Casting Metals
- Thread starter Norman
- Start date
Thanks Jim!
I know it probably not as good as a store bought one but I think it will work good, at least for me.
I'll be able to try making some gears and other things requiring a dividing head.
One thing for sure its been fun to build all this stuff.
I know it probably not as good as a store bought one but I think it will work good, at least for me.
I'll be able to try making some gears and other things requiring a dividing head.
One thing for sure its been fun to build all this stuff.
Finished up the sector arms today.
These are the cast parts for the tail stand the last parts to machine then this project will be done and ready for use.
the indexing pin is pulled back and locked to go past the sector arms.
indexing pin set in one of the holes on the plate
the sector arms make it easier to keep track of where you need to insert the indexing pin form the starting hole to the next hole. Usually you turn the crank a number of turns then so many holes to get the degrees needed for each division.
These are the cast parts for the tail stand the last parts to machine then this project will be done and ready for use.
the indexing pin is pulled back and locked to go past the sector arms.
indexing pin set in one of the holes on the plate
the sector arms make it easier to keep track of where you need to insert the indexing pin form the starting hole to the next hole. Usually you turn the crank a number of turns then so many holes to get the degrees needed for each division.
finished tail stand set up on the mill and a test gear being made
gear blank getting its teeth milled. the gear blank is held on the mandrel with one set screw
view from over the tail stand as I'm milling the teeth
I was testing out the dividing head in my hurry to set it all up I didn't get the cutter completely centered so all the teeth lean to the right, tho they all are equally spaced. so this gear will get remelted.
gear blank getting its teeth milled. the gear blank is held on the mandrel with one set screw
view from over the tail stand as I'm milling the teeth
I was testing out the dividing head in my hurry to set it all up I didn't get the cutter completely centered so all the teeth lean to the right, tho they all are equally spaced. so this gear will get remelted.
I built a cover for the top of the dividing head to keep chips from getting into the gear train.
couple of shots of the plate and sector arms with out the sector arms you would loose track of where you are on the plate.
from this photo(top) to this bottom photo I moved the crank one complete turn and 5 holes. The sector arms guide you so you get the right amount of spacing from one hole to the next hole.
finished gear in the scrap bin. The test of using the dividing head was good. once the last tooth space was cut I indexed the gear again and ran the cutter down the first cut space and it went through the same spot so there wasn't any over lap or any more metal removed, which was what I was hoping for.
couple of shots of the plate and sector arms with out the sector arms you would loose track of where you are on the plate.
from this photo(top) to this bottom photo I moved the crank one complete turn and 5 holes. The sector arms guide you so you get the right amount of spacing from one hole to the next hole.
finished gear in the scrap bin. The test of using the dividing head was good. once the last tooth space was cut I indexed the gear again and ran the cutter down the first cut space and it went through the same spot so there wasn't any over lap or any more metal removed, which was what I was hoping for.
Great job Norm. Now you can build a transmission for your MB or just about anything else you want to build. Very good work.
Thanks Elmo!
I'm now at kind of a stand still I've built most all of the things I wanted out of the Gingery books, there still is a few things I might make but I'm not motivated to do them.
I guess I'll have to try casting a bike engine head and modify a clutch cover and cast one of them, still don't know just what I want to change on the cover other than making it a little thicker to maybe deaden the noise that seems to come from them(gear whine).
If I could find a small enough generator or alternator I could cast a mounting bracket and some gears to drive it right off of the engine.
So any of you guys have something to cast in mind? I'm open to some suggestions. If it strikes me as real cool I'll make it. You may also get it or a copy of it. SSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Lets see what we can fuct with next.
Norman
I'm now at kind of a stand still I've built most all of the things I wanted out of the Gingery books, there still is a few things I might make but I'm not motivated to do them.
I guess I'll have to try casting a bike engine head and modify a clutch cover and cast one of them, still don't know just what I want to change on the cover other than making it a little thicker to maybe deaden the noise that seems to come from them(gear whine).
If I could find a small enough generator or alternator I could cast a mounting bracket and some gears to drive it right off of the engine.
So any of you guys have something to cast in mind? I'm open to some suggestions. If it strikes me as real cool I'll make it. You may also get it or a copy of it. SSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Lets see what we can fuct with next.
