Thanks for sharing your knowledge and skill set, seeing the patterns, how its many small parts combined into one complex part makes it not so over whelming and achievable!
EXCELLENT! The detail on the roof of the plenum cover is truly remarkable! The ceiling, inner walls & balance passages between the two four bbl mounting pads could not look better! Keep the vids coming for us that are trying to learn to do what you already learned to do!
Thanks Bob. I kind of went crazy on the gating on this one and could have gotten by with much less of it but when you're looking for one part, it's take no prisoners! Best, Kelly
interesting and educational content! Thank you! It would be important to see more closely the moment of pouring the metal and the reaction of sand and foam.
You are a badass,. Your videos and the methods you use to get to a very good or almost professional aluminum casting is informative and impressive! 👍. All your videos are good 👍
Hi Kelly, thank you for the great video. The comment on using purchased alloy is interesting. Where do you purchase the moldable ceramic that is used in the pouring cups? Happy 4th of July (if your in the US).
I bought the moldable ceramic fiber from my local refractory supply distributor. It was Inswool (Harbison Walker brand) but there are many, like Kawool, Fiberfrax, and others. They are all air setting moldable alumina silica mixes, usually available in a caulking tube, 1 gal, 5 gal sizes. Moldable is putty like, and pumpable is like pudding. Moldable works best for forming shapes, pumpable as glue, filling cracks and patching. It can be bought online. Search "moldable ceramic fiber". You'll occasionally find it on eBay and Amazon. Shop price.....it can vary significantly but is all the same stuff. Best, Kelly
How would you approach casting a curved I beam about 7 feet long..I am looking at creating ribs for a boat...i believe it could be done but was wondering how you would approach it?
As much as I like casting, I'd buy the beam and form it, or possible fab and weld it, especially for one piece. For a piece that large, it would be much less effort and a higher integrity part. Best, Kelly
@@kellycoffield533 yes i thought of the but its a complex part... thanks..your parts are coming out nice now. you have become very good at what you do:)
@@douglasfurlong1 Wasn't trying to be a wise guy, but a curved I-Beam doesn't give a guy a lot to go on but in any case doesn't strike me as a complex shape, but anything 7 feet in one dimension would be a challenge, especially for a home/hobby caster. Cost, time, weight/eqipment, size of melt, all dramtaically increase with a part that size. I dunno if that is a 2" or 10" cross section I-Beam but In my view, it could done at a fraction of the time and cost if it was formed or fabricated and would be a superior strength piece. Best, Kelly
Does your sand stink from melting the foam? I really like what your doing here and might try LF instead of LW for my intake system. Although it seems quite labor intensive to make one part I think I see how your making it simple. It only seems to be labor intensive. There is one thing that really really bothers me though. When you open your furnace you have to hold the button. With the degree of finish you do on everything you build, I don't understand why you don't have limit switches on at least the open cycle. Should be on both open and closed so you just hit a button. ( The tilt function for dumping the flask shows your attention to detail!)
Yes the sand stinks. I store it in the flasks which are modified sealed lock ring barrels. Labor intensity really depends upon how many parts you make and how you make the patterns. For instance, if you have a cnc program to cut repeated foam patterns is that labor intensive? But let's face tit, making one casting with any method is labor intensive. Also, a huge time savings in lost foam is demolding. You literally just dump the flask and when you quench the hot casting all the refractory coating falls off. Compare that to the labor to demold and clean up a shell or investment casting. The furnace has limit switches. They're just set at maximum travel limits which isn't needed for small crucibles so I don't always use the limits. Best, K
Fluidizing the bed is fine for removing the casting from the packed mold or possible placing a pattern in a filled flask but it's the opposite of what you want to do a tightly pack a mold. Vibration makes the mold media act like a solid. Fluidization makes it act like....well, a fluid. When you turn the fluidizing air sytream off, it isnt packed but more akin to having just poured it into the flask so it would still need to be vibrated to have good mold stability and integrity. I had a fluidizing coil in the bottom of my old molding rig. I never used it because I still needed to sift all the sand between uses to remove any loose refractory coating or clumps resulting from the byproducts of the decomposed foam. To filter the sand, I just cut the bottom out of a bucket and replaced the bottom with a perforated plate/screen, place it on top of the storage bucket, and shovel the used sand through it. I also found that with hand placing and filling the pattern, I was better able to avoid pattern damage and deflection than trying to place in a fluidized mold. Best, Kelly
I subscribed after watching one of your videos. And now I'm addicted to them. I watch, learn, and have fun
The addiction gets worse when you actually start casting! Best, Kelly
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and skill set, seeing the patterns, how its many small parts combined into one complex part makes it not so over whelming and achievable!
EXCELLENT! The detail on the roof of the plenum cover is truly remarkable! The ceiling, inner walls & balance passages between the two four bbl mounting pads could not look better! Keep the vids coming for us that are trying to learn to do what you already learned to do!
Thanks Bob. I kind of went crazy on the gating on this one and could have gotten by with much less of it but when you're looking for one part, it's take no prisoners! Best, Kelly
Thanks! The talent you have is amazing!
Great job Kelly. I was worried about some cold spots in such a large and thin casting.
