You always make great videos, thank you for sharing.

You do some beautiful work! I'm so happy I found your channel.

Kelly, thanks so much for sharing your experience and knowledge, it is much appreciated! :)

Thanks again.. so much great content in the last week. really appreciated. cheers

WOW! Great information again. Thank you Kelly, for saving all us beginner lost foam casters from ourselves :-) I've built a crude hotwire cutter for a job I had to do at work insulating parts of a motel, but now I will be building one similar to yours, as it would be far more accurate. That manifold, which you make look fairly easy to make took many many hours of preparation, calculation, and perspiration, and we all really appreciate your ability to figure out how to do all that stuff, and then be able to teach us how to do it in such a clear way.

@kellycoffield533

3 жыл бұрын

You wont regret building a good hot wire. The most important features are a stiff arm, adjustable power/heat, and adjustable height for the supporting eyes. The latter gives better control of the wire and keeps it from wandering and deflecting during use on different height cuts. Best, Kelly

@brucewilliams6292

2 жыл бұрын

I couldn't agree more. This has advanced my plans a lot. Great comment

Just discovered this channel - fascinating and informative content. Lost foam patterns are something I have only just learned about, and you have become the go-to channel for information and demonstration. The episodes on the tea cup were particularly well delivered, but of course - we all like engine bits! Looking forward to more.

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

I did the saucer cup and spoon project to illustrate the lost foam processes and demonstrate the art of the possible in (small) wall thickness for lost foam. I chose that object because historically, molding a SC & S has been a right of passage for a journeyman molders, but in LF, it requires no molding skill whatsoever as the sand is just vibrated into place. Best, Kelly

Another great video! This is all really informative to newbies like me and very encouraging too. Thank you for the very positive way you explain this stuff and for how you talk about it being so accessible to people like me. Your manner of explanation is really affirming. Thank you, I think I’m going to be binge watching your channel for some days and weeks to come! 👍😊

You have the best content on KZread about casting. Thank you so much for sharing!

@kellycoffield533

Ай бұрын

No video but there is a detailed thread at www.TheHomeFoundry.org. forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/tubular-lost-foam.11/ Best, Kelly

This is an amazing series of videos. Thank you for sharing your process! I set up a waste vegetable oil foundry a while back and will have to try this approach. I haven't seen all your videos, so not sure if you've shared any ideas on safety. A good friend of mine developed cancer a little while after working with large quantities of extruded polystyrene. He was making sculpture, so lots of sawing and sanding for extended periods of time. I think he was wearing a respirator.. Anyhow, I thought it would be smart to make sure any foam cutting is done w a respirator and outdoors or with a powerful extractor hood. Thanks very much!

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

I use a particulate mask when machining PS. The chips are not very small so fines are not much of a health threat. The combusted PS and trapped vapor inth emolding sand are another matter. I only pour and demold outside and for large pours wear a respirator. Best, Kelly

Would you Take a look at a solid model of some modular small block chevy 18 degree ports i have designed in regard to feasability. you have a awesome channel, very well done without annoying music, just quality commentary . Thank You

Great video. I would think a laser cutter would work really well for some of this work, especially for thinner sections.

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

I use a hotwire for 2D profiles and that works great. Never tried a laser but I suspect the economical low power units available that cut paper and engrave soft materials would work. Would depend on feed rate, whether the kerf was sufficient to prevent refusing of the cut, and that the beam remained concentrated and didn't diffuse. The latter may cause varying kerf width worsening with thicker material. Best, Kelly

Truly impressed about your skills! I’m trying to understand how you made those flat pipes, the outside I understand, with the hot wire, and you split in two but how do you (carve) the inside ?

