Martin, I watch A LOT of KZread videos, but I don't subscribe to many. I happily subscribed and clicked the notification bell icon. You are a pleasure to watch, and an inspiration.
@olfoundryman84186 күн бұрын
Walter, Thank you for your loverly comment. I too watch way too many YT videos - and my wife keeps telling me so 😊Waste of time she says. But I too sub to very few. I suppose I should at least sub to more of those I watch regularly but they all seem to have so many subs that one more would not help much. I guess I am more than a little jealous of their success! Sadly, my health makes it very hard to make new videos. I still intend to try as I have many, many ideas that need showing. But years of shoveling sand and humping moulds around has destroyed my back and even just standing up is now an exercise in how much pain can one bear - old age is a crock of crap!.......Martin
@pirateradio19267 күн бұрын
great explanation! Thank you for taking the time to archive this knowledge.
@olfoundryman84186 күн бұрын
Pirate, Thank you for saying so. I just wish that I was well enough to put out more videos like this. I have a lot more in mind but doing them is for me all but impossible....Martin
@walterchamberlain90528 күн бұрын
Great video! Would it make sense to have a little bit of a draft or taper on the feeder/riser? Would that create more downward pressure, or is it more important to have the volume of metal? Thanks
@olfoundryman84186 күн бұрын
Walter, Well, no it would not create any more downward pressure. That is determined by the height of metal in the feeder and has nothing to do with its shape. Its the volume to surface area ratio of a feeder that is important as this is what determines how long it will stay liquid for. That said many of my feeders do have quite a sharp taper for the bottom 1/4 or so - I do this for feeders positioned on top of a casting as it is one way of ensuring that there is no hot spot (and associated shrinkage) where the feeder attaches to the casting. However all that said a slight taper on a feeder is useful as it makes withdrawing the feeder former from the mould easier....Martin
@crisnevin793410 күн бұрын
Hi there, I've just got to say that I've watched all of your videos over the last few days, and I've learned so much. Thank you for that! You have a real knack for teaching. I have a couple questions for you. as I'm just now trying to get started I know very little. I guess KZread deleted my first comment since I left my email address in it. If you don't mind, can I ask what is the exothermic you put on your risers when you pour a casting? Both what is it and what is the purpose of it? Is it too keep it from cooling so fast? I'm afraid my first project is a little complex. I'm going to try casting the lugs for a set of drums. Multiple small parts in one pour. I may well be a little optimistic trying it that fast, but I figured there's no better way to learn, right? Anyway, I appreciate your videos and your choosing to share your knowledge, and I appreciate any help you would give me. Thank you!
@olfoundryman84186 күн бұрын
Cris, The exothermic I put on the feeder tops is called "Ferrux NF" it is made by "Foseco" although I believe it goes by slightly different names depending on which country you are in. Its basically just an exothermic formulated for use on non ferrous metals. Its job is to catch fire and generate a lot of heat, this helps to keep the feeders liquid for longer so they are better able to provide feed for the solidifying casting underneath. My advice is to start small and simple - do something simple first and work up to the more complicated parts. I am unsure what a "drum lug" looks like but perhaps try just one or two at first. You could send me a photo via [email protected] and may be Ican be a bit more specific as to how you might cast them....Martin
@sirkay911 күн бұрын
Sorry for commenting on such an old video; I'm just starting to get into sand casting, and your videos have been an incredible resource to learn from. Do you have any advice for people who are just starting?
@olfoundryman84186 күн бұрын
Sirkay, Comments at any time are good! Advice to someone just starting out - boy - that's one big question. I shamelessly suggest that you watch all of my videos. Look closely at what I do and ask yourself why I do it and why I do it that way - if you don't know the answer to those questions then ask me that's what Iam here for. Be very wary of most YT casting videos, even those by long term producers of casting videos - most of these people make the most horrendous mistakes. I watched the most recent casting video by one of these people and I was horrified - in 14 plus years of practice he has learnt nothing and still persists in using the most appalling methods. Similarly be wary of most of the older casting books out there as they tend to stick to the "6000 year old technology" that is know to be very wrong. See if you can find some of John Campbell's books. This video of his is well worth watching kzread.info/dash/bejne/a5OrlbGTYsWWYqQ.html&pp=ygUWSm9obiBDYW1wYmVsbCBDYXN0IGNvbg%3D%3D .... Martin
@sirkay96 күн бұрын
@@olfoundryman8418 Thank you so much for your time and advice. I have so many questions and I really appreciate the dedication to helping people and the advice you give. I see a lot of people poking air holes in their casts around the pattern, but I noticed that's not something you do. I assume its one of those mistakes people make but I'd love to know why its not needed if it is a mistake You said in a different video that you melted your metal just hot enough to melt but didn't go any higher than that. Is that a standard thing you do, and is there such a thing as melting your metal too hot? What safety equipment and practices do you recommend? Are you able to sand cast things that have curves such a bowl or mask? The curvature of it seems extremely difficult to make a working cast of. Is it possible to make the holes for your riser and spruce after you've packed the sand in and removed your pattern rather than making them during that packing process? And lastly, how do you care for your crucible long term? I see a lot of talk about tempering or seasoning your crucible, but I'm not sure if it's actually helpful. And how do you clean your crucibles?
@olfoundryman84184 күн бұрын
@@sirkay9 Let’s see if can answer some of those questions: - 1, “Hole in the casts around the pattern.” This is to let mould gases escape easily through the mould rather than blow back through the metal. The gases are mainly steam generated from the water in the mould. The idea is to use a thin stiff wire to poke holes too just shy of the pattern and to do this particularly in areas of the mould where much metal is in contact with the sand so that more of the gases might be produced by the greater heat in that area. It certainly is not a mistake but I do think that many on YT overdo it and often do not need to do it at all as the sands they are using are on the coarse side and thus have high permeability and are naturally venting. I do use venting like this quite a lot and I am surprised that you have not noticed me doing it. I tend to do it around feeders for example as I have found the area around the base of the feeder (where it joins the casting) can have quite high gas evolution and if not vented the gas can bubble up through the metal mould interface - this can make a bit of a mess of a casting. I remember a job that was a 200* 250 mm plate and had 8 large fins running in the 250 direction on its underside. There was a lot of draft on the fins so they were easy to mould but the wedge of sand between each fin got so hot that the gasses blew right through the metal and made a dreadful mess of the casting. So, I used about 80 vents between the fins - problem solved - and several beautiful castings produced. My sand is rather fine and therefore of low permeability so venting is often needed. 2, “Metal just hot enough to melt” Well, No! some super heat above the actual melting point - or more accurately above the top of the melting range - is necessary to make sure the metal does not solidify before the mould is properly filled. The amount of super heat needed depends on the alloy being cast and how thin/extensive the casting is. However, hydrogen gas pickup by molten aluminium alloys increases rapidly above about 760 Deg C so one should avoid going any hotter that that if possible. Some alloys -piston alloys for example - need to be cast with as little super heat as possible. 3. “Bowl or mask” Sand casting is the most versatile casting process there is. Providing the moulder is of sufficient skill there is little limit to what can be cast. All sports of curved and bowl shapes are quite possible with practice. It just depends on how the mould is rammed up. 4, “Crucible care.” Another often over done area! It seems to be just an excuse to make a video. I have never tempered/seasoned a crucible. Mind you I do buy good quality crucibles - no fleabay rubbish. It is said that crucibles can absorb moisture from the air if left on the shelf for a while so it might be a reasonable idea to put them in and oven sat around 200 Deg C for a hour or two if you haven’t used it for a while! I did this once, weighing the crucible before and after and no weight loss so I assume it hadn’t absorbed any water anyway. 5, “Crucible cleaning” With aluminium alloys this is usually quite easy. I do not scrape the crucible out. I just let it cool down and just before the next use pull the skin of remnant aluminium out of the crucible - it usually comes away very easily. NOTE - I throw this skin away. The bronze alloys I use all contain some aluminium and again I can usually just pull the skin out. Brass is a bit more difficult particular if fluxes have been used as these tend to be sticky and can leave a lot of gunk stuck to the crucible, in this case its probably best to scrape it out while the crucible is still hot from just having been used. Note that commercial fluxes used on aluminium alloys do not leave/make a sticky product. Opps almost forgot safety - I am probably not the best person to ask about this as I am a bit careless 😊 However, always wear safety glasses. Have all skin covered - radiant heat is nasty. Make sure that all clothing warn higher on the body overhangs clothing warn lower on the body thus there is no gap that metal can easily fall into -with luck any spill or splash onto your clothing will just fall off to the floor. All clothing to be natural fibers. Leather shoes that can be removed easily and quickly. Do NOT dress up in a mood suit that restricts your vision or movement. Just my ideas and minimums at that. Hope this helps…. Martin
@sirkay94 күн бұрын
@@olfoundryman8418 thank you so much the answers have been extremely helpful. I'm planning on picking up some of John Campbell's books and continue to learn as I go!
