I do believe that this video is the first proper tilting gravity die I've seen, outside of LARGE casting processes in an industrial context. This, along with the preceding video explaining about the tiling process and what the aim is, why it works, why it doesn't work if improperly setup, etc., were absolutely fascinating. You are, indeed, securing knowledge for the future by passing it on in such a manner. My most sincere thanks!

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

elitearbor, Sadly most large tilt casting shops get it wrong at least with respect to the starting angle. Certainly the big shop I was foundry metallurgist at 30 years ago did (I did not know better then!) I note that many manufactured (Chinese) and for sale tilt machines will not even go to the correct start position. Few of these machines seem to be able to vary tilt speed during the cycle even though there are advantages in, for example, being able to start slow speed up and go slow again at the end of the tilt. My aim is to pass such information on and success in that for me = happiness... Martin

@elitearbor

5 жыл бұрын

@@olfoundryman8418 Truly, what you're doing is preserving skill and understanding which is all but lost. We're all better off, thanks to folks such as yourself. Again, my thanks!

They came out really nicely! I'm always blown away at the surface finish you manage; it really shows the hidden potential of small foundries!

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Shane, Thank you. My gravity die finish is not as good as my sand finish and particularly when a die is made as this one was it tends to be a little rougher. Yes, it is amazing what you can do when you put your (open) mind to it, some of the work done in small artisan foundries is mind blowing . Martin

Looks like that new die works wonderfully. Glad to see new videos. The high lite of my day.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Eddie, Glad to have made your day, Yes, the die does work quite well and I was quite happy with the result as was my customer. however even after run 2 I have some more mods to try to get it to run just that little bit better... Martin

Thanks again for filming the complete process, very interesting.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Thomas, My pleasure... Martin

That big pile of finished blanks was very satisfying for me to look at and I can only imagine how much more so it was for you.

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Hemi, A pile of finished work is always satisfying to look at. In an upcoming video (I hope!) there is a pile of 4 barrel throttle bodies that is very impressive - I looked at it for quite some time with great feelings of satisfaction... Martin

Great finish and nice looking castings. Good camera work too. I like the Fiery Furnace intro.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Smallcnc, I knew that you were into flames - the intro was just for you. Good lady wife responsible for the better of the camera work... Martin

Thanks for a excellent video, I always enjoy seeing people on KZread that actually knows their trade...

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Heimo, Thank you for your comment I am glad that you enjoyed it… Martin

So cool... The parts look great, the customer ought to be very pleased!

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Tobho, The customer was pleased and he payed very promptly - I like him as a customer 😀.. Martin

I hope you continue to post videos of your work, as they are most informative and educational. Even the questions posed here are better (my opinion, of course). I began melting Aluminum about the same time it appears that you began posting videos on KZread. I wish I had seen them much earlier, as I continue to struggle with nearly every aspect of making a cast part. Thank you for allowing us all follow along.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Eclectic, Thank you for your comment. Its comments like this that make the effort of making and uploading videos worthwhile. I have had a few people tell me that the questions I attract are better than average and I hope that my answers are too. Making castings is a world quite different from that which most people know. There are so many new things to get right, the sand and how to ram it, the moulding boxes, the tools, the metal, the furnace, the fluxes, the degassing, the running and gating, etc. Any and all of these things can bring the best of efforts undone and all certainly have a steep learning curve so its no wonder that you and, I am quite certain, a lot of others have struggled. Persistence is the key and it along with a willingness to learn, adapt, and try new things with the aim of making the next casting better than the last will lead to success. Its relatively easy to make a fairly ordinary casting (seen a lot of them on YT) but making a good one - now that's the trick. Keep following and trying, read, learn, study, practice and the trick will be yours... Martin

Great video. Interesting technique. I love learning. Thanks

@olfoundryman8418

Жыл бұрын

Dadnatron, Thanks, I love an eager learner. This is a very useful technique when you have a goodly number of parts to make. It is much quicker than casting a few at a time in sand moulds..... Martin

Very nice work. Thanks for bringing us along on the journey.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Walt, I am well pleased if you felt that the journey was worth it... Martin

Very nice work, thank you for showing us how you accomplished it.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Volcker, Thank you for your comment, I am glad that you enjoyed the series... Martin

Just what I wanted to see. This answers some questions I had, love the finish, that's what I'm after. Like the repeatability, yes. Thumbs up and thank you. Subscribed some time ago.

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Dave, Thank you for the comment and the sub. If you have questions just ask I am happy to answer if I can and if I can't I will guess 😏.. Martin

Congratulations on a job well done. Cheers Peter

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Peter, Thank you... Martin

Martin, it was wery nice and useful! Thank You!

