Matt, sorry to but into your video here but I saw a post asking about my book. Just to say that my book, "The Artful Bodger's Iron Casting Waste Oil Furnace" is still available. I always answer any emails sent to me about casting or my book, however from time to time I seem to have problems with my emails. Please persevere if you're trying to contact me, I'm still around! Colin Peck
Thanks Colin! I have pinned your comment so others can see it easier. He really is great about emails!! I have sent him many in the past and he always puts in 100% when answering.
These castings always have me on the edge of my seat. And yet, for all the drama, they're turning out well. I'd be pretty pleased with myself if I had made them.
The sand I use I went to the local iron foundry and ask if they would sell me some sand. They said there is a shovel take all I want for free. I got all I needed to last the rest of my life and gave the foreman $50 and said take your wife out to dinner. I have had a good relationship with them ever since. I've done a lot of machining for them. I'm 75 now so don't do much casting now.
Cool series you are posting here. Iron is hard work, and you are have been more successful at it than me, so take what I say with a grain of salt. 1/ you make the same mistake I do. So keen to cast, that you cut corners on the pattern making, on the flask making, on the sand preparation. Save a few minutes on the preparation, when it would be easy to manipulate wood or sand, only to spend hours grinding cast iron. 2/ You often identify in advance what is wrong (like the flask having insufficient depth, but then go ahead with a flawed plan. Bodging up a wooden flask doesn't take long. 3/ What sort of sand is that? What are the white dots in it? It looks crumbly dry and lacking green strength. How do you mull it? 4/ You struggle with the weight during the pour because of the leverage on your pouring shank. How about putting a simple saw horse or frame next to the mould, to rest the shank on, and help balance it. Or make a wheeled pouring shank. 5/ I don't see you skim much. If you skim out all the dross and slag, and then recharge the crucible, and melt further, you will not pour short so often. 6/ In one video you talked about leaning the mixture. This may have helped if you were running excessivelly rich before, but you want iron to be in a reducing atmosphere (Rich of peak) rather then oxidising, otherwise you'll be making slag faster.
Great comment!! Very good information. I will definitely use this information to do things better in the future. As for number 3. It is just sand I mixed up using play sand and bentonite clay. It was definitely a bit dry for this pour. It is water based sand so I need to make sure I have the right amount of water content before I make up the mold, which I did not for this pour which gets back to your #1 point Lol. I think the white bits in it you mention is simply sand mixed with baby power (which I use as a parting agent/powder). I have always mulled it by hand, but recently I just made a mulling machine to do the mulling for me which works MUCH better! (stay tuned, the next video I post will be about the muller).
I just watched your Muller build video. Look forward to that follow on seeing it in use. I am half way through a similar Muller build, but still scrounging for a gear motor to avoid the pulley reduction. Are you on Alloy Avenue? Mark
Alloy Avenue is a really good forum. Since metal casting is quite far off the beaten track of hobbies, it is reasonably small and has a good vibe. Would be cool to have you there. Mark
Matt, if you weld *anything*, you need "flux." This stuff keeps atmospheric oxygen away from the weld puddle, and keeps metal oxides (bad shit) out of the joint. This is why the TIG/MIG people use argon gas, and it is also why stick welding rods and "gasless" MIG welding wire have flux coatings on the outside (rods) or the inside (gasless welding MIG wire). Even if you use the simple borax flux that people use for brazing and silver soldering you will get a better job than you got with your straight "melt it an' go fer it!" repair. Given that you were just filling a cavity, on a place on the part where strength is not critical, that doesn't matter here, but if you were trying to repair a part where strength was important, the method you used would probably have let you down. There are many excellent welding channels, but Jodie at "weldingtipsandtricks.com" is the recognised guru. Also watch Keith Fenner, Keith Rucker, and Adam Booth (abom79) for good ideas and good examples. There are hundreds of others too, but these blokes are a good place to start. Just sayin' mate. :)
Thanks man! I watch Rucker and booth regularly. Next time I will lay down some kind of flux to see if I get better results. As you said though, I wasn't too worried about it as I was just filling a hole. I am sure my penetration wasn't as good as it should be, but it doesn't matter too much.
