Beating steel into submission (moulding flasks)

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Lads  

One thing has always bugged me about my foundry set up and that was the moulding flasks made form wood ,, they burn when you spill molten metal on them   , warp and generally fall to bits after a wile ,,,,,,,,,, so time for some steel flasks   ,, last week i had eight  lengths of 1/8" x 4"  steel given ,, all about 110" long ,,,,,,, just the job me thinks to make some flasks from .

Then i thought i need a bead up the lengths of steel ,so that the sand would grip to ,  as this it a one off job i knocked up a ruff and ready press tool from bit of off cuts .



dragged my shop built press into the middle of the shop and fed the lengths of steel through the press 6" at a time



When all were done ,, they were cut into 65" lengths , then all the off cuts were welded together and cut to 65" ,, this gave me enough for 6 set of flasks 12"x16".
next came the bending ,, so i removed the large vice from my welding bench and tac welded 4 lengths of round bar to it ,  for the bending jig .

The lengths were then bent round the jig ,heating the bends with oxy gear






Then after they were all bent up , the over lap was trimmed off and welded up


Due to the welding and bending they had a bit of a warp in them .

easy fix , stuck a shim under the one of the high corners , this is to allow for the bit spring back ,

plonk a bit weight on the offending corners , and heat the other to .




Next was to make sure they are truly flat , as some metal on the corners get raised due to hammering on the bends , a bit grinding took care of that using one of my ally core plates as a reference.
 


Then they were paired up ,cos they aint all the same ,,,,,,,,,,, the ones i did with a hangover are slightly different  


Handel's and pins to follow

Rob
 

[Bluechip]

Strewth ....

You ain't half into grunty stuff ... 

Must cost a fortune in Weetabix ...

Ah well, back to me bit of 1/8" ally .... 

If I can manage it ..

Dave BC



 

[dsquire]

Rob

When you get serious you don't mess around do you? Those flasks should last you a life time as well as pay for themselves in short order. Great job Rob and thanks for sharing it with us. 

Cheers 

Don

[sbwhart]

Give that lad a coconut

 


Great bit of bashing Rob.

Stew

[Gerhard Olivier]

Rob every time I think ive seen the extent of your talents you amaze me again!!!!!!
 

Gerhard

[Powder Keg]

Those look very nice!!!

[Stilldrillin]

  Some nice pieces of serious metal bashing there Rob! 

Will they be having flywheels in them?   

Very nicely done mate..... 

David D

[Jasonb]

They look good, I'm surprised how well they bent without distorting the profile. Does this mean we will soon be seeing some more progress on the R&B?

Jason

[Rob.Wilson]

Cheers lads  

Dave  BC,,,,,,,,,,, have to work off the Mc Donald's some how  

Don ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, i hope they are the last i have to make   ,,,,,,,, so do the neighbours  

David D ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,    ,,,,,,,,,,,,, they will ,,,,,,,,,, pore lots in one go  


Cheers Rob

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Jason 

Its fairly  easy to keep the profile  with  a bit of heat and patience  ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I have some fly wheels to cast first  ,,,,,,,, then its   back to work on the Engine 

Cheers Rob

[fatal-exception]

Very interesting! Thanks for posting! 

[Dean W]

Nice pictorial and writing, Rob!  I didn't realize you had put the crease down the middle of these yourself
when I saw them the other day.  Smart guy, you are.

the ones i did with a hangover are slightly different

What's this??  Don't blame it on the hangover, buddy boy!  It all went down your gullet without
a problem, I'll bet.  You were a volunteer!   
 

I was a welder for years.  Sometimes the boss would be standing nearby when one of us raised our hood,
and he'd notice the excess sweat on someone's forehead.  He'd just look 'em in the eye and ask;
"Is this job getting in the way of your drinking time, bud?"  It meant, Go home tonight and get
a good nights sleep!

These things came out great, Rob.  You're a hard worker, hangover or not!

Dean

[CallMeAl]

Wow!  Impressive work. Those look great and quality matches you wonderful work.  I'll just have be jealous and carry on with my burnt up wooden flasks...

[Rob.Wilson]

Cheers Lads 
 

  Dean ,,,,,,,, nothing like a shift welding in a confined space ,,,,, to help remove the spirit form the sole 

Made the handles from some re-bar i had scrounged ,, nice and grippy ,, my #25 vice was just the job to use as a bending jig ,,,,, heat, bend , bash






Then the pins and handles were then  welded to the flasks , using the mark one eye ball and my least squished thumb to get them in ruffly the right place 





They still need a bit of tweaking here and there ,,,,,,,,,, nowt to major ,,,,,,,,,,,, well that's another job off the list .


