In reply to californiamilleghia :
I dunno that foam would work easily. I'd worry you wouldn't get a good surface from it.
In reply to californiamilleghia :
I dunno that foam would work easily. I'd worry you wouldn't get a good surface from it.
these were made with lost foam. Admittedly I carved the foam instead of trying to inject it, but truly, lost wax would be better, definitely leave a lot less work for finishing
Don't get me wrong, lost foam can give great results, but its just the injecting into a mold to get a foam positive that I don't see working well.
the lost foam is used a lot in Industry , but I do not know if it would work for us ?
Just wondering :)
Kelly Coffield figured out lost foam.
I suggest watching his videos, lot of automotive related casting... like you guys wanna do. I believe he has cast uprights and hub carriers also.
Mr_Asa said:Anyone have a recommendation for supply houses? Places to get tongs and heat resistant clothes and other stuff?
You will probably be better off to fabricate your own tools vs buying. Size your tongs to furnace bore and crucible dimensions. Fab pouring shank to crucibles as well, may not be one size fits all. Some do a tong/ pouring shank combination.
Welding leather gear is common. Gloves, jacket, apron, pants, foot covering. Some casters don't even bother. Face shield is a must.
californiamilleghia said:Has anyone made a mold , maybe 3D print ed ,
so that you can shot foam into it for lost foam casting ?
I have 3d printed molds with an SLA machine and injection molded wax patterns before. I don't know much about making foam patterns but wax is absolutely doable with hobbiest level equipment.
In reply to fasted58 :
Damn. That man has a nice setup. I wish he'd organize his videos into a playlist though. Its hard to figure which goes where
In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :
When we went fishing my cousin had a cheap Zebco reel and could cast a dare devil lure 1/4 mile.
My dad made me learn on an open faced Pfluger reel with black cotton line that I could throw10 feet plus a birds nest in the reel.
I watched a video on YouTube of somebody restoring an old Lola F5000 car. They found one of the uprights was broken beyond repair so they had to have a replacement cast from magnesium. The idea of getting magnesium hot enough to be a liquid makes my sphincter squeeze really, really small... Prolly my lack of understanding.
In reply to stroker :
No, outside of an industrial facility with industrial fire protection, casting magnesium is one of the most dangerous and stupid things to do.
In reply to stroker :
I work at a foundry that melts Nickel super alloy all day, we melt ~2900 deg F all day, Magnesium melts at ~1200 deg F.
It's all relative, that being said I can't imagine melting Nickel in my garage. 
In reply to New York Nick :
The thing is magnesium is much more prone to igniting once it's melted, and magnesium fires are seriously hot (5000+F) and hard to put out. Not that you wouldn't know that working in a casting facility, but for hobbyists, that bright white fire that burns water is especially dangerous.
RevRico said:In reply to New York Nick :
The thing is magnesium is much more prone to igniting once it's melted, and magnesium fires are seriously hot (5000+F) and hard to put out. Not that you wouldn't know that working in a casting facility, but for hobbyists, that bright white fire that burns water is especially dangerous.
Yeah, that's the part that made my butt pucker...
In reply to RevRico :
100% correct, Magnesium fires are no joke. Fire and explosions (and asphyxiation) are always a consideration for us (we make powder, that's why the explosive).
stroker said:I watched a video on YouTube of somebody restoring an old Lola F5000 car. They found one of the uprights was broken beyond repair so they had to have a replacement cast from magnesium. The idea of getting magnesium hot enough to be a liquid makes my sphincter squeeze really, really small... Prolly my lack of understanding.
I would like to watch that video, if you remember where it is.
Mr_Asa said:stroker said:I watched a video on YouTube of somebody restoring an old Lola F5000 car. They found one of the uprights was broken beyond repair so they had to have a replacement cast from magnesium. The idea of getting magnesium hot enough to be a liquid makes my sphincter squeeze really, really small... Prolly my lack of understanding.
I would like to watch that video, if you remember where it is.
The linky thing isn't working. Here you go:
Salvage Squad the Lola F5000 - YouTube
Sorta like "Junkyard Wars" meets F5000...
stroker said:Mr_Asa said:stroker said:I watched a video on YouTube of somebody restoring an old Lola F5000 car. They found one of the uprights was broken beyond repair so they had to have a replacement cast from magnesium. The idea of getting magnesium hot enough to be a liquid makes my sphincter squeeze really, really small... Prolly my lack of understanding.
I would like to watch that video, if you remember where it is.
The linky thing isn't working. Here you go:
Salvage Squad the Lola F5000 - YouTube
Sorta like "Junkyard Wars" meets F5000...
36 minutes in, if anyone wants to skip to it.
The lack of safety gear is astounding to me. Looks like they even did the machining out in the open as well
Magnesium needs to be respected , but its not dynamite ( also needs to be respected)
VW engine cases are Magnesium and are machined everyday without catching on fire ,
Yes you need to be ready "just in case"
If anyone knows of a place that casts Magnesium , I need a bunch of round "frisbee" size pieces so we can machine them .......
Interesting comparison between PLA and casting specific filament for casting 3D prints
bgkast (Forum Supporter) said:
Interesting comparison between PLA and casting specific filament for casting 3D prints
Fairly sure there was something else wrong with the PLA print other than it was PLA. I've done castings that look so much better than that, even when they mostly fail. I wonder if it was temp related.
This is PLA in bronze: https://imgur.com/a/kJjBZ I had a problem with air bubbles, but beyond that I got enough resolution from the plaster to show the print lines.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
Do you blow out the ash before pouring?
In reply to bgkast (Forum Supporter) :
Been a long time since I did that one, but I believe we did yes
Subbing to the thread. I'm going to build a furnace/foundry soon. I figure I'll make the first project really easy and cast some aluminum vice jaws, since mine are kind of chewed up.
This also reminds me I need to look up the article that GRM posted about pouring your own bushings so I can make some poly jaws, too.
RevRico said:In reply to New York Nick :
The thing is magnesium is much more prone to igniting once it's melted, and magnesium fires are seriously hot (5000+F) and hard to put out. Not that you wouldn't know that working in a casting facility, but for hobbyists, that bright white fire that burns water is especially dangerous.
Another cautionary Magnesium story by the guy who built the CBR Honda powered S600 featured on "Jay Leno's Garage". Tune in at 8:00
Part 2 - Motorcycle Powered Car - How and Why: Fuel System, Exhaust, Intake, and Controls - YouTube
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