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Toto, Glad that you liked it... Martin

Very educational, thanks for sharing!!

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Herb, Sharing is my pleasure, I hope that you got something out of it... Martin

Brilliant work, sir.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Edgar, Thank you...Martin

That was a great learning experience. Thank you.

@olfoundryman8418

3 жыл бұрын

Dale, Its a great technique when a lot of smallish parts are needed and it can be quite rewarding.... Martin

Brilliant. That's the only word to fits. Brilliant!

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Geoff, Thank you for the comment. It is a trick that has worked well for me in the past and has worked well for me again. Tio have made that 326 castings in sand two to a mould and ten moulds a day would have taken forever... and a stay in the "funny farm"... Martin

@vogman

6 жыл бұрын

I've been there. The animals are nowhere near as entertaining as you'd imagine : ) Keep up the excellent educational work. We need resources like you to prevent us casting metal wrecks.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Veg, In view of your thoughts I will try to avoid the "funny farm" Better to cast a metal wreck than to become a mental one...thought for the day.😀… Martin

great video Martin, I am raking my brains as to what these lens blanks are used for..

@Godshole

5 жыл бұрын

Me too, and enjoying the channel as a new member. Myfordboy and Doubleboost being my introduction many years ago. But I can see the step up in professionalism and experience here from their very talented but hobby level. One day i hope to cast a few things myself and it all adds to the mental tool kit. :) Thanks for the ride Martin.

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Arcturan, and Godshole, The lens blanks are to blank off a light beam. The runway lights they are used in have two glass prisms in them, each of which throws a beam of light in a certain direction from the light. Sometimes it is desired to turn off the light in one of the directions and this is done by fitting one of these solid aluminium prisms in place of one of the usual glass ones....Martin

My father was the son in HG Wise and Son that were foundry engineers in Sydney from the 1950s. Having grown up with the factory in the backyard I thought I knew a bit about foundry practice, watching your videos shows how little I really learnt. I can use words like chaplet and chill, but my skill level doesn’t achieve good lead castings for model boat keel bulbs. Makes seeing a master moulder at work both satisfying and frustrating. Mike

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

MW, Its comments like the one you made here that really make the effort of making videos worth doing. Coming from someone like yourself who knows foundry this comment gladdens my heart. Don't be frustrated! Achieving good results is only a matter of practice, patience, and persistence plus perhaps a bit of study on newer techniques. Lead is a bit problematic as its high specific gravity leads to high metal pressure in the mould and this means a great tendency of the metal to penetrate the mould - lead also has relatively low surface tension so it tends to run into the sand easily anyway. Keep the metal height as low as possible and pour as cold as you can without getting a miss run - fine sands or a good mould wash are a necessity. If you are pouring your lead into a metal mould use a die spray like I use for gravity diecasting work or as an alternative smoke the die with very rich gas flame, for preference use an acetylene gas flame... Martin

@michaelwise1224

5 жыл бұрын

Olfoundryman Thanks for your suggestions. I’m only going to a make a few 600 gram castings. My first attempts had large voids and after watching your videos I think I can improve by carving a better basin, arranging the spruce to enter at an angle and putting the riser at a higher point in the mould to allow the air to vent. I’m using plaster instead of sand because that’s what I’ve got available. Using plaster is a slow process with making the plaster mould from the pattern and then thoroughly drying it and I’m going to have to accept destroying the mould to retrieve the casting as the price for a more satisfactory feeder arrangement. I don’t have acetylene gear, but would facing the mould with graphite powder improve the surface finish? Dad’s business sold foundry equipment around Australia, do you remember seeing Rotroap vibrators, Ezistrp or Xpanda mouldings boxes? He used to advertise in the foundry magazine with the slogan “Be wise, buy Wise”.

@michaelwise1224

5 жыл бұрын

Olfoundryman Thanks for the encouragement. My castings are improving, although I’m finding ways to make new mistakes. I made a new plaster mould with better basin and feed, but I’d over baked the mould (9 hours at 160°C) so the was plaster was weak. It cracked and I lost most of the lead through the half joint. Next try with an underbaked mould (4 hours at 110°C) was a bit gassy, but still better than my first try last year. One more try with the mould now dried by the molten lead and I’m happy enough with the result. The fettled weight is within 10 grams of design and the finish is good enough to be faired with epoxy.