Norman
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Hey guy's I made a little video of me casting a part for a girder fork i am building. I poured kinda slow & I need to re-do it (i am out of de-gassing agent) but here it is.
YouTube - Casting 1 29 2011
enjoy.
YouTube - Casting 1 29 2011
enjoy.
That was nice!!! Would it work better to have a larger diameter pouring spruce and riser? You could get the metal in quicker that way. Pour it as fast as the metal will go in.
Your using a type of petrobond sand I guess?
Good to see someone else casting, making parts for themselves on the forum.
A guy can make just about anything you want with a foundry.
Thank you for sharing your video Thud I'm looking forwards to seeing more. maybe a couple of photos of the machining and the finished product.
Norman
hey for degassing have you tried using the salt substitute? or swimming pool tablets? I made up a mix of salt and the salt substitute melted together. salt sub. is potassium chloride or the stuff called "no salt" for table use.. I usually use it when melting scrap into ingots. Just about a teaspoon of it pushed to the bottom of the liquid metal stir it a little skim off the dross then pour.
Your using a type of petrobond sand I guess?
Good to see someone else casting, making parts for themselves on the forum.
A guy can make just about anything you want with a foundry.
Thank you for sharing your video Thud I'm looking forwards to seeing more. maybe a couple of photos of the machining and the finished product.
Norman
hey for degassing have you tried using the salt substitute? or swimming pool tablets? I made up a mix of salt and the salt substitute melted together. salt sub. is potassium chloride or the stuff called "no salt" for table use.. I usually use it when melting scrap into ingots. Just about a teaspoon of it pushed to the bottom of the liquid metal stir it a little skim off the dross then pour.
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Hey Norm,
Thank you for the kind words.
The spru was big enough...Just out of practice LOL.
I just came in from pouring 2 new & perfect (for me) castings.
I have used the No-Sault stuff as flux..I rarley bother with it any more on aluminum. De-gassing though is benificial every time for me & my setup.
I use tablet chlorine (crushed) & apply it in the standard method described everywhere. I may buy some comercial suff some day just to see how much better it is.
& yes, petro-bond from BCS. I had a high of 30f today. All my water temperd greensand is frozen stiff
. the petro-bond is a God send in these conditions.
When I am casting bronze, I use glass & charcoal as a cover flux while melting.
I hope a few more guy's jump into making stuff from scratch(scrap). This is the oldest form of metal working & really an addictive hobby all by itself.
I am looking foward to seeing your next projects.
You Flew through the Gingery machines!
Thank you for the kind words.
The spru was big enough...Just out of practice LOL.
I just came in from pouring 2 new & perfect (for me) castings.
I have used the No-Sault stuff as flux..I rarley bother with it any more on aluminum. De-gassing though is benificial every time for me & my setup.
I use tablet chlorine (crushed) & apply it in the standard method described everywhere. I may buy some comercial suff some day just to see how much better it is.
& yes, petro-bond from BCS. I had a high of 30f today. All my water temperd greensand is frozen stiff
. the petro-bond is a God send in these conditions.When I am casting bronze, I use glass & charcoal as a cover flux while melting.
I hope a few more guy's jump into making stuff from scratch(scrap). This is the oldest form of metal working & really an addictive hobby all by itself.
I am looking foward to seeing your next projects.
You Flew through the Gingery machines!
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Thud
I think I got a little mixed up degassing and fluxing. I haven't tried to degas the melt but I think I might need to I see very small air pockets or pin holes in the metal and they are very small holes.
So the chlorine will help that I guess ? I'll have to see if I can get some once the pool season starts up again.
Hey the gingery stuff was fun to do. I made that dividing head and it works pretty good, I'm making some gears right now for my Grizzly lathe G0602 it doesn't have a reverse tumbler set up so a guy can machine going to the right or cut left hand threads. So I'm making the gears to do that.
The spindle gear and the first gear tied to the spindle gear are plastic. So I'm making those out of cast aluminum. I have the spindle gear done(40 tooth) and now working on 2- 60 tooth gears one for forwards and one for reverse.