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

They were made with a hand guided template on a overarm pin router. If you view my "carburetor main well" video on my channel and take a look at this forum post, I think you will understand. Best, Kelly forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/automotive-intake-manifold-%E2%80%93-boss-302-independent-runner.1692/

Very informative... I'd like to see how you made that 90 degree angle... inside and out... Good session

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

You can have a look at the templates in this thread: forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/automotive-intake-manifold-%E2%80%93-boss-302-independent-runner.1692/ ...and heres a similar part with a little more how-to detail: forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/machining-xps-foam-patterns.14/#post-59

Good stuff ...cnc router I'm give that a shot

thanks man

Amazing projects youre doing! I wonder if there's some filler you can use at small marks or damges...?

@kellycoffield533

11 ай бұрын

For small damaged areas on a foam pattern I use low melt temp wax. Just lightly heat a metal tool and apply as needed. Best, Kelly

مدهش ، احسنت🇰🇼👍

This is so neat! Just found your channel today. I want to learn to do this. I have a old Dempster brand hit-and-miss engine that is missing the brass carburetor/fuel mixer. It would be a very simple pattern compared to the one you made here. And not much bigger than a fist. And I have a friend who would loan me an original! Do you know anything about scanners for 3-D printers to make plastic patterns?

@kellycoffield533

Жыл бұрын

You should take in my othjer videos and consider joining www.TheHomeFoundry.org It's a home/hobby casting forum. I have many project and equipment build threads there. Best, Kelly

Hi really like the channel. Can’t believe I didn’t see it before. I’m trying to set up a decent home foundry and of course have limited funds. I’m aiming to cast motorcycle engine cases and carb inlets for cars such as one of your other videos which was very informative. What I wanted to know was what equipment would I need to have that kind of capacity and where would be a good resource online to get the equipment? Also I wanted to know would the foam casting process be compatible with 3D printed plugs? I came to the conclusion that investment casting would have worked but the issue lies in covering tight internal spaces well enough to form a “shell” strong enough. But I can see from your process with the carb inlets that it looks more reliable.. I hope that makes sense looking forward to more videos

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

Best advice would be to join www.TheHome Foundry.org. The whole forum is dedicated to home and DIY casting of all kinds. There's help with sourcing and building your own equipment. Best, Kelly

Thanks for the video. BTW, what is a "tin router"?

@kellycoffield533

Жыл бұрын

Pin Router. An overarm router with a guide pin for pattern cutting. Search it. Best, K

Do you have a video where you show how you made that pipe? I'm not understanding how you achieved that. Thank you

@kellycoffield533

9 ай бұрын

No video but if you join www.TheHomeFoundry.org there is a picture rich thread with related links. forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/tubular-lost-foam.11/ They are made in halves. I used to make them with guided router templates using a round nose bit on the inside and radiused round over bit on the outside.....then glue the halves together. These days I do the same but with a CNC Router. Best, Kelly

@LeadedAsbestos

9 ай бұрын

@@kellycoffield533 thank you sir. I really enjoy your videos. I come from a fabrication background, but just recently decided to try my hand at casting. It's opened up a lot of options.

@kellycoffield533

9 ай бұрын

@@LeadedAsbestos Always nice to have another way to make shapes and place metal where you want it. Best, Kelly

BTW you don't need nichrome the temperatures are no were near high enough , my favourite wire is piano wire it comes in loverly straight lengths in any thickness you like and can take a lot of tension to keep drag to a minimum , but top E guitar strings are also very good

@kellycoffield533

3 жыл бұрын

True but since NiCr is marketed as resistance wire it's resistance is known, which is helpful and the price difference is de minimis. Guitar strings are just polished music wire which also work well with a little more uncertainty around the power supply. Best, K

Kelly - I'm interested to know what type of glue can you use to stick individual foam pieces together that won't interfere with the casting process later?

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

Theres a video on my channel Pattern Materials for Lost Foam" that discusses glues and other construction materials. Best, Kelly

Dear Mr. Kelly. First I want to thank you for taking the time to make these videos and putting them online. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I would like to mention that the audio is very difficult to hear. I know this is your channel and you choose what you do or not do.... But I believe other KZreadrs have also asked if these is a chance that you can improve your sound quality. Just adjusting my TV/Laptop to it's loudest, does not solve the quality or audio levels. Your channel is good, but can be greater with more subscribers if that small issue can be addressed. Thank you for reading my comment. Hopefully it is something you are looking into. Regards, Théo.

