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| Foundry hints and tips for a noob on a budget, please! |
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| hopefuldave:
Well, a pair of 200 litre / 50-gallon drums arrived this week, one of 'em is destined to become a furnace, t'other a store for waste oil, but otherwise I'm lost... I did some casting / foundry work at college some decades ago, so I can just about remember the basics... What's a good cheap refractory lining? With the size of the drum I think I can use a 2" layer of mineral wool as an outer jacket (it's rated to 1000 C if supported), can I slip a temporary former inside that and cast a fireclay&sawdust _(polystyrene bead?) etc refractory liner, perhaps 3or 4" thick? I have a suitable blower, and a compressor to supply an atomising burner, I like the Kwicky as it's assembled from plumbing fittings, but I suspect it'll need scaling up a fair bit for the size of furnace (12" diameter x 24" tall inside)? I won a high-pressure propane regulator on eBay for preheat, which seems to be essential for oil burners... I'm only planning to cast aluminium, so no need for cast-iron temperatures, but a couple of things I'd like to cast are in the 10kg / 20pound and upwards range... Any clues for the daft as to how much oil (gallons/hour) the burner is going to drink? Will I need to pressurise them oil tank for enough flow? I have a balloon gas bottle that could take 30psi happily and holds a few gallons... Tee a low-pressure regulator off the compressor and feed it to the oil tank? Crucibles... I've seen DIY clay mixes and methods, I've seen welded steel pipe, pros and cons? Commercial crucibles are out of my price range for the moment, in the sizes I'm looking at... I can probably use lost foam for what I'll cast (unless I want multiples, then it would be easier to make proper patterns), 2 more questions: Is "drywall mud" called plasterboard seam filler here in the UK, or...? To get a better finish, is there any reason not to coat the foam pattern with soft (candle?) wax before 'investing' in drywall mud (whatever that is...)? I'd plan to dissolve the foam with acetone, and fire the investment to clear the crap out before the pour, and support the investment with silicate sand (like core mix) - is that feasible? All suggestions and constructive criticisms welcome! Dave H. (the other one) |
| andyf:
Hi Dave, I think there are many resources on the Web for home foundries. You might get some useful tips here, particularly on refractory mix and lost foam casting. I only mention it because I was the photographer on the pour! < http://mikesworkshop.weebly.com/foundry.html > Andy |
| hopefuldave:
Hi Andy, there's the problem, so much on the net I'm spoilt for choice! Nice photography on that site, and some very useful info on furnace and burner building - I'll try that refractory mix and I might try a scaled up version of his burner, once I get an oil burner going the propane one will make a good blowlamp... Mwahahahaaa... Dave H. (the other one) |
| Jonfb64:
Hi Dave, I recommend you get Dave Gingerys book on the charcoal foundary.I started with that and moved up to the propane variety almost straight away cos i got bitten by the casting bug. I sucessfully made his lathe and was half way through the metal shaper when illness prevented me continuing. Am hoping to get back into it this year as its really exciting to take a pile of scrap and make something useful or aesthetically pleasing. Do a search with google and you will be able to get the books easliy enough. Have fun, think safety all the time, it's no fun when your crucible fails as you lift it for a pour. Jon :) |
| hopefuldave:
Hi Jon, and thanks for the response! I already have most of Dave Gingery's books, including the furnace one, but I'd rather miss the charcoal step - I did a little casting decades ago in Design & Tech at college, so what I remember is from gas fuelled... Also, waste oil comes free (they almost pay me to take it!) but charcoal is surprisingly expensive around these parts. I've joined the alloy avenue board, there's some really interesting stuff there, but some of it goes way over my head at the moment - there's also the US navy's foundry manual on line, so I've been working slowly through - very slowly. It seems I have most of the hardware to build an oil-drum oil burning furnace bigger than I'm likely to outgrow, so that's what I'd like to do - slowly working the details out and trying to stay within my budget! Dave H. (the other one) |
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