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

MW, "Finding new ways to make mistakes" I love it! story of my (and I suspect everyone else's) foundry life. 9 hours at 160 dig C is a bit long but I don't think it should have causes the plaster to crack. Providing the temperature was ramped up reasonably slowly and evenly I did not get any cracking at 400 deg C. Did you mix the plaster properly - many people get a bit slap dash. Was the plaster a bit old - (you can revive it by an hour or two at about 140 deg C). I would have thought 110 deg C too low to dry the plaster properly. An old style mix that may be less prone to problems is plaster 65% sand 25% talc 15% water to a creamy consistency (whatever than means)… Martin

@michaelwise1224

5 жыл бұрын

I've got the casting I need for now. Later this year I'll be building another model boat and I'll probably design it with a longer, narrower bulb of the same weight. That'll mean a new pattern, moulding box and the opportunity to try that old style mix. I think I'll use the normal plaster mix as a facing and the coarser mix for the bulk. Although I've seen RTV silicone rubber used for lead moulds - another chance for a spectacular failure... Mike

Fascinating process more note taking.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Old iron, Yes, its a process that has its uses and thus one worth keeping in the back of ones mind... martin

Learning and watching. Giving me new things to think about. And I'll come up with a few more questions to keep you on your toes Martin! Thanks for the great video. Mark

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Mark, Ask away I will try to answer... Martin

@KravchenkoAudioPerth

6 жыл бұрын

Well you made me think until smoke came out of my ears! So this is basically a series of statements that I think I have gleaned from your videos and your comments. The mini basin you pour into before you tilt is carved out of a refractory I think you said. Sized as per required volume of casting and feeder sprue. That makes sense. I have looked up the release agents and saved the website link. As you continue to cast I'm guessing that the heat from the aluminum will keep the die to proper temperature. I think I understand the mechanism of the tilt system and it could be converted from your oil filled cylinder system and accumulator to either a car shock or a pneumatic cylinder and an accumulator for air pressure. I think an air shock might be the simplest if you consider that you can alter the pressure and the slide in out time. So onto the burning question ( wait for the pun ) over the period of the casting you are probably having to keep the furnace running. Did you degass only at the beginning and that's it, or did you degass part way through the mornings work? As a youngin I really knew nothing of degassing other than it was what I wanted to do, but never successfully did it! And I know for a fact that adding anhydrous substances like washing soda does little more than make steam bubbles. But such are the perils of watching people do their stuff. I used to use grossly oversized sprues and create bubbles and hammering in my castings and had no idea why. What I have learned from your series of videos is priceless and very much appreciated.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Mark, You pretty much have it sussed. All gravity dies have a rate at which they can be cast it is a question of heat in and heat lost, a balance is struck and if you have it right the die temperature stays roughly the same. Each die seems to have a temperature at which it runs best and a metal temperature which forms the best casting. Sometimes one has to resort to things like water cooling or insulating he die to keep the temp right. If you look at the die in this job the two feeder sections have a layer of insulation blanket under a bit of stainless steel sheet on the outside of the blocks this is to help keep the temperature up a bit as there is little metal being poured into a relatively large die - a recipe for a die running too cold. Any cylinder that you can convert to a dashpot with a one way valve in the piston to allow quick lifting back to the pour position would do nicely. Yes the furnace runs the entire time I am casting, on a low setting but with me keeping an eye on the temperature of the metal. For gravity die work I do NOT degas the metal at all. The use of purchased ingot plus the quick solidification time means there is little gas and little time for what there is to come out of solution and form bubbles. In fact many gravity die shops used to deliberately gas their metal as it can help with problems of shrinkage and cracking if there is a bit of gas coming out of solution. Foseco used to sell a product called "Dycastal" which was designed to actually gas metal - not a practice that I choose to use! I am glad that the message of the perils of washing soda "gassing" and the evils of the use of huge high sprues is starting to spread.. Martin

@chuckbailey7200

4 жыл бұрын

@@olfoundryman8418 I believe you are saying that most air bubbles are caused by incorrect pouring practices and large sprues that allow air to mix with the aluminum during pouring, correct? Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I have some old notes that I thought came from one of your videos where you used "... a purge gas (delivered through a lance) to remove the hydrogen from the melted aluminum." You talked about how "Hydrogen loves to mix into molten aluminum. If not removed, the hydrogen is released as the metal solidifies and leaves porosity in the castings. The lance (coated in a boron nitrite) causes the purge gas to be released at the bottom of the crucible, and as it rises, the hydrogen is drawn into the bubbles and taken to the top surface and released into the atmosphere." Did I mess up on my notes? If not, I'm a little confused about the need to degas or not? I have obviously put 2 & 2 together and got 5. Any clarification you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

