i honestly know nothing of metallurgy or blacksmithing really but it is obvious to me this is a man that has mastered his particular trade skill. i know decades of experience and a pioneer spirit when i see it. if the shtf in the world this is the kind of guy you would be lucky to know
Good metal disk brakes,one of my mates does nearly all his iron using disk brakes,he made all the patterns & all the castings for 2 six inch scale traction engines he built.
Absolutely fantastic what a great looking sign. I believe the cheaper brake discs brake drums from China and them sort of places are made of a much cheaper quality cast iron and Wear away very very quickly.
Nice video. Amazing how quickly that last pour cooled off. I guess though, if it was still flowing that you wouldn't have had enough metal to fill the unfilled voids.
Second comment, after finishing watching the whole video. Unlucky the two small flywheels didn't come out - maybe they can still be used in a stove top :-) The other castings came out beautiful, machined well and the sound when drilling was very nice. The sign looks great, and you just proved that cutting corners can be beneficial :-)
Yes, I think that you are right - a vent would not have made any significant difference with that open sand of yours. However I wonder if splitting the flow into two cavities is a part of the problem - Would just one cavity on its own have run?... Martin
I was going to have two separate cavities and pour them one at a time but decided against this as I just wanted to see how fluid the iron was on the last mold, also I knew that I did not have a lot of extra metal to spare and it was not enough, maybe 0.5 kg more was needed. By the way the second last mold filled up perfectly using one sprue feeding three cavities.
Regarding your question about the concrete not exploding. Is your garage slab a suspended slab or do you recall if it was poured over a membrane ? (the black builders polythene). If it wasn't punctured during the pour and depending on the age of the concrete, it still should hold up and prevent moisture. Also ground water run-off around the garage - whether you're garage is on a flat or near a hill, that type of thing can make a difference to the moisture content. The sign looks great !
There is no membrane and because I live in a flat area the slab was raised above the surrounding area so water cannot not come into my shed. I think what happens is when there is very humid weather the concrete sometimes explodes but most times it does not.
Can you show us how a single operator would make an anvil. And what size and type of metal would a single fella be able to do. I should love to do one one day. Edit I’ve seen ausmetal casting but they are a bigger style makers and more people.
Anvils are massive castings so they are prone to shrinkage. If you do cast one allow a lot of metal for the risers. Also because they are massive the casting will be too soft so you will have to lower the carbon content. I can lift 14 kgs of iron in a crucible from my furnace, any more I would need a crane.
I noticed that while you were drilling the mounting holes on the sign the way the drill was cutting and the sounds it made. To me it sounded like the metal was dense and soft, not brittle. I wonder about the length of run from furnace to molds, could that time be part of the problem. A larger furnace and possibly more molds might help with temperature loss if your travel distance is set in "iron". Thats my two cents for what it's worth. BTW, I love your process of elimination for problems. Thanks for the look see.
You can tell if the iron you are drilling is hard because it makes a horrible squealing noise. That sign I drilled is one of the best irons I have melted. The length of time from the furnace to the molds is not an issue because if you look at my past videos you will not see many molds that have not filled up. Having said that the mold before the flywheels filled up with no problems. If I was to pour seven molds of flywheels then the iron would have to be hotter.
looks like the brake rotors worked out after all, it seems to be hit and miss of if it will cooperate or not, lol. I was wondering since you use copper motor windings to load the scrap into the crucible, do you have any issue with copper contamination causing issues over time?
Since you're machining off the front of the frame of the sign anyway, if you created some vertical channels up from the sign corners roughly the diameter of a pencil, could that help by pushing the issues with chill into those sacrificial channels instead of the chill setting into the portion of the sign that you wish to retain?
Why not on the corners instead of removing or rounding the corners add a round area with a small pipe to remove sand. This is to act as a reserve of sorts for extra metal on each corner. Then you can remove the extra area later with a saw or the mill.
Hi Lucky, Thank you for the videos, you have mastered castiron as it seems. I've got a question about your furnace: Which kaowool are you using ? I can only find one up to 1400°C Kind regards Christoph
The one I use is rated for 1260C. I got a lifetimes supply for a give away price so it does not matter that I have to repair it sometimes. There is a 1600C kaowool but I never got any because it is so expensive. 1400C kaowool would be better than what I have. You must coat the kaowool with a protective paint otherwise it will not last one cast iron melt. All the coatings I have used are no longer made so a lot of metal casters on youtube are using satanite to coat their kaowool.