When I first heard of 3D printing, I thought it would basically print in wax, and be used in casting, but I heard something about using 3d prints in place of the foam, if that works well, some awesome things can be made easier, just the print time, and the fill can be set low making the mold nearly empty, 50% maybe less, and still be fairly Ridgid, being the inside is like a sponge, and you can get a 3D printer for $200-$300 roughly, and a decent one , a exceptionally good one for under $1k I'd be buying damaged alloy rims, and engine parts to make aluminum ingots, maybe toss in a piston or two to get the silicon up a bit, keeping the engine aluminum, and rim aluminum separate, I'd like to build a large 3Dprinter, capable of printing something as large as a 8v92 Detroit diesel engine block, in a single piece maybe larger, about a 50" x50" x50" cube, and a smaller one capable of 24" cube, then one capable of fine details, and in the 12cubic inch range, so the large part. Can be printed, an the smaller more precise details can all be printed at once, how awesome would it be to cast a V8 2stroke diesel engine block and heads, , over 700cid of 2stroke Diesel, like 746cid, 92 cid per cylinder! And convert it to gasoline or methanol , use a lightened crank aftermarket rods and pistons, to lighten the pistons by nearly half, and a set a 4340 H beam rods with light weight pins, possibly do some testing , maybe bore out the stock wrist pins, and press in a hard tough alloy of aluminum, to keep the strength, and lighten the pin, the shear strength should be tested compared to a stock pin, measure deflection in a press, then possibly look into a titanium pin, with a wrist pin nearly the size of a Honda crank rod journal, it's alot of weight, especially if you are attempting to get it to spin nearly 5k rpm, after light weight pistons and pins are figured, cast an aluminum head with 4 much larger exhaust valves something around 2" inconel, hollow sodium filled, and titanium retainers, and beehive springs, with a custom cam and valve cover, with access to install sparkplugs, a modified front cover, and a distributor can be fitted where the injector pump was located, or in the front cover like the 96 LT1 V8 engine, maybe run two distributors, and dual plugs, bore poen up the combustion chambers in the pistons, and unshroud the valves, also lowering the compression, keep it 16:1 at most, 13:1 atleast, use 2"-2.25" pipe out of the. Head, into a 3" pipe, forming a header, going 4 into 1, 6"-8" pipe collector, reduced to 5" , hopefully it would weight less than a dodge 5.9 Cummins diesel connect it to a manual transmission from a Cummings diesel dodge truck, put that ina duce and a half military truck, with a single Axel, conversion, and fuel wheel delete, with a pair of turbos, it could get spicy!! I'd guess it should make around 600 HP 1000ftlb TQ easy, at 4000rpm with a methanol injection, and carburator, and a 3" intake runners ran directly to the intake ports of the base of the cylinders, requires a supercharger / scavenger to run, it can make boost, use a timing chain tensioner that can allow about 12° advance and retard of the exhaust cam, use a knob to adjust, , mind the piston to valve clearance, the knob control a actuator , eventually use a microcontroller, and a couple sensors, to automatically adjust for max performance, possibly the vacuum under the carb, the rpm, and throttle position, to get more TQ at low rpm at full throttle, and. Still be efficient at high rpm low throttle, and vice versa, basically v-tech, incorporate a slide valve in the intake runners to close the ports when the piston is up to prevent filling the crankcase with atmosphere. When the piston is not at BDC, it should start opening when the skirt. Covers the ports, staying open as long as the port is open by the piston, the brass bushing with stainless slide valve, sealed with brass bushing, like oilite bushing, with o-ring seals , and springs pressing on the slider, the 3" port sealed externally, use a pair of springs to keeping the valve open, use a cam love and a high ratio rocker to push the valve down closing it, timed to work with the pistons covering the ports, allowing the use of much smaller lighter pistons, and longer H Beam rods! Possibly 2"longer rods, with the rings .200" down the piston, and the piston out of the bore .170" and a pocket for the piston dome to fit in, the rings .030 from the deck, the pocket in the head for the pistons allow about .025" clearance and the valve reliefs in the piston should allow the valves to be open with the piston at TDC, this forming the combustion chamber, with only a .125"clearance around the valves de-shrouding the 4valves , and only as deep as the thickness of the valve head, with two plugs one offset from center, with the offset plug bearing a non quench pads area, with the 4leaf clover shape chamber, the other plug should be at the stem, at the front or rear of the cylinder, if possible set the timing of the distributor about 1°-2° off from each other, to fire the center plug first, a millisecond later the #2 plug fires, the distributor firing at crank speed, with the blower filling the cylinder, compression, ignition, just before the intake port is uncovered, the exhaust valve opens, the leaving exhaust could possibly have enough energy to pull in air to run the engine without the supercharger, the additional turbos, could produce 2bar boost, and should double the power, the supercharger would only do about 5psi, use a water to air intercooler, blow through alcohol carbs, it should make the power of a 2100cid non boosted engine, at 8000: RPM if the peak power is at 4k rpm, and if it revs that high, the diesel only does about 2000 peak rpm, it could do 4000-5000 RPM, would not want to spin it over 5k that is still a lot of piston, a lot of crank, long rod, likely 4500-4800 rpm would be the max, , alot of effort and time , crazy dreaming, Id love to build something like this, sorry to ramble so crazy, insomnia!! 😆 Good day!!