@olfoundryman8418

4 жыл бұрын

@@chuckbailey7200 , Yes, most or more likely ALL AIR bubbles in castings are caused by bad pouring practices- high overlarge sprues bad pouring basin design, sprue base wells, badly designed runners and gates etc its all down to turbulence and mixing of air into the metal during the pour and mould fill. BUT do not confuse air bubbles (usually over 1mm in diameter) with hydrogen gas bubbles (usually under 1 mm diameter). Hydrogen - usually from the reaction of water vapour and the aluminium - dissolves in the aluminium just like sugar dissolves in tea but solid aluminium can not hold as much hydrogen in solution so as it goes solid the hydrogen can come out of solution as small bubbles. These are often so small as to be difficult to see and for a lot of casting work their presence is not to much of a bother. - I think that too many hobbyists get way too concerned about this and that they would do better to improve their pouring practices and to use reasonable metal rather than to get uptight about a little hydrogen porosity. With me its a little different - many of my castings get almost mirror finished and need to be as gas free as possible to avoid visually obvious pores so I degas by purging with argon. The hydrogen tends to move from where there is more of it to where there is less of it - like heat moving from something hot to something cold - in this case from the aluminium to the argon bubbles and thus it is taken out of the melt as you indicate. An equally important (some say more important) function of the purge gas bubbles is that the tend to float out oxide films and as these form lines of weakness in the casting if not removed and also serve a nucelli on which Hydrogen bubbles and shrinkage porosity tend to form their removal is a great benefit of fine bubble degassing. Note that the Argon purge gas bubbles have to be fine as possible, commercially rotary degassers are used where an impellor chops up the bubbles to a very small size - sadly I can't run to one of these devices as they treat much bigger lots of metal at a time than I use.....Martin

Another great video.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

John, Than you for you for your comment, I hope that you enjoyed the whole series… Martin

Cool lesson!

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Htral, I hope that it was of use... Martin

Sir, I am contemplating a gravity die for an aluminum part roughly the size and shape of a sewing thimble. I would like to use electric cartridge heaters in the die, so the question is : what temperature range should I be looking at for die pre-heating? Thanks for your vids, I have learned a lot watching you. I Hope to get into the years worth of project ideas I have stored back.

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Stephen, To be honest I do not know an exact figure - its a long time since I actually measured it 😊 I do it by sort of feel! However I would suggest 200 deg. C as a starting point. The die spray should flash dry immediately when you spray it on the hot die - if it sort of sits there wet looking and bubbles a bit after a couple of seconds the die is too cold. Electric heating is not common on gravity dies, there are risks in electrical conductors moving back and forth with molten metal involved but no reason why it can't be done with care. Gas flame heating is the more common by far. However with small jobs you may need supplemental heat as the heat being added via the small casting may not be enough to keep the die properly hot, I sometimes get around this problem by insulating parts of the die but the ability to add heat electrically under those circumstances might be handy....Martin

Hi Martin, a very interesting video series for low rate die casting. Reading through the comments section is also very educational, filled with lots of little pearls of wisdom. Question, your ladle where do you source them from and it would appear that you have coated it in a refractory cement.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Mark, That ladle is a standard product available in a range of sizes from a local foundry supplier. It is only mild steel. I paint it with a boron nitride wash - Hardcoat by ZYP coatings. This wash is expensive but very good. I can give you the Australian suppliers of both of them if you wish... Martin

Hey Martin. Before you cast the dies for the gravity casting. Do you take the die dimensions into account including with the sprayed on layers? Im just curious how much influence that layer has on the finished product and how good it will fit after.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Han, With other work like this I have calculated it all out methodically - the various shrinkages the thickness of sprays etc. and machined the masters accordingly, this time, eh, not so much - in the sand casting stages I wobbled the patterns around a bit to make the cavities bigger to compensate for the shrinkage but really it just all happened. The parts are small so shrinkage in actual measurement terms is small and the proof of the pudding was when castings were tried in the light and air pressure applied to check sealing no leaks were found so the fit was judged Ok. Customer happy so I am happy... Martin

If you have anymore larger amounts to make, you need to make a large mold that could pour ten at a time. Automation is the key to mass production. Nice video and clever setup.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Gary. Could not agree more, but this was the biggest die I could accommodate in my little tilter and I did not wish to build a bigger one, also there is a limit to how fast I can supply metal -10 at a time and I would be refilling the crucible every 30 minutes and it takes about 45 to melt! A bigger furnace would be needed and it all just gets out of hand for a little shop like me...Martin

Splendid as ever Martin ,interesting thing about the optical pyrometer, I allways fancied one but I'll make do with my pyrometer with a K thermocouple I allways paint it with a zircon refractory wash to prevent the metal sticking to it,I paint all my ingot molds & metal crucible with it as well but not the salamander crucibles, as you will know molten alloy corrodes steel [& contaminates the metal.] Graham.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Graham, I use a type K MIMS (mineral insulated metal sheathed) thermocouple. I have found that Boron nitride is the best protection wash (Hardcoat by ZYP) as it repels fluxes and molten metal but its temperature limit means that it is not suitable for copper base work, For that I would use a zircon wash. I also use the hardcoat on the transfer ladles I use for gravity die work but it is too expensive to use on ingot moulds etc. If you are going to use metal crucibles to melt metal in please don't tell me about it - I don't want to know 😀 as contamination will eventually inevitably occur and it ruins the metal... Martin

