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I use a graphite and kerosene mix (used to be a product called plumbago) as a release agent on most of my patterns (unless casting steel). One of the great advantages is it fills in the layer lines on 3d printed patterns. So far it has worked in all sand types we use. I also have the luxury of...

Love your work, I am introducing this same concept with an anvil to my class next year. They will take a drawing, design it in either solidworks or inventor, print it out, mould it then cast it. As more and more foundries are starting to introduce 3d printing either as a pattern or as a...

I find 740C (1350 F) is a good temp if using new ingot, when using returns (scrap or what ever bits you can get) you can take that temperature up to 780 C (1436 F) this aids in the fluidity as the more you recycle the more of the other elements such as silicon burn out and this reduces the...

I don't know why people say you can't do cast iron at home, I've done it in a blacksmith forge. The one crucial element is the right crucible, it needs to be able to stand high temperatures around 1480 C tap out. I always tell people to use known ingots as not all cast iron is the same. The 3...

It's more fun in a 2.5 ton furnace. The copper coils that surround the furnace are water cooled under pressure. When things go wrong the molten metal will penetrate those coils. On a side note water expands approx 1700 times to form steam.

I used to, but not since I moved house. The neighbors aren't as tolerant here, lol. I was lucky I new what the scrap was I was using so could adjust accordingly and I would do a wedge test to check. I've seen some spectacular home failures too, with crucibles not designed for the sudden temp...

yes you can temper Aluminium (reduce it's hardness) and heat treat it but it depends on what grade of aluminium your using as this determines the temperature, how long it's held at that temperature and then how it's cooled. The difficulty comes in, unlike steel or cast iron, you don't have a...

You can definitely melt cast iron at home with gas, you do need a blower of some description to get it to the right temperatures. Pure iron has been made for centuries with nothing more than coke, lime and a hand bellows. The trick with most crucibles in one get the right grade and secondly...

It all depends on what you want to do with it. If it's for machining then you want something like a 2011 which has 5-6% copper in it, a little led and less than 0.4% Silicon. If it's for welding than something in the 6000 range. 6060 for example has between .3 - .6 silicon as well as...

Hi from the land down under, I'm a caster/moulder by trade and now teach at TAFE (trade school). Working on my first engine a 1/3 scale Case Traction Engine. I'm currently making all the castings as I redraw the boiler to meet our codes here for hobby boilers. Looking forward to many a great...