TIG/MIG use inert gas Stick welding uses the flux on the rod. Brazing uses flux. For oxy/acetylene welding you just set the flame to have just a touch of extra acetylene and the flame is what protects the weld puddle from the atmosphere. You don't see that much because hardly anyone does gas welding any more except for some of us geezers.
The printed part was great! I DID have to clean it up a bit after receiving it, but it wasn't too bad. It is nice because in the CAD model I can make all of the pattern drafts very precisely, so it lifted out of the sand pretty well. Will definitely be doing it again.
Matt, This is a little off topic, but is Colin Peck still selling his book? I have emailed him a couple of time about purchasing it but have nor received a reply. Joe
Matt, If I am uneventful in contacting him would your be willing to sell your copy if you are done with it? I tried a third time today from a different email account. So far no luck. The emails i am sending are not bouncing, so not sure what is happening. Joe
How long have you waited for him to get back to you? Also, I believe you may be able to buy his book from other suppliers online. I did a quick google search and it seems that way.
Matt, thanks for the reply. Colin did email me this morning. I have paid him for the book, so maybe all is well. Just out of curiosity, what vendor did you find that had the book. I didn't have much luck that way, but maybe my search terms were not the best. At any rate. Looks like I should have a copy heading my way. Thanks for your help. Joe
Matt, sorry to but into your video here but I saw a post asking about my book. Just to say that my book, "The Artful Bodger's Iron Casting Waste Oil Furnace" is still available. I always answer any emails sent to me about casting or my book, however from time to time I seem to have problems with my emails.
Please persevere if you're trying to contact me, I'm still around!
Colin Peck
Thanks Colin! I have pinned your comment so others can see it easier.
He really is great about emails!! I have sent him many in the past and he always puts in 100% when answering.
This is a great video! If only I found this 5 years ago.
And I love the way you show the whole process, failures and all - and the steps you take to overcome those failures. True instructional videos!
Thanks! I think its very important to show failures. It shows people what happens in the real world, AND makes it more entertaining lol.
These castings always have me on the edge of my seat. And yet, for all the drama, they're turning out well. I'd be pretty pleased with myself if I had made them.
Think its good that you show your failures and then explain how not to do them
I'm loving this project!
Thanks man! Me too :D
Great job man keep it up, Cheers from New Zealand
hello how do you melt iron?
Is it waste oil?
Your mix looks very dry and course. What are you using?
SV Seeker does a lot of casting with sodium silicate rather than green sand.
Maybe you need to scoop out a funnel for your pouring hole, to avoid the overspill?
Not a bad idea! I don't mine the overspill though. The only thing I care about is if the mold is filled up.
The sand I use I went to the local iron foundry and ask if they would sell me some sand. They said there is a shovel take all I want for free. I got all I needed to last the rest of my life and gave the foreman $50 and said take your wife out to dinner. I have had a good relationship with them ever since. I've done a lot of machining for them. I'm 75 now so don't do much casting now.
Cool series you are posting here. Iron is hard work, and you are have been more successful at it than me, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
1/ you make the same mistake I do. So keen to cast, that you cut corners on the pattern making, on the flask making, on the sand preparation. Save a few minutes on the preparation, when it would be easy to manipulate wood or sand, only to spend hours grinding cast iron.
2/ You often identify in advance what is wrong (like the flask having insufficient depth, but then go ahead with a flawed plan. Bodging up a wooden flask doesn't take long.
3/ What sort of sand is that? What are the white dots in it? It looks crumbly dry and lacking green strength. How do you mull it?
4/ You struggle with the weight during the pour because of the leverage on your pouring shank. How about putting a simple saw horse or frame next to the mould, to rest the shank on, and help balance it. Or make a wheeled pouring shank.
5/ I don't see you skim much. If you skim out all the dross and slag, and then recharge the crucible, and melt further, you will not pour short so often.
6/ In one video you talked about leaning the mixture. This may have helped if you were running excessivelly rich before, but you want iron to be in a reducing atmosphere (Rich of peak) rather then oxidising, otherwise you'll be making slag faster.
