Metal Casting

[Dano]

Just an interesting read........what can we make ? has anyone done this before?.... I was looking at it for making body dies etc (rear quarters for example) so i could then use them as press' or dollys for eg 

http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/index.html

enjoy. Dano

[ben]

cool thanks dano:)

[Heavy Judy.]

This is on ebay now. Nothing that couldn't be slapped up in a weekend. 


 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250619731421&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

[able]

i just picked up a serviceable semi old style forge for free. it come with a sixties style little vacuum cleaner to force air into it. will come in handy for reshaping linkages and such... i got me some lengths of railroad track that will do for a anvil untill i can buy a decent one.

now if i could just track down somewhere that sells coal or brickets...

[Bedfordcrazy]

hey able, give clive palmer a ring i'm sure he can do a good deal on a couple of buckets of coal, ummm, those buckets are a couple of ton each. lol    is that enough for your use. lol  good luck 
george.

[able]

i seemed to have found a answer Bedfordcrazy, my local pet food/firewood store sells bags of charcoal.

they have the real good stuff that shops buy for rotisserie cooking and its $34 for a 20 kilo bag.

we fired it up last night and with full air it was heating the metal to brilliant red in about 2 minutes.

the metal we were heating was a axle from a moving trolley approximately one centimeter in diameter.

we made the L shaped tool with the flattened end that blacksmiths use to push and prod their coal within 10 minutes.

the only bad thing is the amount of sparks shooting into the air on start up before the charcoal fully catches. after reading a few articles on using coal/coke with all its side effects (sulfuric acid being created when it mixes with your sweat and lung lining) i think i will be sticking with the charcoal.   

[Warren]

Woo this takes me back to when i was an apprentice fitter & turner in a small country town.

We had a massive furnace I remember heating (and melting) a 4 ft long piece of 6" x 1" solid steel, we were heating it to put a 90 degree bend in it.

The forge was about 6ft diameter with a exhaust cowl the same size about head height to extract the fumes and heat - but it still got stinking hot around it

From memory you can pre burn the charcoal to remove most of the dust (which causes most of the sparks) at a slower air speed, then when the coals are conditioned up the air speed to heat.

mmm memories

Warren

[ben]

that sounds awesome fun able..

does that mean you can put a stub axel in it and bend the stub axel the other way so you can use it upside down to create drop axels? lol

ben

[Warren]

Umm NO

[able]

so once you get it going warren you just let it naturally burn before you add the air flow.... hmmmm

thank you very much.

im scouring the net for how to vids and their seems to be alot of youtubes and torrents for full dvd's.

looks like a new hobby.

and warren if you heat up things like linkages and re-bend them to the shape you need would you quench or air cool to keep strength?