@crisnevin793418 күн бұрын
8:00 your creation looks like a happy robot
@danishali206121 күн бұрын
Hi Have u vedio of making runway sign board frangible couplings
@olfoundryman841820 күн бұрын
danish, Yes, I do have a video of sand casting frangible couplings, see here kzread.info/dash/bejne/Y4BltKaHhLWYnps.html Martin
@Chi_Loutman22 күн бұрын
Amazing video! Any advise on a smaller pour with brass? Just scale down?
@olfoundryman841821 күн бұрын
Chi, Yes, I would just scale down on the sprue size. The one I used here was 8 mm diameter at the bottom and I have one that is just 6 mm diameter at the bottom and for small work that is what I would use. Don't make the pouring basin to small or in particular too shallow - you need a reasonable target to aim at... Martin
@Chi_Loutman21 күн бұрын
@@olfoundryman8418 Thank you so much for the response! I look forward to putting your knowledge into action 👍.
@emailformosa28 күн бұрын
Quality content. Thank you
@olfoundryman841821 күн бұрын
email, Thank you for saying so..... Martin
@Oldtanktapper28 күн бұрын
Lots of good information for a newcomer like myself. Thanks for sharing!
@olfoundryman841821 күн бұрын
Old, I am glad that the info was useful. Sharing is my pleasure.... Martin
@rtertertrryytyАй бұрын
No more videos
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
rtert. Are you telling me to stop making videos or are you asking why there have not been more?.... Martin
@heilerdelarosaАй бұрын
If you can upload a video explaining how to make a good oven but that uses used motor oil, your recommendation in detail please
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
Heil. Unfortunately my health is no longer good enough for me to make such a demanding video. however Luckygen 1001 has a few videos on building the sort of furnace that he uses to melt cast iron. I suggest that you check his channel out. This video kzread.info/dash/bejne/Y3itx6eMgdPHk5M.html&pp=ygUUbHVja3lnZW4xMDAxIGZ1cm5hY2U%3D of his would be a good starting point but he has others on furnace building that would also be worth a look.... Martin
@heilerdelarosaАй бұрын
Greetings from Venezuela, I am new to this topic of foundry and I subscribed to your channel to learn from you. Please could you tell me what type or grain of sand I can use like the one you use there and I want to ask you other questions if you would be kind. in answering me.
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
heil, the sand I use is called a "natural sand" because it came out of a quarry almost ready to use. The quarry was about 30 kilometers from where I live. All I had to do was sieve out some larger grains and adjust the moisture level. Deposits of ready to use sand like this were common but most have now largely been used up. Now the best one can do is either buy petrobond sand (expensive) or get as fine a silica sand as possible. this is not easy as sands fine enough are not common, but one possible source is to buy the sand used for sweeping between just laid pavers. You then need to add about 10% of bentonite to the sand mix well and then add just enough water to make the sand about as moist as soil for a seed bed -- damp but not wringing wet.....Martin
@heilerdelarosaАй бұрын
@@olfoundryman8418 Thank you very much brother Martin for your response and recommendation
@joell439Ай бұрын
👍👍😎👍👍
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
joell, Thank you.... Martin
@joell439Ай бұрын
👍👍😎👍👍
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
Joell Thank you (twice 😊).... Martin
@LeadedAsbestosАй бұрын
Very very impressive. I have to cast a piston for an old 2 stroke. How did you fixture the piston in the lathe? It looks like you turned a fixture plate to the ID of the piston, and then used a live center in the tailstock to hold the piston in compression. Is that correct, or am i missing something?
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
Leaded, I did not machine the pistons, the pattern maker concerned did. But it is I think usual to do it much the way you have suggested....Martin
@batchrocketproject4720Ай бұрын
Fascinating, thanks for sharing. I've yet to make my first cast and am a bit unsure of what's happening inside the mould here. At 11:29 when the mould is parted, we can see the bottom (or near the bottom?) of the tapered sprue, which you radius as per the diagram. Nearby we see the larger (feeder?) aperture at, or near, its base. What I don't understand is how metal flows into the part mould proper (the black area). I assumed a channel would join the sprue to the part mould (or feeder to part mould?) but don't see a channel. I'm sure I've missed something obvious but would be grateful if someone could let me know what.
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
Batch, Yes, I guess I should have showed more. The runner connecting the sprue bottom to the feeder bottom and hence the casting were cut into the drag mould. You can see the runner and gate etc being cut at 27.00 to 28.00 in this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/aY1px7mNYc-2pKg.html hope this helps... Martin
@danielpaulson786Ай бұрын
You my friend have helped me out immensely and I thank you for your years of hard work and knowledge that you have acquired to be able to do so.thank you again.
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
Daniel, Glad to have been of help... Martin
@willanderson7441Ай бұрын
Great video and explanation. I miss the old Pablo jars they were very handy 😁
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
Will, The wife was very loath to loan me one of those jars - she has a fair number and the were her mothers - irreplaceable now of course. She was terrified I would break it. Fortunately for my access to a warm bed I did not break it.... Martin
@LonRodsАй бұрын
Excellent videos Sir!
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
Lon, Thank you..... Martin
@thedudeamongmengs20512 ай бұрын
This is really incredible. I have an old lathe and they dont make the parts for it anymore. Ive been looking into making my own for this reason
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
thedude, You have hit upon one of the reasons for undertaking foundry as a hobby - the ability to make bits that are otherwise unobtainable or to expensive. It can be a very rewarding thing......Martin
@donaldcochrane32832 ай бұрын
Very cool. From USA
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
donald, Thank you.... Martin
@InspirationalBeagle-of6yv2 ай бұрын
Nice castings nice tips, keep on casting a joy to see your work
@olfoundryman8418Ай бұрын
Inspiration, Sadly I fear my casting days are behind me as my health is not what it needs to be to cast and unlikely to improve. I have so many ideas for videos that its very frustrating as without the ability to cast I can not get the ideas out there. I may though do a few "talking head" videos as Ican manage these and some of the ideas should come across that way -- don't really know how many would be interested as people do like to see hot wet stuff being poured. - my videos do not rate that well and the thought of any new ones rating even less well is a bit concerning..... Martin
@dennismilburn4442 ай бұрын
Do you have a website or email? I need a piston for a WW2 Sherman Tank heater/generator and surprisingly enough, I can't find one.
@olfoundryman84182 ай бұрын
Dennis, Can't find one? Who would have thought? I would have reckoned that they would be everywhere. Your fascination for Military vehicles is obvious and I can understand it - I drove an Austin Champ for about 30 years - at least they can be driven on the roads and I do have pistons for them 😊. Sadly I am not well enough to help you directly but if you come to me at [email protected] I will put you in touch with the foundry that took over my work when I retired, he has recently cast pistons for a couple of others..... Martin
@gregrice1232 ай бұрын
Are you wearing a respirator?
@olfoundryman84182 ай бұрын
greg, No, but I should be. In my defence - albeit a weak defence - most of the dust is actually clay not silica and it is of short duration as the added water soon stops it completely. By the way after a lifetime of doing this I am now almost 80 and although I have numerous health issues due to the physicality of a life throwing moulds around, recent checks have shown my lungs to be among the best bits left ,😊 guess I have just been lucky but I do find things like wood dusts from sanding etc. much more annoying then what you see here.... Martin
@1crazypj2 ай бұрын
Thank you for imparting your years of knowledge. Metal casting is something I've wanted to do for years but it's either time - no money or money - no time. Now I'm retired, money is still an issue but grandson is 8 and takes more interest in 'stuff' although probably not ready to 'play with fire' yet.
@olfoundryman84182 ай бұрын
crazy, Metal casting is a great hobby to get into. There is a bit of a learning curve but you can do such useful stuff with it. I started (on my own) at age 11 - just fishing sinkers in sand moulds lined with cardboard but it was enough to get me drawn in. Encourage the 8 years old's interest in "stuff" - so much better than in Facebook or whatever. Good luck.... Martin
@1crazypj2 ай бұрын
@@olfoundryman8418Thank you for reply. My father was repairing a clutch or throttle cable for motorcycle when I was 8 or 9 (1960's) in the living room in front of fire. (mother was out shopping). He had some very old moulds so made some lead soldiers and a dreadnought from WW-I. I got a history lesson as well
@cmiimages2 ай бұрын
Are the aluminium dies CNC machined to make a matching pair? Or some other method to obtain to matching half dies.
@olfoundryman84182 ай бұрын
Col, I make a fairly crude wood pattern of the die half. I cast two half's off this pattern in 356 alloy. After the castings are given a T5 heat treatment they are each milled to the same height. The two halves are then, placed together one atop the other, and drilled to receive a couple of small dowels in the mating faces. With the dowels fitted the two halves are clamped together in the mill and the length and width machined. They are then mounted in a lathe and after careful aligning they are bored on center. There is no CNC equipment used for this - all old school manual machines. I do have a CNC mill but the manual is just easier for a simple job like this..... Martin
@cmiimages2 ай бұрын
@@olfoundryman8418 Excellent, thanks for the explanation, I get it, I would like to have a go at that one day. Everything I have ever done has been with casting aluminium in green sand. I dint think you used CNC, but had to ask, I am also old school manual machinist. col.