@kellycoffield533

Жыл бұрын

I've had a couple fellas post to my videos telling me the lost foam process can be used with a low infill 3D printed PLA patterns. I'd tell you they've never actually tried or done what they recommend or they would know it produces very poor results. When I say LF process I mean the molten metal evaporates the pattern during the pour, in loose sand mold media. Now, Lost PLA ina hard invetsment and/or shell mold with a burn out step can produce very nice results, but it is more expensive and much more laborious than the lost foam process, especially for larger parts. Best, Kelly

I was watching a lost foam casting video on KZread. Not sure who. But I watched him suggest hollowing out patterns and/or poking a hole in the foam sprue with a hot copper wire. What are your thoughts on this. Does it help? Could it cause bigger issues? Any information/thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

IMO it's a bad idea. In fact, anything that could cause or promote foam, air and other gases to become trapped inside the molten metal front, be it in the sprue or pattern, is an invitation for fold and other types defects. I'm sure people envision the metal streaming down and filling the hole like a plug, then consuming what's left of the sprue outward, but that's not what happens in practice. The metal turbulently tumbles down the hole unevenly melting the walls on the way. What you would much rather see, is the metal sit on top the entire cross sectional area of the sprue, and gradually consume it on the way down. There will be three foam phases present, solid foam, then liquid, then gas, at theinterface with the molten netal front. The gas escapes through the permeable coated exterior of the pattern. Best, Kelly

@odellcreations

2 жыл бұрын

@@kellycoffield533 thanks. I'm thinking this suggestion was for lfc in greensand. I figured as much about turbulence.

@odellcreations

2 жыл бұрын

One more question to bug you with. I know you said ypu could use wax to fill in imperfections in the foam patterns. Does that have to be a specific type of wax? I have tried this with candle wax from disposable tea cup candles. Seems like it caused some surface defects similar to steam defects when I did this. Is there a limit to how thick, wide, long of wax you use? What do I need to avoid when using it?

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

@@odellcreations I use a wax formulated for lost foam casting. You can buy it from Freeman Supply. You can buy a near lifetime supply in 24" sticks the shape of 1/8"r fillet for $40. Otherwise, you want a low melt point wax. Some hobbyist use the wax from toilet gasket seals. Use it sparingly. Maybe 1/16" - 1/8" max in small areas. You can smooth and apply it with a heat fillet or flat tool. Best, Kelly

@odellcreations

2 жыл бұрын

@@kellycoffield533 thanks!

