| The Shop > Metal Stuff |
| Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine |
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| Bernd:
Artie, Nice thread you have going here. I like the casting bit. I started a Gingery foundry many years ago. Just melted some ali and poured into ingots. That's all I've ever done. A few questions about pouring brass. What do you use for ingots? Any old scrap brass or do you use a know alloy? Do you add tin to the melt before pouring? I hear that the tin boils out as the melt gets near pouring heat. In quiring minds need to know. :med: Bernd |
| Dean W:
Oh, this is some very impressive work, Artie. Very interesting from my end, the way you are doing things here. From the looks of things, have you been doing this for a while? It's the last bit of voodoo that lets the home shop guy be completely independent from design and material shape requirements. Top job! Thanks for the pictures and explanations! Dean. |
| Artie:
--- Quote from: Bernd on March 07, 2010, 09:27:50 AM ---Artie, What do you use for ingots? Any old scrap brass or do you use a know alloy? Do you add tin to the melt before pouring? I hear that the tin boils out as the melt gets near pouring heat. In quiring minds need to know. :med: Bernd --- End quote --- Hi Bernd I use scrap items and ingot them ahead of time. Brass is really cruddy material and makes a huge amount of dross due to the tarnish which builds up quckly, therefore im not mucking around trying to remove crap during a stressfull pour, same with aluminium, its all turned into ingots before I need it. Its zinc which burns out of the brass, but if you are gentle and dont overheat it too much it wont be an issue. Incidentally try not to breath the fumes which come out of the foundry when melting brass, you will end up with the zinc shakes...not nice im told... Glad you have found it of interest... Hi Dean yeah had the foundry for near on 26 years now, it was put away for many years while I raised a family...same old story. Got it out a few years ago and got back into it. Having a blast, and you are correct in that ANY size of stock I need I can have within an hour or so... as well as the casting of items such as the pedestals. Cheers Artie |
| Bernd:
Thanks Artie. I've heard about the fumes. Bernd |
| Artie:
Just a little more, been away working for the last week so keen to at least achieve something. I need beds for the cross heads and end plates for the cylinders. I could just buy the stock for these but I doubt if anyone keeps the required size in town and if it was ordered it would cost a fair bit. So I cast them up. Nothing special, basically holes in the sand. A flat piece of pine for the beds and caps off spray cans for the end plates. The beds were cast on end, so I put in a pour hole to allow any gases to escape without bubbling the molten metal. I also cast this just over the brass melt point, I think I have learnt something today, dont get brass too hot, if you go back and look at the finish of the first piece of brass that I cat, this is heaps better... heat may be the issue.. Cost about $3 in gas and about 1 hour, scrap brass I get for nothing from a friend who has heaps of it. |
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