@oldbikedavey2 ай бұрын
Use oil sand in my ratty old setup in London, but that processor is going to be the inspiration for something built here......
@olfoundryman84182 ай бұрын
Old, I assume you mean that you use petrobond sand. To be honest I do o not recommend that people go to the lengths I did to produce a very fine facing sand there are just too many issues with doing this and it does cause problems that require extra effort to overcome. Considering that a good petrobond sand will produce a finish almost as good as my fine facing sand my6advice is stick with the petrobond but do make a point of using the best running and gating methods - they help with finish too... Martin
@oldbikedavey2 ай бұрын
One of the best bits of kit that I have is just an air chisel fitted with a flat steel foot , which rams the petrobond down pretty much brick - hard in short order. Also using McEnglevan / MIFCO aluminium moulding boxes, which are truly excellent .@@olfoundryman8418
@mohdsufiansalleh40852 ай бұрын
thanks for the knowledge. Even in Engineering school, these things were never told to us. Everything is only surface knowledge that has no basis. This completes my knowledge
@olfoundryman84182 ай бұрын
Mohd, I think that one can only learn the subtle nuances of any process by doing or, but perhaps to a lesser extent, by closely watching and studying an experienced practitioner. There is just so much in depth nitty gritty little stuff that no engineering school would ever have a course long enough to include it all. I hope that I have helped you and thanks for the comment.... Martin
@jackrichards18632 ай бұрын
Well Martin this provides the information required to make a proper job of my part casting process. I am presently studying the composition of sand for the purpose and have almost got enough idea, to proceed with knowledge of the parts of materials used to make a nice clean mould. Happy to have seen this video before we begin in two days time. I will now dispense, with your guidance, those ideas i had just accepted. Which are wrong. Thank you for the instruction there! There is now a fighting chance of making good, the piece I have to make. I have found the suggestion of talcum powder. Also the suggestion of cornflour, and finally to use powdered graphite as a barrier to prevent the different parts sticking to each other. A barrier dust ? I wonder what your dust is composed of? I praise your teaching here that is supported by the explanation you gave as well. Great show mate.
@olfoundryman84182 ай бұрын
Jack, Thank you for your rather nice comment. I am glad to have been of some assistance. Re parting powder. Talc is quite commonly used by hobbyists because it is easy to get, provided you don't mind the smell of cheap perfume (baby powder!) However, I do not like talc as it is sometimes associated with asbestos, its true that talc these days is asbestos free but why take the chance. Graphite works well enough but it is so dirty to work with - yuck! Not too sure about corn flour as I suspect it may pick up moisture from the mould and get a bit sticky, but I have never tried it. The parting powder I use is a commercial product but all its just very finely ground calcium carbonate i.e. limestone - note - NOT slaked lime. Its cheap, should be easy to obtain and apparently its safe - good luck and remember if at first you don't succeed (and likely you won't) keep trying.... Martin
@farhanchoudhre69622 ай бұрын
Hi, you videos give me alot of good tips for aluminium casting. i want to know what is best diy die coating to coat die for permanent mold casting
@olfoundryman84182 ай бұрын
Farhan, I buy my die coatings from Foseco and ZYP coatings. I believe that Foseco have agencies allover the world. From Foseco I buy die coat 14ess From ZYP I buy Release coat blue (expensive!) Basically and apart from the latter die coats are mixtures of fine refractories like silica, talc, zircon, alumina, etc. A binder, often sodium silicate, is added and the resulting water suspension sprayed onto the hot die using a small paint spray gun such that the coat flash dries on hitting the die. I have never tried but think it quite possible to make your own coats..... Martin
@farhanchoudhre69622 ай бұрын
@olfoundryman8418 thx. As in our country, all these materials are available separately. I'll check and make my own die coatings. Again thx alot. God bless you
@ChrisS-ep5qy2 ай бұрын
Bravo for taking the time, Composing this many video snips into a corrective narrative is brilliant.
@olfoundryman84182 ай бұрын
Chriss I did have a bit of fun doing this although I was a bit worried about possible blow back but I am glad to say there has been none. It did take some time though to get the relevant clips.... Martin
@ZhengBeria2 ай бұрын
Nice 🎉
@olfoundryman84182 ай бұрын
Thanks 🤗
@internetmail38882 ай бұрын
Where can I buy facing sand in the UK? Anyone know?
@olfoundryman84182 ай бұрын
internetmail. I seriously doubt that you can buy true facing sand anywhere. Years ago (many) you could buy what was know as "Old French Sand" I believe it came from a quarry somewhere near Paris. It was an extremely fine sand legendary for producing a fine finish but I seem to recall that the moulds had to be at least skin dried to keep problems associated with steam evolution from the very fine and therefore very low permeability sand at bay. There was an Americal equivalent (or at least close) called "Albany 00". Again it was a very fine sand even finer that the old french but the latter seems to have produced the better finished castings (I think). The AFS fineness number for Albany 00 ranged from 200 to 300 for the french around 175. Both were natural sands straight out of the ground )(like the sand I use). Clay levels were around 18 % and the sand was used at moisture levels of about 6%. these days sands for nonferrous work would typically have an AFS number of 70. They are synthetic sands i.e. made up from washed sands and bentonite clay. Old time foundries tended to use new sand as their facing material and "heap" or "floor" sand for the bulk of the mould. Heap and floor were just sand that had been used in the foundry. From this video of mine you can see that I do not buy my facing sand but rather I make it by grinding a mixture of used sand and new sand in a home made small flour style mill. This grinding process does produce a much finer sand but I have no idea of its AFS.. This is not a process that I would recommend as it does produce an very low permeability sand and that comes with a lot of problems that an occasional hobby caster might have trouble dealing with. Also the grinding is a slow messy and dangerous (silicosis - hazard) process..... Martin. PS if a fine finish is what you want maybe you should just buy some petrobond sand. Same brands of it are better than others but the good ones are very fine. You can use petrobond for part of a mould and normal green sand for the rest see here kzread.info/dash/bejne/X5ygmZiJm5fHoco.html this bloke is a brilliant moulder.
@jorgeiglesias31503 ай бұрын
Very nice video can you please show the out come of the casting? Thank you
@olfoundryman84183 ай бұрын
jorgei, The castings being made were metal moulding box sides. You can see this and the resultant castings in this video here kzread.info/dash/bejne/fpeqx9lyh9KZhs4.html ..... Martin
@sohamshiraskar99323 ай бұрын
Hi Martin, I am working as an intern and my project is to reduce the rejection rate of the gravity die casting, can you give me some tips about how and what i should be learning and also what kind of solutions i should be thinking of. TIA.
@olfoundryman84183 ай бұрын
soham, Thats quite a big project and an equally big question that you have asked. People devote their lives to this sort of project. Its difficult to know where to start. Perhaps the place to start is to study why rejects are rejects i.e. what is the actual cause for their rejection. By way of example I worked for a company that made brake master cylinders. As part of the manufacturing process the bores in the cylinders were roll honed to produce a very smooth surface. A final step was 100% inspection of the cylinders concentrating mainly on the bores, any "porosity" and the cylinder was rejected. I was unhappy at the blanket "porosity" definition as it laid the blame for the rejects on the foundry. I developed the habit of cutting open the rejects to better study the alleged "porosity". I found that in fact it was not foundry porosity but rather small bits of machining chips that had been rolled into the surface of the bore during the roll honing process. This produced a dent in the bore that to the ladies doing the inspection looked like porosity. The rejection was thus not for a foundry problem but for a lack of cleanliness during roll honing. No amount of attention to foundry variables was going to solve this problem. So study what has actual caused the reject do not automatically think it a foundry problem. Study the work of Prof. John Campbell on bifilm formation and entrainment in castings - this link is a good start kzread.info/dash/bejne/a5OrlbGTYsWWYqQ.html&pp=ygUWam9obiBjYW1wYmVsbCBjYXN0aW5nIA%3D%3D But John has written may truly excellent books on the subject - all should be compulsory reading for anybody serious about reducing foundry defects. Good luck..... Martin PS. Watch out for the many who will try to cover their own behinds by shifting blame anywhere and anyway they can. The foundry industry is full of such people.
@francisrampen90993 ай бұрын
I had a buddy who for some perverse reason had a passion for old Skodas - I think mainly because he got them for free. We were moving an engine-transmission and we let it drop onto the ground from the tremendous height of an inch. The transmission broke cleanly into two neat pieces. The interior of the casting had uniformly the appearance of a metal aerobar. Interestingly the casting exterior finish was superb - still wondering if this was intentional, sabotage or an unhappy accident. Love the channel.