Great comment!! Very good information. I will definitely use this information to do things better in the future.
As for number 3. It is just sand I mixed up using play sand and bentonite clay. It was definitely a bit dry for this pour. It is water based sand so I need to make sure I have the right amount of water content before I make up the mold, which I did not for this pour which gets back to your #1 point Lol. I think the white bits in it you mention is simply sand mixed with baby power (which I use as a parting agent/powder). I have always mulled it by hand, but recently I just made a mulling machine to do the mulling for me which works MUCH better! (stay tuned, the next video I post will be about the muller).
I just watched your Muller build video. Look forward to that follow on seeing it in use. I am half way through a similar Muller build, but still scrounging for a gear motor to avoid the pulley reduction. Are you on Alloy Avenue?
Mark
I am not. I have seen those forums before and have meant to sign up, but I never got around to it.
Alloy Avenue is a really good forum. Since metal casting is quite far off the beaten track of hobbies, it is reasonably small and has a good vibe. Would be cool to have you there.
Mark
You need some nickel welding rod, that works kind of on cast
Matt, if you weld *anything*, you need "flux." This stuff keeps atmospheric oxygen away from the weld puddle, and keeps metal oxides (bad shit) out of the joint. This is why the TIG/MIG people use argon gas, and it is also why stick welding rods and "gasless" MIG welding wire have flux coatings on the outside (rods) or the inside (gasless welding MIG wire).
Even if you use the simple borax flux that people use for brazing and silver soldering you will get a better job than you got with your straight "melt it an' go fer it!" repair. Given that you were just filling a cavity, on a place on the part where strength is not critical, that doesn't matter here, but if you were trying to repair a part where strength was important, the method you used would probably have let you down.
There are many excellent welding channels, but Jodie at "weldingtipsandtricks.com" is the recognised guru. Also watch Keith Fenner, Keith Rucker, and Adam Booth (abom79) for good ideas and good examples. There are hundreds of others too, but these blokes are a good place to start.
Just sayin' mate. :)
Thanks man! I watch Rucker and booth regularly. Next time I will lay down some kind of flux to see if I get better results. As you said though, I wasn't too worried about it as I was just filling a hole. I am sure my penetration wasn't as good as it should be, but it doesn't matter too much.
TIG/MIG use inert gas
Stick welding uses the flux on the rod.
Brazing uses flux.
For oxy/acetylene welding you just set the flame to have just a touch of extra acetylene and the flame is what protects the weld puddle from the atmosphere.
You don't see that much because hardly anyone does gas welding any more except for some of us geezers.
Oh wow interesting! Thanks for the comment!
that was awesome! How did the 3D printed pattern work? were you able to get it out of the sand? did you have to clean up the printed part first?
The printed part was great! I DID have to clean it up a bit after receiving it, but it wasn't too bad. It is nice because in the CAD model I can make all of the pattern drafts very precisely, so it lifted out of the sand pretty well. Will definitely be doing it again.
Matt, This is a little off topic, but is Colin Peck still selling his book? I have emailed him a couple of time about purchasing it but have nor received a reply.
Joe
Hi Joe. Sorry for the late reply! I am not sure to be honest. I bought his book so long ago.
Matt, If I am uneventful in contacting him would your be willing to sell your copy if you are done with it? I tried a third time today from a different email account. So far no luck. The emails i am sending are not bouncing, so not sure what is happening.
Joe
How long have you waited for him to get back to you?
Also, I believe you may be able to buy his book from other suppliers online. I did a quick google search and it seems that way.
Matt, thanks for the reply. Colin did email me this morning. I have paid him for the book, so maybe all is well. Just out of curiosity, what vendor did you find that had the book. I didn't have much luck that way, but maybe my search terms were not the best. At any rate. Looks like I should have a copy heading my way. Thanks for your help.
Joe
I got it from Colin Peck. But I saw in my google search it was on Google Books. Don't remember what I typed in. Glad you were able to get it.
ur tha man 😗
Back at cha ;D