@headstocktailstock

6 жыл бұрын

Hi Martin, thanks for the info, when I first started I used salamander suprex crucibles [clay graphite] for brass/bronze Alloys & occasionally iron[seperate one for each of course] I still use them 99% of the time but on occasions where I need larger capacity for alloy only I made one out of a cut down co2 pub gas bottle & coat it with refractory wash![nothing importane mainly house plaques. Graham.

great work sr¡¡¡ Thanks you...

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Hector, Thank you... Martin

Professional!

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Alex, Thank you... Martin

One word,wow!!

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Donnie, Thank you... Martin

Remarkable

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Swdweeb, Thank you for the comment my friend. See, I told you there is way more things to this foundry lark than you ever imagined - many ways to skin the cat.. .. Martin

Absolutely brilliant, more importantly I keep learning a lot of your videos by the way is it special part in powder you use or talcum powder? Many thanks for sharing your knowledge with us😊👍

@olfoundryman8418

3 жыл бұрын

Paul, The parting agent I use is a commercial one but it is just very fine ground limestone - calcium carbonate!.... Martin

All I have to say is it was worth the wait to see the die at work.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Jkay, I am happy that you enjoyed the ride... Martin

Nice work. You have obviously mastered the more, lets say, industrial parts. If you have the time, please apply your talents to a complicated artsy lost wax piece. Just for the hell of it. I have no doubt of a massive success, like everything else.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Vic, Artsy, Fartsy, lost wax, Hmm, don't know if its really me! And there is a very steep learning curve. But I have always been fascinated by it and always wanted to try it - maybe one day… Martin

Very nice. 👍 ☺ 👍

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Ron, Thank you... Martin

Martin, gorgeous work as always. My question is related to having the molten pot for this length of time. Do you need to lance, clear dross, etc? Do you cover the crucible so hydrogen is not readily absorbed? Thank you and love your work.

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Robert, Strangely perhaps gas pick up has never seemed to be a problem even though I hold the pot for about 3.5 hours while I ladle out of it. I work with good quality ingot so it is (hopefully) low in gas to start with and while pick up probably does occur, with gravity die casting solidification on small work like I do is so rapid that any gas does not have time to come out of solution and form porosity. Gravity die casting is known as producing the most porosity free castings of any of the more common casting methods - when done well of course. However I am very vigilant about clearing dross from the top of the metal as it does build up with every dip in and out of the ladle, I would skim the surface about once every 10 castings... Martin

@unclebobsbees4899

5 жыл бұрын

@@olfoundryman8418 Martin, thanks that is Good to know. Have you thought about.adding a Patreon account? Your apprentices could buy you a few beers.😉

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Robert, At this stage I am not even monetarized. And my thoughts on Patreon are that I would feel under tremendous pressure to keep doing videos if I was being paid to do so - for me the stress would not be worth it. Also at the moment its all out of the question as my health is not all that it could be, while we are hopeful that the situation will improve at the moment I am not capable of making castings - to be honest its driving me nuts because I can not do anything much at all. To really put the kybosh on it I am probably the only foundryman in captivity that does not drink! 😊 Thank you for thinking of me though... Martin

@unclebobsbees4899

5 жыл бұрын

@@olfoundryman8418 Martin, be well and the best of luck with the health thing.

Ha, I shot some video last weekend and I to use my non contact IR temp gun. I was casting brass and the temperature was showing low as they do. Simply the best surface for these things to read against is black that added to other things makes then a guide only, A quick and easy guide mind.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Andy, My advice - get yourself a proper thermocouple mounted in a suitable sheath. (for aluminium but NOT bronze boron nitride wash forms a very effective sheath). That quick and easy guide might be up a blind alley! IR types have a problem generally with varying emissivity and in particular with molten metal where emissivity tends to be low anyway but very variable with oxide film thickness. You are right about the black as 100% emissivity is called "black body conditions" - molten metal is hardly black!... Martin

@WarGrade

6 жыл бұрын

Martin, I have that coverd. Graphite tipped, these do degrade very quickly in tbe Alu flux so I have some ceramic wash ready for that task

Sir, have you ever used High Temp Ceracoat? Its a type of ceramic paint that is good to over 1500 degrees F and works just great on my red hot steel engine headers on my race car. I was just thinking it might make your mold last longer.