@olfoundryman84183 ай бұрын
francis, I understand perverse passions for odd vehicles only too well - I have been thus afflicted most of my life. Your metal aerobar casting sounds like a pressure diecasting. These commonly have a good surface finish. But the process relies on squirting metal into a die at just about sonic velocity much air can be entrained during this process and if the die is not well designed (many are not) you get the trapped air bubbles that pressure die castings are often known for. So intentional - no, sabotage - no, unhappy and likely recurring accident - yes. I love that you love the channel.... Martin
@francisrampen90993 ай бұрын
Thanks again - really great and usable information. I love how you share the evolution of your technique with the clangers along the way. Pressure diecasting makes sense - never having seen it in action I respect your analysis. I appreciate perverse passions - I wouldn't mind a Bristol or a panhard or a Vincent - a Skoda is more a lingering STD one can do without!@@olfoundryman8418
@CerebralAilment3 ай бұрын
Who's the oldfoundrywoman?
@olfoundryman84183 ай бұрын
Cerebal, Sorry, she declines to be identified 😊.... Martin
@CerebralAilment3 ай бұрын
How much does one of those collars cost?
@olfoundryman84183 ай бұрын
Cerebral, Not sure what you mean by "collar" if you mean the die then they can be quite expensive - this one took about a week to machine. if you mean an actual casting then I can't say because of commercial confidentiality..... Martin
@downundertinker19633 ай бұрын
Hi Martin. I don't get as much time these days to settle back and see what is new on KZread and just found your latest addition. A couple of little tips for other viewers that may scroll the comments that may help. As you know I have made a few of your boxes (not recently though, have not fired up the furnace since we last spoke!). I found the 3d patterns also came out slightly off 45 degrees. IMO, it is a certainly a 3d Print issue. I believe this may be slight warping on the print as is prints/cools & may be avoided by printing in a temp controlled box. However, I found the easiest solution is to simply use car body filler on the pattern in this area, make a jig up and sand it back to get it correct to 45. A simple hand jig could be made easily. I created a very agricultural jig to fit my belt grinder and it worked well enough that I could use it to lightly surface the mating side of the final castings as well (As you know my final casting finish is nowhere near as good as yours, so a little touchup didn't hurt for mine!). I used the same jig to prepare all of the printed patterns and achieved quite reasonable success. After using many timber boxes earlier on, your box design is simply fantastic. The accuracy of the pin slot arrangement & the ribs top and bottom to firmly hold the sand in place simply removes two of the key elements that cause failed castings. Naturally used in conjunction with your many, many other tips and techniques which you have pointed out in previous videos. Your videos are all must watch for any genuine casting enthusiast. If I had watched all your videos earlier, I would have saved myself hours (if not days) of misguided work and no doubt avoided dozens of failed castings. I urge any enthusiast to watch them all, you will get all of your time back multiple times over with better, more consistent castings and many less failures using Martin's practical well explained guidance. Cheers John
@olfoundryman84183 ай бұрын
John, Nice to hear from you again. I trust that your business venture is going well. Yes, I found the 45 Degree came out a little wrong - as near as I could measure about 1/4 to 1/2 a degree out so that when you put two box sides together there was a slight gap on the inside of the joint and some care was needed bolting the boxes together in that it had to be done progressively whilst checking that the box remained square. I could not for certain work out if the error t was in the 3d print or in the casting - contraction in the sand mould as the casting cools can cause this sort of problem but it certainly could be in the 3d print. I am tempted to suggest that the 3D print files could be altered to make the angle so it came out right - maybe possibly perhaps I debated doing as you did and either machining / sanding either the print or the casting but that would have violated my "make with out special machine tools". Also one would have to be very careful to "recut" the 45 angle exactly square with the sides of the box section - I had some doubts of being able to do this without having to resort to my milling machine - definitely outside the "without special tool" thing. I urge you to get back to casting as it is such a useful ability to master..... Martin
@dariussipavicius52124 ай бұрын
Hello from Norway! I am working with granite cuting wire saw and we got a lot off small granitt dusts after cuting work. Is it possible to use it and clay to form models instead sand? Best regards Darius
@olfoundryman84184 ай бұрын
Darius, Hello back from Melbourne Australia. Many other materials are used as a "sand" for moulding - zircon, chromite, olivine for example but I have not heard of granite dust being used. Granite is about 20% Silica and 65% Feldspar, Feldspar is quite a refractory material and might perform ok as a moulding sand. To be honest I do not know for certain how it would go but its refractory nature would suggest that granite dusts - providing they are not just granite flour - might be worth a try. However granite contains some mica and this tends to expand a lot when it is heated and this may cause problems. If you have no other source of a suitable moulding "sand" the dust may be worth a try, so give it a go and let us know how it went.... Martin
@dariussipavicius52124 ай бұрын
I"ll try soon !@@olfoundryman8418
@anders70584 ай бұрын
Great!
@olfoundryman84184 ай бұрын
anders, Thank you... Martin
@tylordurdun99614 ай бұрын
i just found your channel....your a wealth of information & opened my eyes to things i did not know of....Thank You for being out there Ol Man..
@olfoundryman84184 ай бұрын
tylor, Thank you for your comment. If my videos have been a help to you I am well pleased... Martin
@wikusdp4 ай бұрын
Hi Martin, I'm now re watching your video and I'm still impressed and I'm getting some very good tips. I also use shell sand both in my day job and in my shed. Love the process. Greetings from across the ditch. Hope you have a wonderful new year.
@olfoundryman84184 ай бұрын
wikusdp, Yes, I have a fondness for shell too. It makes strong, non friable, very dry cores that store well, and are usually hollow so they vent well too. Only problem of course is that they need a metal core box. All tthe best for you too in 2024 and I hope that the isles do not shake to much during it 😊... Martin
@mungomopar41884 ай бұрын
Hi Martin, I really like your videos, learning a lot, I hope that you are doing well. You positioned the pattern down into the drag by 10mm or so, was this to gain more height in the riser/feeder?
@olfoundryman84184 ай бұрын
mungo, Thank you - I just wish more people would like my videos 😊. Sadly not doing as well as I would like - old age is a crock of crap! Yes, I put the pattern down into the drag by about 12 mm to gain a bit more feeder height and thus enough feeder volume to feed the casting properly, you will notice that I also used a feeder (and sprue) extension of about 30 mm for the same reason.... Martin
@scrapsarticon4 ай бұрын
Thank you! well explained of aluminium degassing.
@olfoundryman84184 ай бұрын
Scrap, Thank you for saying so and I hope it was of use to you.... Martin
@dfross874 ай бұрын
Merry Christmas Martin! Hope you got some nice pressies, and a comfy chair to watch the cricket today.
@olfoundryman84184 ай бұрын
dfross,. Yep, got some nice stuff which at my age is a bit of a miracle its usually jocks and socks for us oldies. Not really into cricket but I have a good few new books to read and a nice chair out in a patch of filtered sun. To bed before 12 on NYE only to be woken by al the illegal fireworks going off on the oval out the back. I hope that you got some good stuff too and that you have good 2024... Martin
@dfross874 ай бұрын
@@olfoundryman8418 I got some beer (IIRC you don't drink), and a few books so I'll count that as good enough 👍. Merry 2024 Martin 🎉🎆!
@wuboo24 ай бұрын
@@dfross87 I love your videos and even more the comments section, as reading is faster than listening. You were ladelling Aluminum from a 90kg crucible in one of your videos, Do you clean out that massive crucible after the production pouring as one is not to leave the metal to freeze in the crucible because subsequent heating can crack the crucible??? Do you even have 90 kg crucible tongs? What ladle are you using to dip out the Ali for your pours? All the best and happy, healthy New Year to you!!
@BorderlineForge-vf4bi4 ай бұрын
I really appreciate your academic approach to the concepts you demonstrate. Very well done. It seems like there's not a lot of content on KZread or elsewhere for anything between uninformed amateur metal casting or footage from professional shops where they don't explain anything. Your videos really hit a sweet spot. You do professional quality work at an achievable scale for a serious metal casting enthusiast.
@olfoundryman84184 ай бұрын
Borderline, Thank you, I guess I had to get reasonably good at making castings as it was how we survived for 30 or so years. I always tried to do it better each time and I am more than happy to pass what I learned on to anyone interested. It is entirely possible for an amateur to make very good castings - not top of the line aerospace perhaps as you need lots of really good equipment and to be operating at size to do that and few, including most of the commercial foundries, can do it anyway. But, as I show, very good castings can be made with simple equipment providing one cares enough to do it properly..... Martin
@TheHalloweenmasks4 ай бұрын
Would you be able to make a recommendation please, for sprue inlet and exit diameters for a casting that I will soon be making? The pattern is here kzread.info/dash/bejne/jI5tuZKlktHSh8o.html it is 14.5" long and 5" high, an approximate weight weight is 5kg from aluminium.
