Archive for November, 2008
DIY Casting Movement
Posted on Nov 9, 2008 05:27:03 PM
People who like to make their own artifacts and are enchanted with the idea of building new and useful things from scratch are sure to enjoy ‘do it yourself casting’ that can be done at home using simple methods and techniques. Many amazing things can be produced and created using you home made metal foundry. A good understanding of some basic foundry knowledge and few simple tools can help you make metal casting at home possible. Many people find it difficult to get special parts for their cars or bikes or even find it very costly to modify their cars, house or even bikes. If you develop your hobby of Metal Casting , then you can easily make special parts for your cars and bikes and also will find it easy and save a lot of money. Casting can be used to make many things like, simple ornaments knobs and even handles. Hand wheels and small machinery or tools can also be made. Small articles like brass name plates, statues, vintage motorcycle and car parts, etc can also be made at home.
Furnace Designs that can be made at home:
Coffee Can Casting Furnace : This is very easy to build and even a large coffee-can will serve the purpose. This is one of the things that can be used to build a very simple and non complex gas fired furnace.
The “2 bucks” furnace: Is not as the name suggests, the furnace can’t be built in two bucks.Really with this design we are basing the design off of two buckets. It is very useful and a good experienced person can build it with a budget that is below 10 bucks. It effectively burns propane.
Flowerpot crucible furnace: This furnace can also be built very easily and most importantly, it can be built using the waste material from your back yard. All you need is an old flower pot and a few metal cans. Melt the metal cans and coat the inside of the flower pot with the melted metal and you furnace is ready.
Brick Furnaces, Chimney Pipe Furnaces, Dirt and Brick Furnaces and Breaking Metal in Barbecue are just a few other type of furnaces that can be build at home.
Tools and material needed:
Home made Aluminum pulleys: Pulleys of different size and shapes can be made by bending aluminum rods or plates. They are very simple to make and once you get the hang of it, you’ll enjoy making them.
Building steel crucibles: Steel crucibles are a bit difficult to make. You need to cut the steel and weld it using a welder, so it is a bit risky job and can cause injuries. It needs to be done with utmost care and precaution.
Home made ladle: A ladle can be made at home using a small portion of a steel water pipe; you can select the water pipe according to your needs and then cut it in the desired dimensions to create your home made ladle.
After doing all this basic work and gathering all the required information, you can now start your own Casting Furnace and make desired articles. You need t be thinking about the shape and size of the materials you want to make so you can move forward in the process of making molds. All types of metals and alloys can be used and melted for home casting, only their degree of heat required varies.
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Lost Wax Casting Information and Types of Lost Wax Casting
Posted on Nov 2, 2008 03:04:07 PM
Lost Wax Casting is known as Cire Perdue in French. This is a very important process where a scuplture made by an artist is used to cast bronze. The Lost Wax Casting method is also known as Investment Casting in the modern industrial world. A long time ago in ancient times, this method was used to cast small bronze sculptures but as it has evolved today, it is used to make a lot of different things and each foundry uses the process differently. Today this developed method of Lost Wax Casting is used to make articles like fine jewelery, show pieces, dental restoration, a few specific industrial parts and also some machine tools.
Process of Lost Wax Metal Casting :
Rough Sculptor making: A creative artist makes an original sculptor or mold or an artwork by using raw material like wax, plaster of Paris or clay. A mixture of oil based clay and wax is preferred as these materials retain their softness.
Final Mold Making: A mold is then made as per the original sculptor. The mold is made up of two pieces and a key with shim is placed between the two pieces during construction so the mold can be put accurately back together. Molds are generally made using plaster or fiberglass or any other material that may be suitable. An inner mold of latex or vinyl or silicone is put pup preserve the details of the original art work. Generally, the original art work made of plaster mold cracks and breaks during the initial phase of deconstruction. Many a times, numerable molds are required to get the exact replica of the original art work.
Filling up the mold: Once the latex and plaster mold is complete and finished, molten wax is poured into the mold till it gets an even coating all around the mold. The thickness of the wax coating is around 1/8 inch. This process is then repeated until the desired thickness is achieved.
Removal of wax replica: The hollow wax replica of the original art work is then removed from the mold. In reality you can use the mold over and over for other wax replicas, but you may not want to do this due to the wear and tear of the original mold.
Softening: Each wax mold is then chased or softened using heated metal tools. The metal tools are rubbed around portions that show cracks or the joining line of the mold, where the pieces have come together. Separately molded wax pieces are then heated and attached. You will then do what is called “dress” the mold so you can hide any and all imprefections. The final piece then looks like a bronze sculpture.
Making paths for molten bronze: It is also known as “spuring”, in short the wax copy is then branched with treelike wax, so that the molten bronze reaches the right parts and also it helps the air to escape. The critical and careful spuring begins from the top of the wax copy. The top of the copy is attached to by wax cylinders to different points on the wax copy.
Slurry, burnout, testing, pouring, release, metal-chasing, and painting are the final steps in the process of Lost Wax Metal Casting .
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