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

John, No, I have not used the cerakote material. I had a quick look at them on line and they do look interesting although the preparation requirements for successful adhesion look a little daunting. One of the problems of an aluminium die like that used here is that its thermal expansion is rather great and because of this many coating s tend to fall off on cool down after use of the die. Still, if this material is available locally and is not too expensive it would certainly be worth a try. Thanks for the idea... Martin

@johnparrish9215

5 жыл бұрын

I have used it successfully on steel, exhaust headers, and on the tops of forged aluminum pistons. Its worth a try

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

John, "On the tops of aluminium pistons" - Hmm, very interesting indeed, that sort of makes it a very distinct possibility for spraying on a die. What sort of finish does it give? You need a fine sandy sort of finish for a successful die coat - the metal flows in on top of the bits of roughness in the coat and the air tensd to get out via the small channels in-between the roughness and under the metal, an overly smooth film is unlikely to work... Martin

@johnparrish9215

5 жыл бұрын

The finish is not gloss but more of a flat or mat finish, it looks a lot like your fine grain sand castings.

Very nice work! A full day then? Hours of casting, and probably twice that to clean and prep them. They look great! I hope you get an order for 20k! :D You would need a more durable die then. Thanx buddy!

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Captain, 20K Oh My! definitely a cast iron die for that number! That means a full cad drawing and a CNC cut die. Actually I was exaggerating the clean up - it took about 40 minutes to remove (nice sharp bandsaw) the feeders and about an hour to disc sand the feeder connection area - a few sanding discs. and the casting was over by lunch about 3 hours to cast plus the melt and heat up time - once when I was younger I would have filled the pot up again melted it over lunch and cast all afternoon too... Martin

@captainjerk

6 жыл бұрын

I would like to just pour a few small things. I need a place to do it! LOL

Hi, have you seen a new channel 'casting the future' which covers a CASTcon 2018 with modern techniques. Appalling video quality but some great material

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Bit, Thanks for info. I have looked at the lecture by John Campbell that appears on it. Many in the industry think it no coincidence that his initials are "JC", I tend to agree. Crappy video as you say but information in it is gold. I have been endeavouring to follow his methods (as far as I can) for some time now and am very much an enthusiastic student of his work. There still areas that I need to improve but even so I feel my methods superior to many in use out there (conceited I know 😀). I have seen some amazing differences in quality between local foundries that use his methods and those that don't. To see a 10 Kg open box type casting with mixed thick and thin sections produced with his methods that looks like wrought bar stock when machined is an eyeopener. There seem to be aa few videos associated with CASTcon 2018 - I will have a look at them all. John has some excellent books to his name but they are large and a bit of a heavy read, full of wonderful information though.... Martin

15:40 that reddish-pink glow on the metal, is that the glow from the heat? Or are these other effects happening?

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Luke, It is from the heat I believe, but these cameras are easily fooled by light levels and background colours thus and do not necessarily give a good colour rendition. Here in the video it looks a little more "pink" than in real life... Martin

@lukearts2954

6 жыл бұрын

It struck me as an interesting colour. I don't have any experience with liquid aluminium (yet). I guess the lighter metals melt first before they glow, where iron glows first before it melts... Ahh, just talking about it, and seeing it's a cool day outside made me decide that I'll be doing some forging today. Always love the radiation heat coming off the work piece.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Luke, Aluminium turns red about where it melts or a bit above depending on how bright the ambient lighting is the same aluminium at the same temperature can look silver or quite bright red. Cool day, hell, its just 12 deg C outside way to cold for an oldie like me.. Martin

Dear sir. What did you spray prior to pour and what is the use of it? Thank you

@olfoundryman8418

3 жыл бұрын

Dindigul, The die is sprayed with two materials. The first is Dyecote 14ESS made by Foseco. It provides a thin, slightly rough, and somewhat insulating coat on the die Its purpose is to prevent the metal being cast from being chilled off too quickly when the die is filled, To aid the metal running into the die and , and to allow air to get out by virtue of the slight roughness. The metal running into the die sits up on the tops of this roughness and its own oxide skin. This allows the air to escape via the small gaps created by the roughness and as the metal is only touching the tops of the roughness it runs much further. The second coat is called Release Coat Blue it is made by ZYP coatings in the USA. It is a boron nitride based lubricant which helps with removal of he casting from the die.... Martin

@dindigulautomationwaterpro5145

3 жыл бұрын

@@olfoundryman8418 thanks for brief explanation sir.

