As for casting, more difficult part:
- neighbors that do not call the police, if they see sparks and fire ( I already got in trouble using an 100 mm angle grinder
)
- convince the wife that it is not dangerous and the neighbours are in the wrong ("No honey the fumes are actually good for men, the neighbors Canary was already old, probably sick anyway!")
- have an idea about safety and risks,
- find the materials for casting
Getting started with casting is not easy. I think people need to be fairly persistent before the first good results are obtained.
My guess is before casting makes a big comeback, because of easier pattern making.
Machined parts ordered from the Internet, 2.5d machining (already available at reasonable invest) will replace casting even more than now.
Some old techniques do not disappear, they just become more a niche or hobby.
Noise, smoke, and flames can be a problem with foundry work in a neighborhood.
My diesel burner operates smoke-free, so smoke is not a problem.
The burner does make a lot of noise, and particularly a low-frequency rumble/roar, and it is acting a lot like a pulsajet I think, which is also a very noisy device. I put rubber under the wheels on my furnace, to miminize transmitting the low frequency rumble.
One person I know out west had a neighbor complain about furnace noise, and he added a stack that is about 8 feet long, on top of his furnace.
The stack is lined with lightweight ceramic insulation, and this solved his noise complaints from his neighbor.
The stack looks a bit odd on top the furnace lid, but is functional.
I had to overcome my own fear of getting burned alive, and then convince my wife that what I was doing was not going to burn me alive.
This took some serious conversation, but she knows I do my thing when doing whatever, and can do it safely.
Melting/casting aluminum is relatively easy and safe, and you don't need accurate burner adjustments, and don't need a high-output burner (assuming you avoid water and moisture).
Melting/casting gray iron is a whole new level, and while it can be done with relative ease once you are set up to do it, everything must be done in an exact fashion, and done consistently, else it is not going to work very well.
One of the main safety risks concerns avoiding inhalation of sand dust and ceramic blanket fibers; this is critical.
Many of the hobby furnaces for sale now do not have coated ceramic blanket interior insulation, and for a forced-air furnace, this is not safe.
The fire/heat dangers are just a matter of using leather everything, using heat shields in strategic locations, and understanding how to operate a burner.
I see so many folks online who build a burner and furnace, and then install a plastic 5 gallon fuel tank 24 inches from the furnace; this is a good way to burn yourself and your house down.
Finding the materials for backyard casting can be challenging, depending on what you are trying to do.
Many use Petrobond (tm), which is an oil-based molding sand. You have to know how to condition this sand to keep it usable.
Pottery stores generally have a lot of the materials needed to build a foundry.
The key to successful backyard foundry work in my opinion is the quality of the sand mold.
Your casting will be as good as your core/mold.
I think the mold is where many folks fail at backyard casting.
One does have to be persistant in order to learn backyard casting.
It is also important to research how to run a foundry, and how to make castings, and not just randomly try things, and not keep trying the same thing over and over again that does not work well.
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