Well guys I have read some great posts here on sandcasting and this one is a tribute to the guys that came before me, this is just an example of what you can do with some old model a pistons and a really half *** foundry. ie. the shop vac, charcoal, flower pot method. I love Winfield stuff so I thought what better way to baby step my way into casting than making a choke arm for a winnie carb. The pictures tell the story. Lots of shrinkage but nonetheless it's a functional cast. The original is pretty crude anyhow. I am working on some steel molds for some bigger fish.
I'm saving up my aluminum for a 5 main model a ford block. I think someone already has the arduns covered.
First, better guys have done a better job explaining this here. Really simple, I took my dog's old food bowl and blew a hole big enough in it to accept a length of pipe. I buried the bowl so the top of it was level with the ground. I set the flower pot on top of the dog dish. Light charcoal in the pot and turn on the vacuum in reverse (it's black taped to the end of the pipe) . This will give you over 1600 degrees in about 15 minutes or so. The pot shattered promptly so let it warm a bit before you throw the meat to it with the vac. The crucible is 1/2 " thick wall steel pipe I welded a 1/4" plate bottom to. I used my Dad's old monster channel locks to retrieve and pour the alloy. I also used a steel rod to poke and fling off the impurities on top of the crucible. I poured some aluminum cookies first to see if this **** was really gonna work. Here's a pic to help illustrate, nevermind the flip flop diehard in the pic.
it really is that easy- my first attempt used two coffee cans stacked, charcoal, and a blower motor from a dishwasher!! and... it WORKED!!
yeah, it does look real easy. Did the flower pot originally have drainage hole and are they still open? Did you put the charcoal straight into the pot with the crucibel directly on top?
The pot came with a 1.5" or so drainage hole from the factory so I left it alone. The aluminum will melt faster if there is some charcoal underneath the crucible. Or it'll work if you set the crucible on the bottom and surround it with charcoals. If you have the campfire sense God gave a termite you'll be making silver muffins in no time. Now the sand molds are a pain in the ***.
I love the fact that you are wearing flip flops! Awesome. All you need is a burrito and Busch pounder to complete the scene!
That's not me wearing flip flops. The fellow standing there is in no more danger than running a barbecue. He didn't pour anything, just watchin the show.
thats as cool as hell!..you rock. i wonder what all could be made this way at home..parts that were never made..and parts that cant be found..totally cool
I found, need to cough up $200, a big propane kiln built to test heat resistant coatings that I plan to buy soon. I'll start with propane, then when I can I will convert to natural gas which I have convenient plumbing for in my backyard. Then I will work on more complex castings. I found a ballpark shrinkage rate for aluminum to be 1/10 - 5/32" per 1 foot, is this a standard that I can count on regardless of pour temp or specific Al alloy? I want to introduce steel molds to eliminate the sand h***le and make some serious hardware. These will be a alot of work and time so I gotta calc. shrinkage pretty accurately. Kenagain? Whizzard? Bueller?
Edelbrock and all them other guys making cast Al speed parts better watch out, Sawracer's on his way, While your at it how about casting me up a couple Winfield "D"'s. Don't need to be SR's, S's would be just fine. All kidding aside, I think this is some neat stuff!!
Propane will rock your world. I haven't tried the vacuum, just built a blackpipe venturi. Takes about 10 minutes to be ready to pour. Very nice job though... funnest. project. ever! Ben
I remember a thread a while back were someone overseas made a wood model of some valve covers and cast those in aluminum. I seem to remember there was a shrinkage formula there. Might be in the tech archives now.
Oh man! This is one thread I should have skipped.... I love cast stuff and have a million ideas for cast parts I "need". LOL! Very cool!
i did the same two weeks agon and found out that if you melt old beercans you get a realy flexible alloy , also the flower pot methoh ,realy easy
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