Sweet

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Rabih, I hope that your own efforts have a similar success... Martin

@rabihhachem4813

6 жыл бұрын

Olfoundryman my tool is working perfectly and once again thanks to you martin

Do you use recycled oil in your furnace? Love to watch a craftsman at his work. Great work. Good luck with the contract! See you next time.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Mature, Recycled oil? No not any more- tried it years ago - seduced by the "freeness" I guess. But it was Oh so messy friends would deliver 4 galloon tins of used engine oil it was inevitably 2 gallons of oil floating on top of 1 gallon of water itself atop 1 gallon of a yucky grey sludge. It was leaded petrol back then and no doubt the oil contained lead which I burnt and blew around my foundry for all and sundry to breath in - not good! The water and sludge were disposal problems. The oil was too thick and needed thinning with kerosene and filtering too. It caused a clinker lump to build up in the furnace. Also if any differential of gear oil was in the drum it smelled of sulphur dioxide when burnt - also not good! I decide that I was in the business of making castings and not of reclaiming old oil so I began buying nice clean diesel fuel - an on cost for sure, but a very small part of the cost structure and well worth it for the dirty labour avoided. Other people do it though and good luck to them ... Martin

The emissivity of clean aluminum is fairly bad too; we had to use black paint or black tape on the spots we wanted to measure for our experiments with analyzing one-dimensional heat transfer performance in a cylindrical aluminum fin.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Walt, Most of these meters are set up for about 95% or so of "black body conditions". Many are adjustable but what figure do you adjust them too? Molten metal is hardly a black body. I can imagine your results without that black paint / tape - not much use I would think! It is interesting though to try one of these meters as I said in the video just to see how variable the results are! And I do realise that the readings I got off the die were a bit - er - well - sus because it was also hardly a black body, all needed there though was an indication , to be honest a bit of spit on the finger would have been good enough!... Martin

@khawk7365

5 жыл бұрын

Could you have made the whole die out of ceramics like the pouring basins?

Nice process and results. I bought the book you recommended: "Non-Ferrous Foundryman's Handbook." I has helped me in my hobby casting. The section on using an insulating sleeve and a ceramic filter was totally new to me. Have you used them? I have no idea of their cost. Got the book from Australia!

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Larry, Um, this is a bit awkward! I have never read the "Non- Ferrous foundryman's Handbook" And I don't remember recommending it to anyone (not surprising really I am old and possible in my dotage 😀) However I have found the book and downloaded it. It sure does contain a lot of very useful info but I do note that in some areas at least it is a bit out of date. Specifically I note its recommendation of a well at the sprue base. This was recommended by John Campbell in his 1991 book "Castings" (And by a legion of earlier work) But in his later books "Complete Casting Handbook" for example he points out that he was in error in the 1991 book with modern real time X-Ray work proving the quite bad effects of a well base as it is known to bleed a stream of air bubbles into the metal stream throughout much of the sort of pour that us small fry do. Similar the use of runners with steps at each gate has been shown to cause splashing of metal through the gate a continual taper has been advocated instead. Nevertheless it is clearly a useful book to have as a reference, its just that like in all things it is worth keeping ones eye on more recent publications too...Martin

Forgot to mention that the castings reminded me of Monopoly houses or hotels. Secret Monopoly Property Baron are we?

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Mark, Working on casting them in Green and Red colours and then getting a rather oversize monopoly board. I will clean up!😀.. Martin

Post first comment wrong area so reposting here. Could you have made the whole die out of ceramics like you made the basins out of?

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

K, No not really. The ceramic is quite soft and would not stand up to the rigors of metal being cast into it and then the solid casting being removed. Even worse the ceramic is a good insulator and it would take forever for the casting to go solid greatly slowing the production rate. Even worse again very slow solidification is a recipe for all sorts of porosity problems. Also having cooled very slowly the castings would not respond to heat treatment… Martin

@khawk7365

5 жыл бұрын

@@olfoundryman8418 got you. Thank you. Would it speed things up put a u shape in the side of the casting mold run coolant or would it cause too much shrinking?

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

K, I have used water cooling on a couple of gravity dies. They were both quite chunky sorts of parts and because of this I had difficulty feeding them. I water cooled the bottom of the die under the casting via a hole drilled straight through with a very small amount of water running through it. In truth the water boiled off within this hole. Very little water flow was needed and as the die now ran a bit cooler the feeder in a separate die part above was able to provide good feed. I had to be careful to regulate the flow (through needle valves) as too much and the die would get too cold and the part not form properly - all in all it was an acquired art to get it working right. A commercial foundry I worked at used water cooling but they tended to cool the platens to which the die was bolted rather than the dies themselves this sort of slowed down the cooling a bit and made it easier to control. I have also use air blast cooling... Martin

"The die is cast!" ( arches eyebrow in a thespian manner)

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Luddite, A thespian you say, But is the die in this case is the singular of dice and as dice games preceded die casting (by several millennia I shouldn't wonder) would they be talking about the throwing of dice? Apologies to WS who, while perhaps the most famous to use the expression, was unlikely to have been the first.. Martin PS love the eyebrows.