@olfoundryman84184 ай бұрын
TheHalloween, Sorry, I just realized that I missed replying to you. Bad time of the year I guess. I had a look at your pattern. Oh Lordie! I hate fins absolutely hate them with a passion! They are very difficult to mould as the sand between each fin tends to break away when the pattern is withdrawn. With green sand I do not believe that one could ever successfully mould that part. You need a hard sand and CO2 silicate is probably as good as any BUT your pattern needs to be very, very good or you will never pull it out of the cured sand. Its difficult to say without actually having an in person look at the pattern but (for example) where the fins join the body there seems to be small gaps the sand will stick in those. Your draft needs to be absolutely perfect not even the slightest undercut anywhere - good luck with that! As regards sprue size we need to fill the mould quite quickly as thin fins are a problem - they tend to solidify before they fill properly. So lets take a few guesses and say a 20 second fill time, a 200 mm sprue height, (this will include a pouring basin about 50 mm high, which must be kept absolutely full for the entire pour) and a total weight of 9Kg to allow for feeders and gates etc. Thus we have an average fill rate of 450 grams per sec and the initial fill rate of 900 grams per sec. With the SG of molten aluminum at about 2500 kg/cubic metre and with the total sprue height of 200 mm (0.2 Metre) we have an initial metal velocity at the bottom of the sprue of 2 Metre per sec, and at the bottom of the pouring basin of 1 Metre pe sec. To cope with that flow at those velocities the bottom of the sprue will need to be 15 mm diameter and the top 24 mm thus it will have a taper per side of 1.7 degrees. Now should any of my guesses be incorrect then the sprue diameters will differ from those calculated here - this is my get out of jail free card 😊. Hope this helps and good luck. Please let me know how it all goes.. Martin
@TheHalloweenmasks4 ай бұрын
Thanks Martin. When I was designing the pattern I had visions of all that surface area on the fins causing a problem so, all of the fins are removable from the main pattern body, this way I can remove each fin individually which should reduce the tendency of sand breakages. I will use sodium silicate on all of this. The mould will consist of four parts, a lot of sand and it will be very heavy to lift. @@olfoundryman8418
@TheHalloweenmasks5 ай бұрын
Is the fuel oil?
@olfoundryman84184 ай бұрын
TheHalloween, Diesel fuel - straight from the local service station. But it is a commercial oil burner and blower set up.... Martin
Пікірлер
Martin, I watch A LOT of KZread videos, but I don't subscribe to many. I happily subscribed and clicked the notification bell icon. You are a pleasure to watch, and an inspiration.
Walter, Thank you for your loverly comment. I too watch way too many YT videos - and my wife keeps telling me so 😊Waste of time she says. But I too sub to very few. I suppose I should at least sub to more of those I watch regularly but they all seem to have so many subs that one more would not help much. I guess I am more than a little jealous of their success! Sadly, my health makes it very hard to make new videos. I still intend to try as I have many, many ideas that need showing. But years of shoveling sand and humping moulds around has destroyed my back and even just standing up is now an exercise in how much pain can one bear - old age is a crock of crap!.......Martin
great explanation! Thank you for taking the time to archive this knowledge.
Pirate, Thank you for saying so. I just wish that I was well enough to put out more videos like this. I have a lot more in mind but doing them is for me all but impossible....Martin
Great video! Would it make sense to have a little bit of a draft or taper on the feeder/riser? Would that create more downward pressure, or is it more important to have the volume of metal? Thanks
Walter, Well, no it would not create any more downward pressure. That is determined by the height of metal in the feeder and has nothing to do with its shape. Its the volume to surface area ratio of a feeder that is important as this is what determines how long it will stay liquid for. That said many of my feeders do have quite a sharp taper for the bottom 1/4 or so - I do this for feeders positioned on top of a casting as it is one way of ensuring that there is no hot spot (and associated shrinkage) where the feeder attaches to the casting. However all that said a slight taper on a feeder is useful as it makes withdrawing the feeder former from the mould easier....Martin
Hi there, I've just got to say that I've watched all of your videos over the last few days, and I've learned so much. Thank you for that! You have a real knack for teaching. I have a couple questions for you. as I'm just now trying to get started I know very little. I guess KZread deleted my first comment since I left my email address in it. If you don't mind, can I ask what is the exothermic you put on your risers when you pour a casting? Both what is it and what is the purpose of it? Is it too keep it from cooling so fast? I'm afraid my first project is a little complex. I'm going to try casting the lugs for a set of drums. Multiple small parts in one pour. I may well be a little optimistic trying it that fast, but I figured there's no better way to learn, right? Anyway, I appreciate your videos and your choosing to share your knowledge, and I appreciate any help you would give me. Thank you!
Cris, The exothermic I put on the feeder tops is called "Ferrux NF" it is made by "Foseco" although I believe it goes by slightly different names depending on which country you are in. Its basically just an exothermic formulated for use on non ferrous metals. Its job is to catch fire and generate a lot of heat, this helps to keep the feeders liquid for longer so they are better able to provide feed for the solidifying casting underneath. My advice is to start small and simple - do something simple first and work up to the more complicated parts. I am unsure what a "drum lug" looks like but perhaps try just one or two at first. You could send me a photo via [email protected] and may be Ican be a bit more specific as to how you might cast them....Martin
Sorry for commenting on such an old video; I'm just starting to get into sand casting, and your videos have been an incredible resource to learn from. Do you have any advice for people who are just starting?
Sirkay, Comments at any time are good! Advice to someone just starting out - boy - that's one big question. I shamelessly suggest that you watch all of my videos. Look closely at what I do and ask yourself why I do it and why I do it that way - if you don't know the answer to those questions then ask me that's what Iam here for. Be very wary of most YT casting videos, even those by long term producers of casting videos - most of these people make the most horrendous mistakes. I watched the most recent casting video by one of these people and I was horrified - in 14 plus years of practice he has learnt nothing and still persists in using the most appalling methods. Similarly be wary of most of the older casting books out there as they tend to stick to the "6000 year old technology" that is know to be very wrong. See if you can find some of John Campbell's books. This video of his is well worth watching kzread.info/dash/bejne/a5OrlbGTYsWWYqQ.html&pp=ygUWSm9obiBDYW1wYmVsbCBDYXN0IGNvbg%3D%3D .... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 Thank you so much for your time and advice. I have so many questions and I really appreciate the dedication to helping people and the advice you give. I see a lot of people poking air holes in their casts around the pattern, but I noticed that's not something you do. I assume its one of those mistakes people make but I'd love to know why its not needed if it is a mistake You said in a different video that you melted your metal just hot enough to melt but didn't go any higher than that. Is that a standard thing you do, and is there such a thing as melting your metal too hot? What safety equipment and practices do you recommend? Are you able to sand cast things that have curves such a bowl or mask? The curvature of it seems extremely difficult to make a working cast of. Is it possible to make the holes for your riser and spruce after you've packed the sand in and removed your pattern rather than making them during that packing process? And lastly, how do you care for your crucible long term? I see a lot of talk about tempering or seasoning your crucible, but I'm not sure if it's actually helpful. And how do you clean your crucibles?
@@sirkay9 Let’s see if can answer some of those questions: - 1, “Hole in the casts around the pattern.” This is to let mould gases escape easily through the mould rather than blow back through the metal. The gases are mainly steam generated from the water in the mould. The idea is to use a thin stiff wire to poke holes too just shy of the pattern and to do this particularly in areas of the mould where much metal is in contact with the sand so that more of the gases might be produced by the greater heat in that area. It certainly is not a mistake but I do think that many on YT overdo it and often do not need to do it at all as the sands they are using are on the coarse side and thus have high permeability and are naturally venting. I do use venting like this quite a lot and I am surprised that you have not noticed me doing it. I tend to do it around feeders for example as I have found the area around the base of the feeder (where it joins the casting) can have quite high gas evolution and if not vented the gas can bubble up through the metal mould interface - this can make a bit of a mess of a casting. I remember a job that was a 200* 250 mm plate and had 8 large fins running in the 250 direction on its underside. There was a lot of draft on the fins so they were easy to mould but the wedge of sand between each fin got so hot that the gasses blew right through the metal and made a dreadful mess of the casting. So, I used about 80 vents between the fins - problem solved - and several beautiful castings produced. My sand is rather fine and therefore of low permeability so venting is often needed. 2, “Metal just hot enough to melt” Well, No! some super heat above the actual melting point - or more accurately above the top of the melting range - is necessary to make sure the metal does not solidify before the mould is properly filled. The amount of super heat needed depends on the alloy being cast and how thin/extensive the casting is. However, hydrogen gas pickup by molten aluminium alloys increases rapidly above about 760 Deg C so one should avoid going any hotter that that if possible. Some alloys -piston alloys for example - need to be cast with as little super heat as possible. 3. “Bowl or mask” Sand casting is the most versatile casting process there is. Providing the moulder is of sufficient skill there is little limit to what can be cast. All sports of curved and bowl shapes are quite possible with practice. It just depends on how the mould is rammed up. 4, “Crucible care.” Another often over done area! It seems to be just an excuse to make a video. I have never tempered/seasoned a crucible. Mind you I do buy good quality crucibles - no fleabay rubbish. It is said that crucibles can absorb moisture from the air if left on the shelf for a while so it might be a reasonable idea to put them in and oven sat around 200 Deg C for a hour or two if you haven’t used it for a while! I did this once, weighing the crucible before and after and no weight loss so I assume it hadn’t absorbed any water anyway. 5, “Crucible cleaning” With aluminium alloys this is usually quite easy. I do not scrape the crucible out. I just let it cool down and just before the next use pull the skin of remnant aluminium out of the crucible - it usually comes away very easily. NOTE - I throw this skin away. The bronze alloys I use all contain some aluminium and again I can usually just pull the skin out. Brass is a bit more difficult particular if fluxes have been used as these tend to be sticky and can leave a lot of gunk stuck to the crucible, in this case its probably best to scrape it out while the crucible is still hot from just having been used. Note that commercial fluxes used on aluminium alloys do not leave/make a sticky product. Opps almost forgot safety - I am probably not the best person to ask about this as I am a bit careless 😊 However, always wear safety glasses. Have all skin covered - radiant heat is nasty. Make sure that all clothing warn higher on the body overhangs clothing warn lower on the body thus there is no gap that metal can easily fall into -with luck any spill or splash onto your clothing will just fall off to the floor. All clothing to be natural fibers. Leather shoes that can be removed easily and quickly. Do NOT dress up in a mood suit that restricts your vision or movement. Just my ideas and minimums at that. Hope this helps…. Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 thank you so much the answers have been extremely helpful. I'm planning on picking up some of John Campbell's books and continue to learn as I go!
