.  "C" spanner engaged into milled slot of alloy block, adjustable platform rings will be machined, threaded and parted from the alloy block. (Read more below)

Casting Your Own Unique Tools.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of metal casting is the ability and freedom to make whatever you want (Within reason of your acquired skills) Once the basic skills have been well and truly learned there are not too many barriers to prevent the eager and enthusiastic hobby foundry worker from doing what he /she wants.

If you have been practicing the art of metal casting for any length of time I'm sure you would agree when I say that "Who would have thought a few years ago that you would be making the things you are making right now in your workshop foundry set up? Most likely the only curious people might be the neighbours when they hear your furnace gently rumbling in your shed.

But so what, as long as you tell them what you are doing and you don’t operate your little foundry at stupid hours they will have little to complain about, your tinkering in the shed would be a lot easier to listen too than the doof, doof music the young lads like to share with everyone these days?

Whoops, we are getting of the track a bit here. Tools, that's what we were talking about.

Generally, the metal casting method offers the very best opportunity to make something special for your own use, or, to perhaps to sell things to others, you with me here, I bet you are having an Ah ha moment right now, eh?

The photographs above were taken just a  couple of day's ago in our own workshop, you see, we also make  other products for a certain thoroughbred British sports car and one of the products is a rear adjustable spring platform kit, if you are into cars you will know what I mean. These kits we make have slotted alloy rings, which support coil springs, they are machined and threaded to screw onto a threaded barrel, which slpis down over the shock, or strut body, and is welded in place so it cant move.

The purpose of the adjustable spring platforms is to enable the owners of these high performance sports cars to alter the ride heights for better handling and to provide different settings on the suspension.

One of the problems in the past was that customers seemed to have difficulty in procuring the correct size "C" spanner which is used to adjust the alloy platforms and collars up and down the threaded barrel, we have on occasion machined and fabricated these C spanners, but that is a bit of a pain, to slow, and just adds to the cost of the project.

So we thought, why not cast the "C" spanners, ideally they should be cast from cast iron, which is stronger and a bit tougher than aluminium, but so far so good, the aluminium tools are working fine, the effort required to adjust the platforms is not great as long as the car is jacked of the floor to release the spring pressure before any adjustments are made.

So, we thought this might provide a bit of inspiration for you to think about how to create and make special projects for your self that you may not have thought about.

So lets take it from the top as they say on the movie set.

Image 01.
The "C" spanner shape was copied from small C spanner as supplied with a milling machine which is used to lock the Collet chuck, the spanner was traced and then using the computer and scanner the sketch was enlarged until the correct size was arrived at for the tool size we required... that was the easy part. The template was then placed on the 5.5mm MDF craft wood and four pattern shapes were drawn, a jig saw was used to cut the patterns out and then a bit of hand filing and finishing was done, the important part was making sure that all sides of the patterns had ample draft for release from the sand mould.

Image 02.
Once the metal had cooled, the mould was opened to see what we had (This is always the exciting part of metal casting) fortunately, good luck or good management was with us all of the way and we had four good castings we could use, as you can see, the metal flowed into all parts of the mould... sometimes a little tricky with thin flat patterns like this, a central pouring sprue was used plus two risers as shown in the photograph, as it turned out we had a successful pour. The metal was poured on the hot side to make sure the mould cavities filled completely.

Image 03.
The raw casting as taken straight from the sand mould. Nice clean edges on the tools and the gates and runners will be easy to cut with an abrasive metal cutting wheel mounted on an angle grinder.

Image 04.
The completed "C" spanner tools. Any rough edges left by the removal of the gates etc have been removed and the tool edges linished to make them feel comfortable to hold and use. The two spanners in the foreground have been fettled to fit the notches in the alloy rings, they are now ready to use, note also that a hole has been drilled near the end of the handle so that the tools can be hung on the tool board after use.

Image 05.
A close up shot of the "C" spanner mounted on the slotted alloy block, which is mounted in the lathe chuck ready to be bored & thread cutting operations, the platform rings and lock rings will then be parted off the alloy block. The notch in the spanner engages in the milled slot and the heel of the "C" spanner rests against the collar which in turn allows the platform collar to be easily adjusted.

Without having the necessary metal casting skills this project would not have been possible, the job would have required that it be done by an outside foundry concern if, if that is, you could find a commercial shop that would do it for you at the right price. For the small workshop tool maker, the spanners can be cast for a few dollars worth of LP gas, the tools can be finished and prepared and then sold with the spring platform kits for a nice profit, the cost of the scrap metal was zero. So who said there was no money in metal casting, if you have a special project to do, I bet your bottom dollar it can be done with metal casting.... Have a think about it, you'd be amazed at what you can achieve with a few basic/advanced skills.

There are probably numerous tools and attachments, holders and or accessories that can be easily cast in the hobby foundry/ workshop, the tools above are just one small example.

Show us your best metal casting project and WIN $50.00US

Yes, that’s right, all you have to do is to send us three good quality colour photographs of your latest and best metal casting project accompanied with a short story about why you did the project, how you went about it, and how long you took to complete it, plus any other relevant details that you think may be important. Projects large & small are eligible.

The best judged entry will win $50.00.
It could be you who wins the cash prize of $50.00 US if your project is judged to be the best.

Your cash prize will be sent to you via pay pal, results of the competition will be provided in the next (July) edition of the ezine.  Runner up prizes (2nd & 3rd) will receive selected ebooks from our library.

Does that sound like a bit of fun, OK lets see how many people can take up the challenge, I know there are some great projects happening out there, now is the time to show them off and win some cash.

There's no complex competition rules to comply with, the only criteria is that the judges (That's me) decision is final. The cash prize will be paid before the July ezine is published.
Now C'mon fella's lets see some nice metal castings, we have $50.00 waiting to be sent to someone around the globe.

Contact us on the about page for email address to submit your entry. (One per person).

The Recession Fear.

No doubt you have been told that recession is a real possibility now, we hear it all of the time, some would have you believe that it is the end of the world as we know it. Things will certainly get tighter; jobs may well be lost as companies and small business tighten the belt to protect the bottom line.

So what happens to the hobby worker, do you stop enjoying your hobby? I would say not. Your home workshop can become a truly valuable asset in a financial downturn, if you have a good repertoire of practical metal working skills then why not use these skills to repair things that otherwise would be sent of to the professional repair shops.... a costly exercise in most cases.

Perhaps you can begin to rebuild things for other people, charge a reasonable hourly rate and you might find you have a nice second income stream occurring, there are many ways in which your home workshop can be a rich resource of both income and also in helping you to survive in hard times.

I couldn’t for the life of me even try put a value on the money saved, or things that have been created and manufactured in the home workshop, the learning of practical skills will provide a lifetime of enjoyment and rich personal rewards that sometimes cant be measured in money alone.

So don’t forget, things may get a bit tougher before they get better but the current global situation wont last forever. Now go and enjoy the fruits of your labours.   

Enjoy.
Col.