I'm using the mill and dividing head to cut the gears. Its working fine. I used the shaper today to cut the key way on the 40 tooth gear. I didn't run it under power just moved the belt sheave by hand to cut the key way. I was afraid I might jam the gear or something under power took a little longer but not too much chance of wreaking the gear.
I'm posting the reverse gear thing on "projects in metal forum" if you want to see it. I haven't found this being done anywhere on the net for this particular lathe so I might be the first or a least the first to put it on the web.
The hardest part will be the mechanism to mount the gears and the levers to do the switching. If a person has this lathe and doesn't want to make the gears then buying one extra plastic gear should work but switching the plastic gears when the lathe is running might eat the gear teeth up.
That is why I'm casting them in aluminum.
Thud didn't you start on a shaper? If so you should finish it they are a hoot.( I went back and looked you did have a nice blue one almost finished).
If you don't have a dividing head they are very handy for gear cutting or indexing things, sprockets adapter hubs , bike parts etc.
The mill was really easy compared to the shaper to build, plus the shaper will help in building the mill.
Well back to the man cave got some aluminum that needs tearing up.
I think I got a little mixed up degassing and fluxing. I haven't tried to degas the melt but I think I might need to I see very small air pockets or pin holes in the metal and they are very small holes.
So the chlorine will help that I guess ? I'll have to see if I can get some once the pool season starts up again.
Hey the gingery stuff was fun to do. I made that dividing head and it works pretty good, I'm making some gears right now for my Grizzly lathe G0602 it doesn't have a reverse tumbler set up so a guy can machine going to the right or cut left hand threads. So I'm making the gears to do that.
The spindle gear and the first gear tied to the spindle gear are plastic. So I'm making those out of cast aluminum. I have the spindle gear done(40 tooth) and now working on 2- 60 tooth gears one for forwards and one for reverse.
I'm using the mill and dividing head to cut the gears. Its working fine. I used the shaper today to cut the key way on the 40 tooth gear. I didn't run it under power just moved the belt sheave by hand to cut the key way. I was afraid I might jam the gear or something under power took a little longer but not too much chance of wreaking the gear.
I'm posting the reverse gear thing on "projects in metal forum" if you want to see it. I haven't found this being done anywhere on the net for this particular lathe so I might be the first or a least the first to put it on the web.
The hardest part will be the mechanism to mount the gears and the levers to do the switching. If a person has this lathe and doesn't want to make the gears then buying one extra plastic gear should work but switching the plastic gears when the lathe is running might eat the gear teeth up.
That is why I'm casting them in aluminum.
Thud didn't you start on a shaper? If so you should finish it they are a hoot.( I went back and looked you did have a nice blue one almost finished).
If you don't have a dividing head they are very handy for gear cutting or indexing things, sprockets adapter hubs , bike parts etc.
The mill was really easy compared to the shaper to build, plus the shaper will help in building the mill.
Well back to the man cave got some aluminum that needs tearing up.
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Norm,
I have the shaper 99.99% completed & have actualy used it on a couple occasions. Hand powerd Just like you . I built the shaper Just cause it is something that is getting hard to find these days. It resides under the bench in case it needs to be called into service.
I have an old Smithy XL1224 3 in 1 machine I bought to service my vintage motorcycles. For indexing, I have a couple spin-indexers & a small rotary table. A Grizley 4003 lathe & a small cnc machine built for kicks completes the Thud prototype Lab.
I have made 2 hobs for cutting the 2 odd gears I have needed over the years.
You sound like your haveing a lot of fun on your projects.
I actualy started making patterns for the Mill as a prize for one of our casting competitions a few years ago...but the contest never started & I am not as frequent on that forum as I should be...I would guess you have a Spa dealer not too far away..so de-gassing chemicals are prolly available.
I have rambled on long enough.
I will share the set up's & finished girder fork I am building for the tuscon race bike.
Where would the best place to post that? here or in the "bikes & projects" thread I started?
Take care in the shop. T
I have the shaper 99.99% completed & have actualy used it on a couple occasions. Hand powerd Just like you
. I built the shaper Just cause it is something that is getting hard to find these days. It resides under the bench in case it needs to be called into service.I have an old Smithy XL1224 3 in 1 machine I bought to service my vintage motorcycles. For indexing, I have a couple spin-indexers & a small rotary table. A Grizley 4003 lathe & a small cnc machine built for kicks completes the Thud prototype Lab.