8:00 your creation looks like a happy robot
Hi Have u vedio of making runway sign board frangible couplings
danish, Yes, I do have a video of sand casting frangible couplings, see here kzread.info/dash/bejne/Y4BltKaHhLWYnps.html Martin
Amazing video! Any advise on a smaller pour with brass? Just scale down?
Chi, Yes, I would just scale down on the sprue size. The one I used here was 8 mm diameter at the bottom and I have one that is just 6 mm diameter at the bottom and for small work that is what I would use. Don't make the pouring basin to small or in particular too shallow - you need a reasonable target to aim at... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 Thank you so much for the response! I look forward to putting your knowledge into action 👍.
Quality content. Thank you
email, Thank you for saying so..... Martin
Lots of good information for a newcomer like myself. Thanks for sharing!
Old, I am glad that the info was useful. Sharing is my pleasure.... Martin
No more videos
rtert. Are you telling me to stop making videos or are you asking why there have not been more?.... Martin
If you can upload a video explaining how to make a good oven but that uses used motor oil, your recommendation in detail please
Heil. Unfortunately my health is no longer good enough for me to make such a demanding video. however Luckygen 1001 has a few videos on building the sort of furnace that he uses to melt cast iron. I suggest that you check his channel out. This video kzread.info/dash/bejne/Y3itx6eMgdPHk5M.html&pp=ygUUbHVja3lnZW4xMDAxIGZ1cm5hY2U%3D of his would be a good starting point but he has others on furnace building that would also be worth a look.... Martin
Greetings from Venezuela, I am new to this topic of foundry and I subscribed to your channel to learn from you. Please could you tell me what type or grain of sand I can use like the one you use there and I want to ask you other questions if you would be kind. in answering me.
heil, the sand I use is called a "natural sand" because it came out of a quarry almost ready to use. The quarry was about 30 kilometers from where I live. All I had to do was sieve out some larger grains and adjust the moisture level. Deposits of ready to use sand like this were common but most have now largely been used up. Now the best one can do is either buy petrobond sand (expensive) or get as fine a silica sand as possible. this is not easy as sands fine enough are not common, but one possible source is to buy the sand used for sweeping between just laid pavers. You then need to add about 10% of bentonite to the sand mix well and then add just enough water to make the sand about as moist as soil for a seed bed -- damp but not wringing wet.....Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 Thank you very much brother Martin for your response and recommendation
👍👍😎👍👍
joell, Thank you.... Martin
👍👍😎👍👍
Joell Thank you (twice 😊).... Martin
Very very impressive. I have to cast a piston for an old 2 stroke. How did you fixture the piston in the lathe? It looks like you turned a fixture plate to the ID of the piston, and then used a live center in the tailstock to hold the piston in compression. Is that correct, or am i missing something?
Leaded, I did not machine the pistons, the pattern maker concerned did. But it is I think usual to do it much the way you have suggested....Martin
Fascinating, thanks for sharing. I've yet to make my first cast and am a bit unsure of what's happening inside the mould here. At 11:29 when the mould is parted, we can see the bottom (or near the bottom?) of the tapered sprue, which you radius as per the diagram. Nearby we see the larger (feeder?) aperture at, or near, its base. What I don't understand is how metal flows into the part mould proper (the black area). I assumed a channel would join the sprue to the part mould (or feeder to part mould?) but don't see a channel. I'm sure I've missed something obvious but would be grateful if someone could let me know what.
Batch, Yes, I guess I should have showed more. The runner connecting the sprue bottom to the feeder bottom and hence the casting were cut into the drag mould. You can see the runner and gate etc being cut at 27.00 to 28.00 in this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/aY1px7mNYc-2pKg.html hope this helps... Martin
You my friend have helped me out immensely and I thank you for your years of hard work and knowledge that you have acquired to be able to do so.thank you again.
Daniel, Glad to have been of help... Martin
Great video and explanation. I miss the old Pablo jars they were very handy 😁
Will, The wife was very loath to loan me one of those jars - she has a fair number and the were her mothers - irreplaceable now of course. She was terrified I would break it. Fortunately for my access to a warm bed I did not break it.... Martin
Excellent videos Sir!
Lon, Thank you..... Martin
This is really incredible. I have an old lathe and they dont make the parts for it anymore. Ive been looking into making my own for this reason
thedude, You have hit upon one of the reasons for undertaking foundry as a hobby - the ability to make bits that are otherwise unobtainable or to expensive. It can be a very rewarding thing......Martin
Very cool. From USA
donald, Thank you.... Martin
Nice castings nice tips, keep on casting a joy to see your work
Inspiration, Sadly I fear my casting days are behind me as my health is not what it needs to be to cast and unlikely to improve. I have so many ideas for videos that its very frustrating as without the ability to cast I can not get the ideas out there. I may though do a few "talking head" videos as Ican manage these and some of the ideas should come across that way -- don't really know how many would be interested as people do like to see hot wet stuff being poured. - my videos do not rate that well and the thought of any new ones rating even less well is a bit concerning..... Martin
Do you have a website or email? I need a piston for a WW2 Sherman Tank heater/generator and surprisingly enough, I can't find one.
Dennis, Can't find one? Who would have thought? I would have reckoned that they would be everywhere. Your fascination for Military vehicles is obvious and I can understand it - I drove an Austin Champ for about 30 years - at least they can be driven on the roads and I do have pistons for them 😊. Sadly I am not well enough to help you directly but if you come to me at [email protected] I will put you in touch with the foundry that took over my work when I retired, he has recently cast pistons for a couple of others..... Martin
Are you wearing a respirator?
greg, No, but I should be. In my defence - albeit a weak defence - most of the dust is actually clay not silica and it is of short duration as the added water soon stops it completely. By the way after a lifetime of doing this I am now almost 80 and although I have numerous health issues due to the physicality of a life throwing moulds around, recent checks have shown my lungs to be among the best bits left ,😊 guess I have just been lucky but I do find things like wood dusts from sanding etc. much more annoying then what you see here.... Martin
Thank you for imparting your years of knowledge. Metal casting is something I've wanted to do for years but it's either time - no money or money - no time. Now I'm retired, money is still an issue but grandson is 8 and takes more interest in 'stuff' although probably not ready to 'play with fire' yet.
crazy, Metal casting is a great hobby to get into. There is a bit of a learning curve but you can do such useful stuff with it. I started (on my own) at age 11 - just fishing sinkers in sand moulds lined with cardboard but it was enough to get me drawn in. Encourage the 8 years old's interest in "stuff" - so much better than in Facebook or whatever. Good luck.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418Thank you for reply. My father was repairing a clutch or throttle cable for motorcycle when I was 8 or 9 (1960's) in the living room in front of fire. (mother was out shopping). He had some very old moulds so made some lead soldiers and a dreadnought from WW-I. I got a history lesson as well
Are the aluminium dies CNC machined to make a matching pair? Or some other method to obtain to matching half dies.
