forums.thehomefoundry.org

This is a restore job of an alter (mutare) crucifix . It will be a pro bono, deus lo vult job.

Part A. Fashion matching base. Ok well I could spend hours sculpting, I am sure you guys would want me to twitch it or zoom it, yet I am lazy and have the tools. So the plan is copy the needed elements from the cross and build the base out of wax. If i like it, I may make a base mold. But for now I will go the quick one off route.

So for starters I am laying this thing on a much to...

Mutare Crux

im coating ceramic fibre (wool) with itc-100 ht. has anybody used it over rididizer? thats what i would like to do, but greg odenthal from itc mentioned they "didnt have good experience" with that, whatever it means.

my experiments, so far, dont really show any difference, but they were done on small pieces (like 4"x4") so maybe it would be different when doing the whole furnace. without the rigidizer the coating would probably break up, which is not too bad, it woud do its job anyway, but...

itc-100 ht

I'm having problems with small bubbles appearing in the wax part I'm working on. Seems you can't use vacuum to cast wax parts. I've tried tapping the side of the mold to try to release the bubbles. I'm spraying the mold with mold release.

I'm heating the FF turquoise slowly and pouring it as soon as it's liquid. I'm not sure what temp it's at.

Due to the shape of the part, I'm pouring some wax into the bottom of the mold, installing the top half of the mold and then filling the mold. (I...

bubbles in wax casting

Has anyone seen or heard tale of a Moya Burner larger then One Inch? I saw several people going smaller??? has anyone seen larger

Thanks in advance
V/r
HT1

I'm contemplating buying a house in south Virginia. The house is between 120-130,000. I've spoken with the bank the total monthly costs with mortgage/insurance/town tax is $683, the closing costs are 5500, interest rate is 3.00% currently. Has a new roof, new floors, new kitchen, electricity was redone for most of the house to meet code. I'm thinking of going to see it in person this week and probably getting a house inspector to come see it with me to point out potential issues.

I'm...

Buy a house?

I am making another couple aluminum flask sets that require 12 pcs each set. Since the patterns lend themselves to convenient matchplate molding, and since I hope the matchplate will save me some time overall, (and since I was curious about the technique), I decided to give it a go.

Here is the first pair of side pieces for which I am making the matchplate. Both sides of the patterns are basically flat with two rectangular recesses. So, on one side I am just attaching the drafted pattern...

Matchplate Trial. Simplest posssible patterns. Good learner Project

When I first started casting I thought using plaster would be a great idea until I poured molten aluminium into the plaster mold. After many hours of drying in a oven the plaster still erupted like a volcano and lucky for me I was not burnt like my subscriber in his video. Have a look at 7:37 face shields are a must have item in the home foundry.

I just removed the blades and use this heavy pinion gear. I have a long pole with a flat bent end I use as a plow after all the clumps get broken up and I slowly drip water in with a two liter. I can get a little more than a 14x15 and a 4 inch drag and 6 inch cope mold a batch. Takes 10 to 15 minutes a batch and about five minutes of that is manually plowing it to make sure it's getting turned over enough. I will eventually do more upgrades but this actually works quite...

Simple way to mull

Hello all!

I have zero experience casting but I play in the heat for a living. I am a firefighter in my city and have lots of ideas to cast once I learn. Self taught at most things and really enjoy the learning process. Recently complete a scratch built electric bicycle with salvaged batteries that tops out around 35mph. I 3D printed lots of parts for it and I can imagine these parts in aluminum. So, I would like to have a go casting them. Also, working on a QueenBee CNC machine (router)....

Hello from Tucson, Arizona

Hello everybody!
I'm from Dallas and recently got into this hobby because of a combination of my packrat habits, my overly paranoid security habits, and my companies Covid benefits package!

I'm a natural packrat. And a few months ago I was cleaning my workshop and came across a stack of hard drives from every PC I'd owned back to around 1995.

I'm a paranoid person because I work in IT security and know it's never safe to throw away an old hard drive, but needed some way I'd feel...

Hello from Dallas (Obligatory first melt post!)

Just a general question about melting bronze. I have a number 10 crucible and was wondering what the melt time is to pour. I know I know it will vary for the most part but.... I'm using propane for heat in a small furnace. I don't have a way to check temperature on my melt times. Right now I'm about 30 to 35 minutes on my poor which I'm not sure is going to be hot enough due to the fact that some of my molds are not filling properly. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

So I was reading one of the bentone data sheets and it mentioned that VG-plus was 94-100% quaternary ammonium bentonite. So it just so happens that I have a few litres of a "Quat" or quaternary ammonium compound lying around as a 40% water based solution. So with a scoop of western bentonite into a jar and a very generous splash of the quat, I stirred it thoroughly. I thought it was going to be too wet as I added a fair bit of the stuff to the bentonite but the bentonite sucked it all up...

Making bentone experiment

Organo Clay or Bentone for use in making K-Bond Sand. 20# of VG-Plus (Bentone) for $82 incl. shipping. 20lbs is enough to make 330lbs of K-bond sand. 10lbs for $50 based on current UPS simple rates. PM me for smaller quantities.

K-Bond is named for Kent State where it was developed by one of Tom Cobett's Students.
It is an almost smokeless oil bonded foundry sand for casting zinc, aluminum, brass, bronze and iron.

See this link for the recipe:...

Bentone for sale

I have just revamped a Baltic birch core box that I have been using over the last 3 years. It is 18” long and triangular in cross section with letter located near its interior apex.

A seemingly good approach to coating it has been to spray it with a couple coats of shellac and then a few coats of sprayed while lacquer. The lacquer tends to reveal any surface dents or high spots which I then either sand off or fill with spotting putty or slightly thinned Bondo two-part putty.

Then I have...

What is the Slickest Most Adhesion Resistant Prep for Sodium Silicate Core Boxes?

the Petrobondforsale guy seems to be out of business.

anyone have another supplier???

Just curious.
Does anybody measure temperature ? Infrared pyrometer, thermocouple ?

I kick off.

I use a type S (K is too unstable and not high temperature resistant) thermocouple sheathed in alumina but can only measure swirling air/ gas temperature around the crucible. This TC is very durable. I have no means of measuring metal temperature as the couple itself dissolves in the metal (when immersed without sheathing) or the sheathing gets wetted and when pulling it, the wetted sheathing...

Do you measure metal temperature and how ?

I recently built a cheap thermocouple and it works great unfortunately the thermocouple itself is melting are you supposed to use it in the metal or hold it over the metal just a question? The thermocouple I purchased is below... I'm pouring bronze

As part of my ongoing FFA (Future Founders of America) project I have promised a 9-year-old that we will cast an aluminum snake. She has been interested in my foundry for the last year or so. (She is one of the girls I showed in a thread a while back casting an “R” in my foundry). She likes snakes and expressed an interest in casting one in aluminum.

So, I found a rubber snake for not much on Amazon that she likes. It is about 6 x 8 inches in its coiled shape....

How to Part a Snake?

Glad to be here! I have already seen some glorious things going on and maybe I could add a little to the scrap pile (but preferably the "keepers" pile.)
I first got my fingers burned many years ago in the UK. Took up residence in Canada 45 years ago and have been in and out, mainly out, of casting work since I landed. Somehow it never really leaves your blood if you follow. Nothing quite like the smell of burning Petrobond in the morning I guess!
I have long had a hankering for making Art...

Another lad from Ontario

I am a woodworker and factory manager, now outsourced/downsized/partially retired and doing customer service and website product support but still standing! My background is industrial engineering and woodworking, and I have run and consulted in the design/control for high temp incinerators and wood-driven heating systems starting on the one in my own factory which ran close to 3000 (melted the 2800 original firebrick like pudding), which I relined and re-designed the airways and fire...

Hello from VT