I have made 2 hobs for cutting the 2 odd gears I have needed over the years.
You sound like your haveing a lot of fun on your projects.
I actualy started making patterns for the Mill as a prize for one of our casting competitions a few years ago...but the contest never started & I am not as frequent on that forum as I should be...I would guess you have a Spa dealer not too far away..so de-gassing chemicals are prolly available.
I have rambled on long enough.
I will share the set up's & finished girder fork I am building for the tuscon race bike.
Where would the best place to post that? here or in the "bikes & projects" thread I started?
Take care in the shop. T
Thud either spot will work, heck put the stuff on both, you might get more views on bikes and projects. I'd like to see the casting on this thread metal casting.
Thanks for sharing the info and the photos.
Thud ,could you give a description on how you use your petrobond sand how to recover it once it's used. Plus the oils,chemicals etc or substitutes to use.
I've heard that 2 stroke oil works and methanol alcohol I don't remember the clay binder's name
or if you can use something locally available.
My Dad used it years ago I had a chance to get it about 15 years ago when my Mom sold your house. She said I could take the sand, at the time I wasn't interested in casting so I left the sand in the basement it was in 4- 5gallon buckets. If I ever get back to Hamilton, Ill. I'll have to go see the guy who bought the house I'll bet he hasn't done anything with those buckets of sand. I remember that sand was so fine you could get your finger prints to show up clearly in the sand. Times sure do change what a person gets interested in.
Thanks for sharing the info and the photos.
Thud ,could you give a description on how you use your petrobond sand how to recover it once it's used. Plus the oils,chemicals etc or substitutes to use.
I've heard that 2 stroke oil works and methanol alcohol I don't remember the clay binder's name
or if you can use something locally available.
My Dad used it years ago I had a chance to get it about 15 years ago when my Mom sold your house. She said I could take the sand, at the time I wasn't interested in casting so I left the sand in the basement it was in 4- 5gallon buckets. If I ever get back to Hamilton, Ill. I'll have to go see the guy who bought the house I'll bet he hasn't done anything with those buckets of sand. I remember that sand was so fine you could get your finger prints to show up clearly in the sand. Times sure do change what a person gets interested in.
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Norm,
I had a project (paying job) I needed to be sure of, so I bought 100#s of pre-mixed petrobond from budget casting supply....Wow! the price has nearly doubled from when I bought mine 5+ years ago.
PetroBond Foundry Casting Sand
this is the match plate for the production run:
I cast this pattern 25 times....boring!
As far as maintance of the petro-bond, I don't take a ton of precaution. a lot of guys seperate the black/burnt surface sand from the mix. I try too also but am not very fussy. The stuff has incredable green strength & its kinda tought to riddle. I ended up making a riddle with 1/4" hardware cloth.
I am still getting great performance after years with just riddling well before storing..I prolly have on 85#s left after all my work with it. I have 150# of water bond mixed up & stored in 5gal buckets...I still use that for bronze work as that really burns the oil bond sand.
I know you can buy petro-bond binder. I think thats the trade name(which is an organophilic clay) But it is had to find in in less than industrial qty's. I have heard of guys mixing their own using an organo-clay common for making oil well drilling mud. you can find the recipe here:
K-Bond - Oil Bonded Casting Sand
the big issue here is having a real muller to properly mix the sand. & finding sharp silica sand in 100mesh to mix a batch. way finer than the "fine" quickcreet at home depot.
I have no doubt I will need to have my oil bond stuff re-mulled some day...have plans to build a muller (when I really need it). My greensand I hand mull in the wheelborow with a hand held hoe.....a real workout to say the least
It is interesting how much you can do once you realize how basic the steps are. fire+metal+sand= parts.....devil is in the details.
I will keep you up to date on my doings.
I just hope some one can take a bit of knowledge or motivation from my tinkerings. Be safe in the cave. T
I had a project (paying job) I needed to be sure of, so I bought 100#s of pre-mixed petrobond from budget casting supply....Wow! the price has nearly doubled from when I bought mine 5+ years ago.