It's been a while now, sinse you've published a video. Is e erything okay?

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Ron, You wish is my command! Just published one! I am an irregular publisher at best but there has been an issue that required surgery from which I am now trying to recover. It was necessary to keep me out of a wheel chair as my balance and ability to walk were going. Wheel chair avoided (hopefully) but still struggling with balance and general ability to move around and work so future casting work sadly in limbo - time will tell. I have a few videos in the can and that just released was one of those... Martin

@ronyerke9250

5 жыл бұрын

@@olfoundryman8418 I'm sorry to hear that you've been ailing. 😮 I sincerely hope you recover fully soon. 😷 May God be with you. 📿

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Ron, Thank you for your kind thoughts. Unfortunately recovery is uncertain as there may have been too much damage (to the spinal column in neck) prior to the surgery. Its very much a matter of wait and see while exercising as much as I can manage. But so far I am a fair way from returning to actual casting... Martin

@ronyerke9250

5 жыл бұрын

@@olfoundryman8418 I'm almost afraid to ask about what happened to your neck. I'm no stranger to neck pain myself. Car crash (AND a younger sibling), enough said. Be well soon please.

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Ron, It is an age related thing. Something in my neck - a disc or a bone spur - I am not sure which the sug-rgeon said, has been pushing on my spinal column. This has caused a loss of balance and thus difficulty moving around, not to mention extreme tiredness through the effort of standing up right plus a few other annoying symptoms. Pain level is low to none but permanent damage via scaring may/ probably/ certainly has been done to the spinal column so while progression to a wheel chair has been halted (I trust) return to former glories is unlikely. How much If any recovery will occur is a matter of time, there have been some encouraging but very incremental and tentative signs that come and go (mainly go). I just have to wait and see and hope that one day I can get back to casting - sure can not do it at the moment. And to copy a famous member of the British royals "I am not amused".. Thank you for your thoughts... Martin

Hello martin Long time no new videos I hope you areokay

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Rabih, "Am I Ok?" Thank you for asking - the short answer is that there are some "issues" that I have to work through if I am to keep casting. I do however have some videos "in the can" and once I know what is happening I will edit and upload these. I might add that I have always been a bit irregular with video uploads - sometimes months between them sometimes close together, it all depends on my workload. For me the work (and the customer) is the thing, the videos are secondary. Basically I video castings that I am making rather than making castings just to make a video. Martin

@rabihhachem4813

5 жыл бұрын

Martin i am out of patience no new videos 😛just kidding I have holiday and i am enjoying my time watching your videos

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

Rahib, Surgery was needed to control those "issues" and while this will most likely be successful in keeping me out of a wheelchair it may not achieve enough to allow me to return to casting - only time will tell. I uploaded a video just last night, but it has errors so I will have to take it down and re edit it (funny how you never notice the errors until after the 10 hour upload!). I do have a few other videos that I shot some time ago and progressively I will edit and upload these. What happens after that I do not know, it depends on how good a recovery I make. Ah, the joys of old age......Martin

@rabihhachem4813

5 жыл бұрын

Olfoundryman sorry to hear that sir Hope you recover soon and go back to your workshop

@pvtimberfaller

5 жыл бұрын

@@olfoundryman8418 , Please write a book about what you know, even the smallest details are important.

No AI on this job.

@olfoundryman8418

6 жыл бұрын

Metal, None whatsoever... Martin

@metalmogul4691

6 жыл бұрын

Olfoundryman, Sorry I wasnt very clear in my comment, what I meant to say was no Artficial Intelligence (AI) its a term regularly refered to these days about robots taking away jobs that people used to do. You are doing a job the with years of skill and experience and there is no robot doing the work. No AI involved at all. Thank you for posting your videos they are incredable, you are sharing a weath of knowledge and experience.

Interesting. So, cast an Al die them cast Al into that die, after heat treating. Not sure if this has been done before. Who cares ? If it works, got to give it a try. Thanks for sharing !

@olfoundryman8418

5 жыл бұрын

aga, Yes it was done some time ago and back then they hard anodised the die so that (apparently ) you did not even need to apply a die spray. From memory it was called the Parlanti process. It is limited though to no re-entrant parts i.e.. parts that would, only shrink away from a die and not onto it... Martin

@aga5897

5 жыл бұрын

Cheers for the pointer - will look it up. Awesome that you got it to work great. Very encouraging.

Sorry, I can't help myself. The die is cast!

@olfoundryman8418

2 жыл бұрын

Ian, That's OK I will forgive you 😊. But of course its the wrong sort of die and the wrong meaning of "cast"... Martin