Just wish I had the patience as so many crazy idea's in my head that could come to life with this process
interesting and educational content! Thank you! It would be important to see more closely the moment of pouring the metal and the reaction of sand and foam.
wow...very good work on the foam!
What is up with your audio?
Sir your work is really very good , very interesting!!!!! Many thanks
You are a badass,. Your videos and the methods you use to get to a very good or almost professional aluminum casting is informative and impressive! 👍. All your videos are good 👍
I wish you would fix the volume of your voice in your videos.
Your videos are awesome
Dude. That’s really cool. Nice job on that part.
I’ve subscribed to see what else you do.
Outstanding!
Please buy a microphone, thanks
GREAT WORK! Can you please tell me the name of the company where you are getting your 356 aluminum at 2 dollars a pound? Thanks
Try Kronick in MInneapolis.
Hi Kelly, thank you for the great video. The comment on using purchased alloy is interesting. Where do you purchase the moldable ceramic that is used in the pouring cups? Happy 4th of July (if your in the US).
I bought the moldable ceramic fiber from my local refractory supply distributor. It was Inswool (Harbison Walker brand) but there are many, like Kawool, Fiberfrax, and others. They are all air setting moldable alumina silica mixes, usually available in a caulking tube, 1 gal, 5 gal sizes. Moldable is putty like, and pumpable is like pudding. Moldable works best for forming shapes, pumpable as glue, filling cracks and patching. It can be bought online. Search "moldable ceramic fiber". You'll occasionally find it on eBay and Amazon. Shop price.....it can vary significantly but is all the same stuff. Best, Kelly
@@kellycoffield533 I sincerely appreciate your responding to me. You get back to me faster than I can catch up. :)
Hi Kelly, what are you using for the vibrators on this? Can you link something or a source? Great Video!!!
NICE
your volume is way to low
Very impressive.
I'd love to be your neighbor!
How would you approach casting a curved I beam about 7 feet long..I am looking at creating ribs for a boat...i believe it could be done but was wondering how you would approach it?
As much as I like casting, I'd buy the beam and form it, or possible fab and weld it, especially for one piece. For a piece that large, it would be much less effort and a higher integrity part. Best, Kelly
@@kellycoffield533 yes i thought of the but its a complex part... thanks..your parts are coming out nice now. you have become very good at what you do:)
@@douglasfurlong1 Wasn't trying to be a wise guy, but a curved I-Beam doesn't give a guy a lot to go on but in any case doesn't strike me as a complex shape, but anything 7 feet in one dimension would be a challenge, especially for a home/hobby caster. Cost, time, weight/eqipment, size of melt, all dramtaically increase with a part that size. I dunno if that is a 2" or 10" cross section I-Beam but In my view, it could done at a fraction of the time and cost if it was formed or fabricated and would be a superior strength piece. Best, Kelly
Does your sand stink from melting the foam?
I really like what your doing here and might try LF instead of LW for my intake system. Although it seems quite labor intensive to make one part I think I see how your making it simple. It only seems to be labor intensive.
There is one thing that really really bothers me though. When you open your furnace you have to hold the button. With the degree of finish you do on everything you build, I don't understand why you don't have limit switches on at least the open cycle. Should be on both open and closed so you just hit a button.
( The tilt function for dumping the flask shows your attention to detail!)
Yes the sand stinks. I store it in the flasks which are modified sealed lock ring barrels. Labor intensity really depends upon how many parts you make and how you make the patterns. For instance, if you have a cnc program to cut repeated foam patterns is that labor intensive? But let's face tit, making one casting with any method is labor intensive. Also, a huge time savings in lost foam is demolding. You literally just dump the flask and when you quench the hot casting all the refractory coating falls off. Compare that to the labor to demold and clean up a shell or investment casting. The furnace has limit switches. They're just set at maximum travel limits which isn't needed for small crucibles so I don't always use the limits. Best, K
Please buy a microphone and put it close to you. can barely hear you. thank you.
Approximately how much shrinking is there with ali casting do you think
To compensate for aluminum shrink, the pattern is made 1.3% larger than the desired casting size. Best, Kelly
At what temperature do you pour the alloy?
1375F to 1450F. Lost Foam typically requires 100F-150F higher pouring temps than conventinal sand casting. Best, Kelly
Is this how carburetors were made back in the day?
Instead of vibratory sand molding. Why don’t you use fluidized bed in the sand.
Fluidizing the bed is fine for removing the casting from the packed mold or possible placing a pattern in a filled flask but it's the opposite of what you want to do a tightly pack a mold. Vibration makes the mold media act like a solid. Fluidization makes it act like....well, a fluid. When you turn the fluidizing air sytream off, it isnt packed but more akin to having just poured it into the flask so it would still need to be vibrated to have good mold stability and integrity. I had a fluidizing coil in the bottom of my old molding rig. I never used it because I still needed to sift all the sand between uses to remove any loose refractory coating or clumps resulting from the byproducts of the decomposed foam. To filter the sand, I just cut the bottom out of a bucket and replaced the bottom with a perforated plate/screen, place it on top of the storage bucket, and shovel the used sand through it. I also found that with hand placing and filling the pattern, I was better able to avoid pattern damage and deflection than trying to place in a fluidized mold. Best, Kelly