PetroBond Foundry Casting Sand
this is the match plate for the production run:
I cast this pattern 25 times....boring!
As far as maintance of the petro-bond, I don't take a ton of precaution. a lot of guys seperate the black/burnt surface sand from the mix. I try too also but am not very fussy. The stuff has incredable green strength & its kinda tought to riddle. I ended up making a riddle with 1/4" hardware cloth.
I am still getting great performance after years with just riddling well before storing..I prolly have on 85#s left after all my work with it. I have 150# of water bond mixed up & stored in 5gal buckets...I still use that for bronze work as that really burns the oil bond sand.
I know you can buy petro-bond binder. I think thats the trade name(which is an organophilic clay) But it is had to find in in less than industrial qty's. I have heard of guys mixing their own using an organo-clay common for making oil well drilling mud. you can find the recipe here:
K-Bond - Oil Bonded Casting Sand
the big issue here is having a real muller to properly mix the sand. & finding sharp silica sand in 100mesh to mix a batch. way finer than the "fine" quickcreet at home depot.
I have no doubt I will need to have my oil bond stuff re-mulled some day...have plans to build a muller (when I really need it). My greensand I hand mull in the wheelborow with a hand held hoe.....a real workout to say the least
It is interesting how much you can do once you realize how basic the steps are. fire+metal+sand= parts.....devil is in the details.
I will keep you up to date on my doings.
I just hope some one can take a bit of knowledge or motivation from my tinkerings. Be safe in the cave. T
Conoco used the inverted mud when drilling wells in Wyoming. It was mixed with diesel fuel. It was called bentone or something like that. I should talk to my buddy that works in the drilling department he might be able to get me a bag or two if I decide to give the petrobond sand mix a try. I'm too cheap to go buy the stuff, right now my casting is for fun.
Hey I'd sure like to see a cast part from the pattern and the finished part if possible. I can't figure out what that thing is??
It's going to get nasty here for the next couple of days so the man cave might be cold, maybe too cold to play in so I might have to watch the boob tube.
Hey I'd sure like to see a cast part from the pattern and the finished part if possible. I can't figure out what that thing is??
It's going to get nasty here for the next couple of days so the man cave might be cold, maybe too cold to play in so I might have to watch the boob tube.
I saw the space shuttle take off last week and got a little sun burned in the process. Nothing to do with metal casting but man what a flame coming out of the rear of the shuttle!!!! 7,000,000 lbs. of thrust. that would make your bike get up and fly. You would really want your bearings well greased for the start.
I was so impressed with the launch I didn't take any pictures, what a hoot!!!!
I like loud fast things!!!!WOW!!!!
I want to see it again!
The kid and I might get to see it land next week.
I was so impressed with the launch I didn't take any pictures, what a hoot!!!!
I like loud fast things!!!!WOW!!!!
I want to see it again!
The kid and I might get to see it land next week.
Yea I'd sure like to have seen a night launch.
Well I'll be at the art fair all week end here at Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. this week end then back across the USA to Ca.
I'm getting tired of being on the road.
I want to get home and play with my toys!
Norman
Well I'll be at the art fair all week end here at Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. this week end then back across the USA to Ca.
I'm getting tired of being on the road.
I want to get home and play with my toys!Norman
Hey guys anyone done some casting? I finished up a speed reduction drive for my g0602 lathe. I slowed it down to about 58 rpms( normally the slowest speed is 150 rpms) by using timing gears out of a small engine. I'm planning on making a newer design as I don't like how the first one looks sort of like a Badger's a$$ it was a prototype and works fine I just want to make it look a little better plus be able to slow it down more. I can't do that with the design that I have now cause there isn't room for a larger input pulley. The reason for slowing down the lathe is its easier to thread at the slower speed or for turning large dia. parts.
here it is
YouTube - speed reducer for g0602 lathe
here is the spindle at 58 rpms
YouTube - G0602 Spindle at 58 rpms
so what have you guys been doing?
here it is
YouTube - speed reducer for g0602 lathe
here is the spindle at 58 rpms
YouTube - G0602 Spindle at 58 rpms
so what have you guys been doing?
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