Does anyone know the going rate for casting a aluminum car club plaque? I was quoted $80 seem pricey for a aluminum plaque.
One pattern means you pound sand for one plate. Take it out pound sand for another one. Repeat. 10- 15 minutes to pound each mold. Heat the aluminum and pour. So 4 plates take at least an hour. If the pour doesn't work you get to do it again. You are dealing with heavy industry when melting metal. Not $50/hr mechanic shop rates. Did some sand casting in high school shop class. Hot dirty work.
Try Dennis O'Brien (59BuickWagon) here on the hamb,he recently did 4 vintage plaques for me and they were around 50 bucks each,painted & polished. Alliance members get a discount,but still less expensive than what you have been quoted. HRP
In a case like this, I always asked myself, "How much would I charge?" even if I had all the equipment needed. Unless your living in a third world country it won't be cheap as most companies have a minimum charge. As a metal shop teacher, I did lots of sand casting years ago. The more you do, the flask seems to get heavier., especially if it's steel. It's very labor intensive. as you know.
A friend of mine ( Phil Anderson ) hand carved the pattern from a piece of pine 2 x 8.about 55 years ago. We cast the plaques in the school foundry. Maybe juniors or seniors at the time.
I've done a quite bit of foundry work at home. Try the books by Dave Gingery. Lots of good info. You Tube has many videos on casting. For a quick one time pour, you can cobble up a furnace with some fire brick and a shop vac. Fire it with charcoal. I welded a cap on a short length of 4 inch pipe for a crucible. Mix some play sand and some bentonite clay or ground up kitty litter. Knock out a flask from plywood or whatever you have lying around. Ram it up and pour. You might get hooked
Some helpful links for whatever direction you may choose. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/custom-sand-casting-aluminum-foundry-services.1066721/ https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/sand-casting.872128/ Hamber @Beau provides help in this and @HellsHotRods posted a link below... There is more in the thread that may be helpful as well. http://www.hotroddisorder.com/p/v8ers-car-club-plaque-from-conception.html?m=1
Did you call me? If you send me the pattern you have it's $40 for one copy as cast. For $5 I'll paint (one color) and belt sand it. Add ten bucks for shipping and you're at $50 or $55 depending finish. Vs. $80 with no shipping that doesn't sound like sticker shock. You can find the above info on my website where it hasn't changed since 2007. And it even goes faster if the old plaque you have (or are looking for) is one of the original 12,000 patterns I have from Chicago Metal Craft and Speed Gems that were made in the 1950/60's.... Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
You E-mailed the WRONG person. Dennis has never charged that much for a plaque. $280.00 sounds more like what would be charged for a lowrider plaque.