Col, I make a fairly crude wood pattern of the die half. I cast two half's off this pattern in 356 alloy. After the castings are given a T5 heat treatment they are each milled to the same height. The two halves are then, placed together one atop the other, and drilled to receive a couple of small dowels in the mating faces. With the dowels fitted the two halves are clamped together in the mill and the length and width machined. They are then mounted in a lathe and after careful aligning they are bored on center. There is no CNC equipment used for this - all old school manual machines. I do have a CNC mill but the manual is just easier for a simple job like this..... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 Excellent, thanks for the explanation, I get it, I would like to have a go at that one day. Everything I have ever done has been with casting aluminium in green sand. I dint think you used CNC, but had to ask, I am also old school manual machinist. col.
Use oil sand in my ratty old setup in London, but that processor is going to be the inspiration for something built here......
Old, I assume you mean that you use petrobond sand. To be honest I do o not recommend that people go to the lengths I did to produce a very fine facing sand there are just too many issues with doing this and it does cause problems that require extra effort to overcome. Considering that a good petrobond sand will produce a finish almost as good as my fine facing sand my6advice is stick with the petrobond but do make a point of using the best running and gating methods - they help with finish too... Martin
One of the best bits of kit that I have is just an air chisel fitted with a flat steel foot , which rams the petrobond down pretty much brick - hard in short order. Also using McEnglevan / MIFCO aluminium moulding boxes, which are truly excellent .@@olfoundryman8418
thanks for the knowledge. Even in Engineering school, these things were never told to us. Everything is only surface knowledge that has no basis. This completes my knowledge
Mohd, I think that one can only learn the subtle nuances of any process by doing or, but perhaps to a lesser extent, by closely watching and studying an experienced practitioner. There is just so much in depth nitty gritty little stuff that no engineering school would ever have a course long enough to include it all. I hope that I have helped you and thanks for the comment.... Martin
Well Martin this provides the information required to make a proper job of my part casting process. I am presently studying the composition of sand for the purpose and have almost got enough idea, to proceed with knowledge of the parts of materials used to make a nice clean mould. Happy to have seen this video before we begin in two days time. I will now dispense, with your guidance, those ideas i had just accepted. Which are wrong. Thank you for the instruction there! There is now a fighting chance of making good, the piece I have to make. I have found the suggestion of talcum powder. Also the suggestion of cornflour, and finally to use powdered graphite as a barrier to prevent the different parts sticking to each other. A barrier dust ? I wonder what your dust is composed of? I praise your teaching here that is supported by the explanation you gave as well. Great show mate.
Jack, Thank you for your rather nice comment. I am glad to have been of some assistance. Re parting powder. Talc is quite commonly used by hobbyists because it is easy to get, provided you don't mind the smell of cheap perfume (baby powder!) However, I do not like talc as it is sometimes associated with asbestos, its true that talc these days is asbestos free but why take the chance. Graphite works well enough but it is so dirty to work with - yuck! Not too sure about corn flour as I suspect it may pick up moisture from the mould and get a bit sticky, but I have never tried it. The parting powder I use is a commercial product but all its just very finely ground calcium carbonate i.e. limestone - note - NOT slaked lime. Its cheap, should be easy to obtain and apparently its safe - good luck and remember if at first you don't succeed (and likely you won't) keep trying.... Martin
Hi, you videos give me alot of good tips for aluminium casting. i want to know what is best diy die coating to coat die for permanent mold casting
Farhan, I buy my die coatings from Foseco and ZYP coatings. I believe that Foseco have agencies allover the world. From Foseco I buy die coat 14ess From ZYP I buy Release coat blue (expensive!) Basically and apart from the latter die coats are mixtures of fine refractories like silica, talc, zircon, alumina, etc. A binder, often sodium silicate, is added and the resulting water suspension sprayed onto the hot die using a small paint spray gun such that the coat flash dries on hitting the die. I have never tried but think it quite possible to make your own coats..... Martin
@olfoundryman8418 thx. As in our country, all these materials are available separately. I'll check and make my own die coatings. Again thx alot. God bless you
Bravo for taking the time, Composing this many video snips into a corrective narrative is brilliant.
Chriss I did have a bit of fun doing this although I was a bit worried about possible blow back but I am glad to say there has been none. It did take some time though to get the relevant clips.... Martin
Nice 🎉
Thanks 🤗
Where can I buy facing sand in the UK? Anyone know?
internetmail. I seriously doubt that you can buy true facing sand anywhere. Years ago (many) you could buy what was know as "Old French Sand" I believe it came from a quarry somewhere near Paris. It was an extremely fine sand legendary for producing a fine finish but I seem to recall that the moulds had to be at least skin dried to keep problems associated with steam evolution from the very fine and therefore very low permeability sand at bay. There was an Americal equivalent (or at least close) called "Albany 00". Again it was a very fine sand even finer that the old french but the latter seems to have produced the better finished castings (I think). The AFS fineness number for Albany 00 ranged from 200 to 300 for the french around 175. Both were natural sands straight out of the ground )(like the sand I use). Clay levels were around 18 % and the sand was used at moisture levels of about 6%. these days sands for nonferrous work would typically have an AFS number of 70. They are synthetic sands i.e. made up from washed sands and bentonite clay. Old time foundries tended to use new sand as their facing material and "heap" or "floor" sand for the bulk of the mould. Heap and floor were just sand that had been used in the foundry. From this video of mine you can see that I do not buy my facing sand but rather I make it by grinding a mixture of used sand and new sand in a home made small flour style mill. This grinding process does produce a much finer sand but I have no idea of its AFS.. This is not a process that I would recommend as it does produce an very low permeability sand and that comes with a lot of problems that an occasional hobby caster might have trouble dealing with. Also the grinding is a slow messy and dangerous (silicosis - hazard) process..... Martin. PS if a fine finish is what you want maybe you should just buy some petrobond sand. Same brands of it are better than others but the good ones are very fine. You can use petrobond for part of a mould and normal green sand for the rest see here kzread.info/dash/bejne/X5ygmZiJm5fHoco.html this bloke is a brilliant moulder.
Very nice video can you please show the out come of the casting? Thank you
jorgei, The castings being made were metal moulding box sides. You can see this and the resultant castings in this video here kzread.info/dash/bejne/fpeqx9lyh9KZhs4.html ..... Martin
Hi Martin, I am working as an intern and my project is to reduce the rejection rate of the gravity die casting, can you give me some tips about how and what i should be learning and also what kind of solutions i should be thinking of. TIA.
soham, Thats quite a big project and an equally big question that you have asked. People devote their lives to this sort of project. Its difficult to know where to start. Perhaps the place to start is to study why rejects are rejects i.e. what is the actual cause for their rejection. By way of example I worked for a company that made brake master cylinders. As part of the manufacturing process the bores in the cylinders were roll honed to produce a very smooth surface. A final step was 100% inspection of the cylinders concentrating mainly on the bores, any "porosity" and the cylinder was rejected. I was unhappy at the blanket "porosity" definition as it laid the blame for the rejects on the foundry. I developed the habit of cutting open the rejects to better study the alleged "porosity". I found that in fact it was not foundry porosity but rather small bits of machining chips that had been rolled into the surface of the bore during the roll honing process. This produced a dent in the bore that to the ladies doing the inspection looked like porosity. The rejection was thus not for a foundry problem but for a lack of cleanliness during roll honing. No amount of attention to foundry variables was going to solve this problem. So study what has actual caused the reject do not automatically think it a foundry problem. Study the work of Prof. John Campbell on bifilm formation and entrainment in castings - this link is a good start kzread.info/dash/bejne/a5OrlbGTYsWWYqQ.html&pp=ygUWam9obiBjYW1wYmVsbCBjYXN0aW5nIA%3D%3D But John has written may truly excellent books on the subject - all should be compulsory reading for anybody serious about reducing foundry defects. Good luck..... Martin PS. Watch out for the many who will try to cover their own behinds by shifting blame anywhere and anyway they can. The foundry industry is full of such people.
I had a buddy who for some perverse reason had a passion for old Skodas - I think mainly because he got them for free. We were moving an engine-transmission and we let it drop onto the ground from the tremendous height of an inch. The transmission broke cleanly into two neat pieces. The interior of the casting had uniformly the appearance of a metal aerobar. Interestingly the casting exterior finish was superb - still wondering if this was intentional, sabotage or an unhappy accident. Love the channel.
francis, I understand perverse passions for odd vehicles only too well - I have been thus afflicted most of my life. Your metal aerobar casting sounds like a pressure diecasting. These commonly have a good surface finish. But the process relies on squirting metal into a die at just about sonic velocity much air can be entrained during this process and if the die is not well designed (many are not) you get the trapped air bubbles that pressure die castings are often known for. So intentional - no, sabotage - no, unhappy and likely recurring accident - yes. I love that you love the channel.... Martin
Thanks again - really great and usable information. I love how you share the evolution of your technique with the clangers along the way. Pressure diecasting makes sense - never having seen it in action I respect your analysis. I appreciate perverse passions - I wouldn't mind a Bristol or a panhard or a Vincent - a Skoda is more a lingering STD one can do without!@@olfoundryman8418
Who's the oldfoundrywoman?
Cerebal, Sorry, she declines to be identified 😊.... Martin
How much does one of those collars cost?