@@luckygen1001 Thanks for the answer. Quite suprising that the 1250°C also holds up so well. Maybe you can give me.your opinion on castable Refracotry as inside lining? I've talked with a foundry supplier, and he recommend using castable refracotry as hotface, since only a coating wouldnt withstand the iron temperatures very long
The concrete didn't explode because there wasn't enough that spilled. It needs to cover an area to trap the moisture underneath and cause the steam explosion. I had a really scary steam explosion under some flux that I stupidly put onto the concrete after skimming. It was enough to cover about a 3" diameter circle and left a 1/2" deep hole about 5" across in the concrete when it detonated.
I have spilled iron about the size of a grape on my concrete floor and it exploded with a loud bang with sparks showering everywhere. Look through my videos and you will see me spilling small amounts of iron on the concrete floor and it explodes. I think a lot has to do with how much humid weather I have been having.
Great job! I made a foundry with your dimensions but with some firebricks and a ton of cement. Currently, the burner is losing pressure because the propane tank is cooling too quickly. Do you think that if I get a bigger propane tank it will fix that problem? And I was wondering if you think the foundry could get up to 1700 c because I want to forge tungsten which gets workable around there. If not do you think 2 burners would fix that? Thanks!
The best way to to stop the pressure drop with propane is to find a container that is larger and put in hot water. If you have plenty of money to spare just buy a larger propane tank. Many years ago I purchased a pyrometer to see how hot my furnace would get without trying to melt metal, it reached 1680 C with propane. Going to those temps many times you will need very good firebricks.
I'm having problems with the sand!!! would you share the formula?? or even better would you consider doing a video up on it??? thanks for your videos they are greatly appreciated...
I inoculate iron with ferrosilicon so the iron that cools quickly will be soft to machine. Yes you can preheat a mold and it will prevent chilling of the casting but I would prefer to have the iron right in the first place.
Makes me wonder why you don't use anything to keep the crucible heated while pouring like I've seen in large scale production. Able to get by well enough without or is there another reason like risking more oxide inclusions by having a flame directly on the molten metal?
@@luckygen1001 Part of the reason I asked was due to wondering exactly that myself, and an idea does come to mind. It's tough to estimate measurements based on the video, and I'm not sure what size cylinders are available in Australia, but the space between the trolley legs looks large enough to mount a general use 20lb (about 5 gallon) propane tank commonly used for grills here in the US. Running lines to a heating tip should be simple enough, which can be wrapped in fiberglass shielding if need be. And as for the clamp to hold the heating tip, looks easy enough to fix a clamp or two directly to the main shaft so it rotates while you pour. I'm sure there's something out there you probably can just buy to use as the clamp or fabricate something fancier, but my mind jumps to just making something quick and simple if you have welding and/or brazing equipment. Using whatever scrap rod, bar, angle iron, pipe, whatever you have on hand, some copper tube internal diameter generally close to fit around the neck of the heating tip, a door hinge, an M10 bolt or two maybe 30mm or so in length, and some nuts, you're basically set. Based on how the heating tip would need to be oriented on the trolley, which would give you the measurements and angles for everything, the basic idea is to weld (or bolt) half the hinge on the bar or whatever so it opens flat when fully opened with the hinge aligned to whatever angle the heating tip needs, braze the copper tube toward the end between the hinge and bar (not at the tip), cut the tubing in half, drill an oversized hole below for the bolt, toss the bolt and nut on, and now you have a clamp. Lastly, attach it to the main shaft of the trolley however, and done unless you need a second for better stability. A starting point to get ideas going if nothing else. It'd take some doing, and there's plenty of room to tweak the general idea, like welding a lever on the bolt so it can be adjusted without needing a wrench and using a couple short lengths of some bar stock, drilling both sideways in the middle to use one like a washer and threading the other to use as the nut so the bolt pivots better and isn't point loaded.
hey, long time no see. I had a wierd question for you and a bit of a dumb one, but have you ever poured a melt and since you have a little left over, just started adding more scrap to it to fill the crucible back up instead of just pouring to ingots and starting with a clean crucible? After all of this time, I was looking and every time Ive had the crucible turn to slush like that, was after I had poured a melt and had a little left over in the crucible, then adding metal to it turned it to like oatmeal and wouldnt melt no matter how hot I got it or how long I had it at temp. I know it's probably a no brainer, but I really do think that's what has gotten me because it did it to me afterwards, maybe because I had added the ferrosilicon and poured right before that and it messing with the fresh scrap or something. