sand is always a problem .....people are so keen to get started with casting that they forget about the sand..... good sand just cant be found at a drop of the hat!!! it takes months to make!!! in small batches ...a bit at a time....about a third of a bucket to a mix. with 4 buckets needed to...
excellent...and welcome to casting..... :) finer finishes are hard to acheive..... commercially the moulds are pressed with about 20 ton pressure all over!!! hard to acheive by hand..... petro sand produces a finer finsh....however its very expensive and you have to sift out all the burnt sand...
excellent ben !!! half the secret of a good casting is a good pattern!!! :) becoming a good "sandcrab " is more important than just melting metal :)......... after you prove your pattern and reach a good standard in aluminium..... brass is the next step!!!! brass takes more fuel to melt and it...
i dont bother with any degas agents...... i get my best and finest castings from aluminium that ive pigged several times.....if its a delicate cast i will sacrifice a secondry previous casting rather than use fresh scrap...i use "fresh scrap" for rough castings...like casting flasks. :) ben...
lol i hate on lookers....last time i did a bit.....showing the grandkids and answering questions.... left the pattern in the mold!!!!and it was a wooden one too!!! :)
cast iron has been known to have melted with a propane burner :)like 4.5 kgs of gas to melt 500 grs of cast iron!!!!!!
im yet to investigate but the guy that runs the foundry near here claims he uses a burner that runs on liquid gas!!!!
melts copper .... and makes his own brass in 6 kg lots...
cast iron isnt feasible with a propane burner. you will need a oil burner.... im not sure if coal dust will help with brass??? i sure wouldnt like it in my sand. :)you should be able to get your clay from a farmers feed store..... it comes in 25kg bags... if you ask for bentonite clay they will...
no i dont bother to fire them. i thoughly dry them in the oven up to 250 deg c. then straight into the furnance...i figure as they arent hard to make ....quanity over quality was better . its easy enough at the best of times to break them bought or homemade. :)