Well then you go on the net and see this    

Looking round the shop looks like i have the gear at hand to  make one 


Cheers for lookin Rob 

[Bluechip]

Gordon Bennet ... far too grunty for the likes of me ...

What's the yellow arrow for on the vice ??

Remind you which way to face when using it ???  

OK, back to PICs ....

Dave BC

[doubleboost]

I need to get some plus gas (oxygen plus acetyline)
Flasks look up to your usuall standard
John

[Rob.Wilson]

Dave    it is     ,,,,,,,,,, do you want a paint pen to mark up your steppers 


John ,,,,,,you will need some more casting sand  ,,,to fill the one your getting  

Rob

[Bluechip]

Rob


That's most unkind             I shall slink off to sulk now ...

You know me and steppers don't get on at the moment ... 

Dave BC

[Brass_Machine]

Some days are just crappy until you see threads like this... Seriously... makes me smile to see work like this. Then I get mad because I can't do it!! 

J/K   

Inspiration!

Eric

[Dean W]

Neat finishing up job for this project, Rob.  They look 'lifetime usable' to me.  You'll be an old coot before you wear them out!
Good thread!

Dean

[Stilldrillin]

Some days are just crappy until you see threads like this... Seriously... makes me smile to see work like this. Then I get mad because I can't do it!! 

J/K   

Inspiration!

Eric

Eric,
Yer right! 

Was feeling down, not had me breakfast yet....... Now, sitting here with a big admiring smile...... 

Blummin' well done Rob! 

David D

[Brass_Machine]

Well then you go on the net and see this    

Looking round the shop looks like i have the gear at hand to  make one 

I was going to ask what the heck it is, then I saw the picture description... 3 burner forge? What would you use it for?

Eric

[PTsideshow]

Very well done,they will do nicely for any thing that you will be able to think up to cast up!

[Rob.Wilson]

THANKS LADS 

Sorry Dave 


Hi Eric

Could be very handy around the shop ,especially if you don't have access to oxy gear ,cheaper, safer  and more efficient ,,Uses of the top of me heed , say  if you had a hard casting or lump of steel that needs annealing  so it could be machined ,the part could be heated up and left to cool down slowly  with a fire brick blocking the  hole in the front and rear  ,, or a  job that needed heating up for hardening ,,  ,,,,,,,,, stress revealing parts ,, or you may wish to bend a length of 1"x4" bar ,,,,,,,,, would have been handy  when i bent the handles up for the flasks ,, could have heated say 10 up at once,, bent one end ,, then stuck the other end in for heating ,
Its really just the modern version of the blacksmiths hearths .cleaner , and smaller .  Don't no about the vertical burners ,, good space saving idea though .

Cheers Rob   

[Jasonb]

Would warm up a sausage roll a treat

Jason

[Rob.Wilson]

Would warm up a sausage roll a treat

Jason

i had left the food references out 


Rob

[Artie]

Neat finishing up job for this project, Rob.  They look 'lifetime usable' to me.  You'll be an old coot before you wear them out!
Good thread!

Dean

Too late.....

Rob rob rob...... I only want 2 pairs, you've got heaps... Im lazy and you're not....

Looks fantastic..... what a thing to do......Ive seen a guy cast his in aluminium and thought he was sorta smart but nutz..... you buddy, you're WAY out there... Id love a set... but Ill stick with my environmentally friendly wood flasks.......

[AdeV]

Once again:     

Your metal bashing skills are awesome Rob. I've only seen one other person weld as well as you, and he doesn't do any machining, so you're more multiskilled than he... I just wish I could weld even 1% as well as you can, that'd be enough to see me through.

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Rob ,,,,,,,,,, cheers     your more than welcome to a couple of sets    ,,,,,,,, when you popping over to collect them  


Thanks Ade   ,,,,,,,,,  My welding is passable ,it  pales  into comparison to some of the lads i see TIG welding at one of the places i go to  ,,,, when you see them welding using a mirror to see what they are welding , because they cant get there head in , , pipe work in nuke subs  .
The more welding you do the easier it will become , you should have seen some of my first welds ,, lots of smoke and sparks ,,,, not allot of weld    

Dave if your lookin ,,,,,,,,,, stop using that welder as a seat    


Thanks Rob  

[Bluechip]

Dave if your lookin ,,,,,,,,,, stop using that welder as a seat    

Quite true Rob, I should. It's not very comfortable anyway. What it needs is some sort of frame thingy made to attach a substantial cushion on top.

Maybe I should do a sketch of what I need, then get someone with a welder to make it. Would use mine, but I'm sitting on it at the mo. 



Regards ..

    

Baffled of Belper