Kelly how do you address the problem of metal shrinkage?

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

For aluminum, the patterns are made 1.3% larger than the casting. Different shrinkage for different metals. Striving to obtain uniform wall thickness in your pattern designs will help avoid shrink related flaws. Best, Kelly

what glue do you use to join the various pieces?

@kellycoffield533

Жыл бұрын

Search my cannel for the pattern materials video. It's covered there. Best, Kelly

@bobbrebrosimracing7579

Жыл бұрын

thank you very much, I tried with hot glue but the aluminum stopped at the glue, could you tell me why?

@kellycoffield533

Жыл бұрын

@@bobbrebrosimracing7579 I'd say it was cold metal not the glue and it was just a coincidence that's where it stopped. I use the lowest melt temp hot glue I can find but that's so it doesnt melt or damage the foam. I do "smear" the joints to keep it as thn as possibel but hot melt is no match for and certainly no barrier to molten aluminum. Best, Kelly

@bobbrebrosimracing7579

Жыл бұрын

@@kellycoffield533 ok, thanks a lot, I'll try to heat the aluminum more

what is the foam? is it polystyren?

@kellycoffield533

9 ай бұрын

Yes. If you subscribe/search my channel there is an entire video devoted to lost foam pattern materials. Best, Kelly

name one of the videos where you use the pin router please

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

How about 7? Here’s a fairly complex example for a carburetor main well. kzread.info/dash/bejne/q66NzNSlpcqvYrQ.html And here are some simple parts that when assembled are a cylinder and head for high performance competition chainsaw. kzread.info/dash/bejne/qK5hm6ZydrbRoqQ.html kzread.info/dash/bejne/aoWhmcFmcpSWZKQ.html kzread.info/dash/bejne/foOnx82GkbvAYMY.html kzread.info/dash/bejne/YnmfsdmRf5m_YKQ.html kzread.info/dash/bejne/oGejw7R9e9jSp6Q.html kzread.info/dash/bejne/m3WO1MWoddrUcco.html

would PU liquid in a mold work to make custom models ?

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

Polyurethanes are thermosets and are not good lost foam casting pattern material. When exposed to heat they don't melt but just decompose to carbon/ash and produce pour castings with defects. Polystyrenes are thermoplastics. When exposed to heat they first melt, then the liquid turns to vapor which can pass through the refractory coating into the mold media. Too bad because two part PUs would be convenient. Best, Kelly

@hamamtouqan1005

2 жыл бұрын

@@kellycoffield533 then its only done by cnc machines if we are going to make precise pieces ?

@hamamtouqan1005

2 жыл бұрын

@@kellycoffield533 I have seen 3d printed parts using high impact polystyrene, have you ever tried that for lost foam casting?

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

@@hamamtouqan1005 From a hobby perspective, yes, though some have successfully molded expanded beads, but it's quite the undertaking to make the tooling and manage the process in a hobby setting. CNC is far more practical for low volume non-commercial endeavors. Best, Kelly

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

@@hamamtouqan1005 It's too dense. Need to stay in the 1 to 1.5lb/ft3 density range of PS foam. Best, Kelly

Can anyone tell me from where I can find this foam for casting?

@kellycoffield533

2 жыл бұрын

Search my channel for a video entitled "Pattern Materials for Lost Foam Casting". It's discussed in detail there. Best, Kelly

Did anyone notice the rabbit outside? 6:04

@markfryer9880

2 жыл бұрын

Finally I did see it, but only just. Not easy when watching on a phone.

What kind of foam do you get? Looks super smooth. Amazing job all around! 😊

@kellycoffield533

10 ай бұрын

That is discussed in this video. kzread.info/dash/bejne/hmZ8mreBY7fLkbA.html Best, Kelly