Metal casting at home

Igor-

You would have to find a foundry supplier that would be willing to sell small quantities of resin binder, which I think is probably not realistic.

Some have experimented with using epoxy as a resin binder, but I have not tried that, and don't know how successful it may be.

Alternately sodium silicate can be used to make both cores and molds, and it seems to be much more readily available, since it is used by pottery makers, and for other purposes.

I would probaby look for sodium silicate first, since it is relatively inexpensive, is much less toxic than resin, and much more available.

Sodium silicate can be hardened with CO2, or a catalyst if you can find that.

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GreenTwin said:

Igor-

You would have to find a foundry supplier that would be willing to sell small quantities of resin binder, which I think is probably not realistic.

Some have experimented with using epoxy as a resin binder, but I have not tried that, and don't know how successful it may be.

Alternately sodium silicate can be used to make both cores and molds, and it seems to be much more readily available, since it is used by pottery makers, and for other purposes.

I would probaby look for sodium silicate first, since it is relatively inexpensive, is much less toxic than resin, and much more available.

Sodium silicate can be hardened with CO2, or a catalyst if you can find that.

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Green twin,
I just saw this old thread from last fall. Looking at your posts, it is easy to see your passion for the home foundry hobby. WOW!
And it is also easy to see that it is not something that someone can just "dabble" in.
Lloyd

P.S. I have been to at least half a dozen foundries over the years including traditional lost wax and green sand. One variation of green sand that I saw used clean plain sand mixed with what they called "similar to super glue" that was sifted down over top of the patterns and hardened up without any ramming, etc. Plus, it was porous. Very neat process.

I got to visit a foundry when I was young, which was the local International Harvester plant, and I recall seeing the greensand process, and was most impressed, but did not really understand it exactly.

When I started trying to learn the foundry process in 2011, it took me a long time to figure out exactly how to get consistent castings with no defects, perhaps 6 (+) years.

A lot of folks who do foundry work use it to create artwork, so the methods may or may not apply well to making engine parts.

I don't recall anyone making working engines on the foundry forum or anywhere else, and so I had to figure out how to apply general foundry knowledge to engine casting work.

And the sand used for foundry work varies.
Almost universally you will see folks pounding away on greensand, or petrobond (oil-based sand), etc., but in the world of resin-bound sand, there is no clay in the sand, and so it does not really compress, and if you pound it like greensand, you just shift the sand away from the pattern.

Or people would demonstrate a burner type that was different than the one you were trying to use, and so the operation and setup was entirely different.

So you can end up getting mixed/bad advice from folks on foundry forums, and other places, just because you may be using different materials or equipment.

Learning how to operate a burner and furnace is one step, and learning the molding process is an entirely different thing that has to be mastered.

Home foundry work has been one of the more rewarding things I have ever done, especially the gray iron work.
Being able to make your own engine parts in gray iron opens up a lot of possibilities, and running my own foundry was a dream I had for a very long time.

When I get caught up with work projects, I am going to fire up the furnace again, and hope to make some very nice engines/castings.

Pat J

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