Cerebral, Not sure what you mean by "collar" if you mean the die then they can be quite expensive - this one took about a week to machine. if you mean an actual casting then I can't say because of commercial confidentiality..... Martin
Hi Martin. I don't get as much time these days to settle back and see what is new on KZread and just found your latest addition. A couple of little tips for other viewers that may scroll the comments that may help. As you know I have made a few of your boxes (not recently though, have not fired up the furnace since we last spoke!). I found the 3d patterns also came out slightly off 45 degrees. IMO, it is a certainly a 3d Print issue. I believe this may be slight warping on the print as is prints/cools & may be avoided by printing in a temp controlled box. However, I found the easiest solution is to simply use car body filler on the pattern in this area, make a jig up and sand it back to get it correct to 45. A simple hand jig could be made easily. I created a very agricultural jig to fit my belt grinder and it worked well enough that I could use it to lightly surface the mating side of the final castings as well (As you know my final casting finish is nowhere near as good as yours, so a little touchup didn't hurt for mine!). I used the same jig to prepare all of the printed patterns and achieved quite reasonable success. After using many timber boxes earlier on, your box design is simply fantastic. The accuracy of the pin slot arrangement & the ribs top and bottom to firmly hold the sand in place simply removes two of the key elements that cause failed castings. Naturally used in conjunction with your many, many other tips and techniques which you have pointed out in previous videos. Your videos are all must watch for any genuine casting enthusiast. If I had watched all your videos earlier, I would have saved myself hours (if not days) of misguided work and no doubt avoided dozens of failed castings. I urge any enthusiast to watch them all, you will get all of your time back multiple times over with better, more consistent castings and many less failures using Martin's practical well explained guidance. Cheers John
John, Nice to hear from you again. I trust that your business venture is going well. Yes, I found the 45 Degree came out a little wrong - as near as I could measure about 1/4 to 1/2 a degree out so that when you put two box sides together there was a slight gap on the inside of the joint and some care was needed bolting the boxes together in that it had to be done progressively whilst checking that the box remained square. I could not for certain work out if the error t was in the 3d print or in the casting - contraction in the sand mould as the casting cools can cause this sort of problem but it certainly could be in the 3d print. I am tempted to suggest that the 3D print files could be altered to make the angle so it came out right - maybe possibly perhaps I debated doing as you did and either machining / sanding either the print or the casting but that would have violated my "make with out special machine tools". Also one would have to be very careful to "recut" the 45 angle exactly square with the sides of the box section - I had some doubts of being able to do this without having to resort to my milling machine - definitely outside the "without special tool" thing. I urge you to get back to casting as it is such a useful ability to master..... Martin
Hello from Norway! I am working with granite cuting wire saw and we got a lot off small granitt dusts after cuting work. Is it possible to use it and clay to form models instead sand? Best regards Darius
Darius, Hello back from Melbourne Australia. Many other materials are used as a "sand" for moulding - zircon, chromite, olivine for example but I have not heard of granite dust being used. Granite is about 20% Silica and 65% Feldspar, Feldspar is quite a refractory material and might perform ok as a moulding sand. To be honest I do not know for certain how it would go but its refractory nature would suggest that granite dusts - providing they are not just granite flour - might be worth a try. However granite contains some mica and this tends to expand a lot when it is heated and this may cause problems. If you have no other source of a suitable moulding "sand" the dust may be worth a try, so give it a go and let us know how it went.... Martin
I"ll try soon !@@olfoundryman8418
Great!
anders, Thank you... Martin
i just found your channel....your a wealth of information & opened my eyes to things i did not know of....Thank You for being out there Ol Man..
tylor, Thank you for your comment. If my videos have been a help to you I am well pleased... Martin
Hi Martin, I'm now re watching your video and I'm still impressed and I'm getting some very good tips. I also use shell sand both in my day job and in my shed. Love the process. Greetings from across the ditch. Hope you have a wonderful new year.
wikusdp, Yes, I have a fondness for shell too. It makes strong, non friable, very dry cores that store well, and are usually hollow so they vent well too. Only problem of course is that they need a metal core box. All tthe best for you too in 2024 and I hope that the isles do not shake to much during it 😊... Martin
Hi Martin, I really like your videos, learning a lot, I hope that you are doing well. You positioned the pattern down into the drag by 10mm or so, was this to gain more height in the riser/feeder?
mungo, Thank you - I just wish more people would like my videos 😊. Sadly not doing as well as I would like - old age is a crock of crap! Yes, I put the pattern down into the drag by about 12 mm to gain a bit more feeder height and thus enough feeder volume to feed the casting properly, you will notice that I also used a feeder (and sprue) extension of about 30 mm for the same reason.... Martin
Thank you! well explained of aluminium degassing.
Scrap, Thank you for saying so and I hope it was of use to you.... Martin
Merry Christmas Martin! Hope you got some nice pressies, and a comfy chair to watch the cricket today.
dfross,. Yep, got some nice stuff which at my age is a bit of a miracle its usually jocks and socks for us oldies. Not really into cricket but I have a good few new books to read and a nice chair out in a patch of filtered sun. To bed before 12 on NYE only to be woken by al the illegal fireworks going off on the oval out the back. I hope that you got some good stuff too and that you have good 2024... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 I got some beer (IIRC you don't drink), and a few books so I'll count that as good enough 👍. Merry 2024 Martin 🎉🎆!
@@dfross87 I love your videos and even more the comments section, as reading is faster than listening. You were ladelling Aluminum from a 90kg crucible in one of your videos, Do you clean out that massive crucible after the production pouring as one is not to leave the metal to freeze in the crucible because subsequent heating can crack the crucible??? Do you even have 90 kg crucible tongs? What ladle are you using to dip out the Ali for your pours? All the best and happy, healthy New Year to you!!
I really appreciate your academic approach to the concepts you demonstrate. Very well done. It seems like there's not a lot of content on KZread or elsewhere for anything between uninformed amateur metal casting or footage from professional shops where they don't explain anything. Your videos really hit a sweet spot. You do professional quality work at an achievable scale for a serious metal casting enthusiast.
Borderline, Thank you, I guess I had to get reasonably good at making castings as it was how we survived for 30 or so years. I always tried to do it better each time and I am more than happy to pass what I learned on to anyone interested. It is entirely possible for an amateur to make very good castings - not top of the line aerospace perhaps as you need lots of really good equipment and to be operating at size to do that and few, including most of the commercial foundries, can do it anyway. But, as I show, very good castings can be made with simple equipment providing one cares enough to do it properly..... Martin
Would you be able to make a recommendation please, for sprue inlet and exit diameters for a casting that I will soon be making? The pattern is here kzread.info/dash/bejne/jI5tuZKlktHSh8o.html it is 14.5" long and 5" high, an approximate weight weight is 5kg from aluminium.
TheHalloween, Sorry, I just realized that I missed replying to you. Bad time of the year I guess. I had a look at your pattern. Oh Lordie! I hate fins absolutely hate them with a passion! They are very difficult to mould as the sand between each fin tends to break away when the pattern is withdrawn. With green sand I do not believe that one could ever successfully mould that part. You need a hard sand and CO2 silicate is probably as good as any BUT your pattern needs to be very, very good or you will never pull it out of the cured sand. Its difficult to say without actually having an in person look at the pattern but (for example) where the fins join the body there seems to be small gaps the sand will stick in those. Your draft needs to be absolutely perfect not even the slightest undercut anywhere - good luck with that! As regards sprue size we need to fill the mould quite quickly as thin fins are a problem - they tend to solidify before they fill properly. So lets take a few guesses and say a 20 second fill time, a 200 mm sprue height, (this will include a pouring basin about 50 mm high, which must be kept absolutely full for the entire pour) and a total weight of 9Kg to allow for feeders and gates etc. Thus we have an average fill rate of 450 grams per sec and the initial fill rate of 900 grams per sec. With the SG of molten aluminum at about 2500 kg/cubic metre and with the total sprue height of 200 mm (0.2 Metre) we have an initial metal velocity at the bottom of the sprue of 2 Metre per sec, and at the bottom of the pouring basin of 1 Metre pe sec. To cope with that flow at those velocities the bottom of the sprue will need to be 15 mm diameter and the top 24 mm thus it will have a taper per side of 1.7 degrees. Now should any of my guesses be incorrect then the sprue diameters will differ from those calculated here - this is my get out of jail free card 😊. Hope this helps and good luck. Please let me know how it all goes.. Martin
Thanks Martin. When I was designing the pattern I had visions of all that surface area on the fins causing a problem so, all of the fins are removable from the main pattern body, this way I can remove each fin individually which should reduce the tendency of sand breakages. I will use sodium silicate on all of this. The mould will consist of four parts, a lot of sand and it will be very heavy to lift. @@olfoundryman8418
Is the fuel oil?
TheHalloween, Diesel fuel - straight from the local service station. But it is a commercial oil burner and blower set up.... Martin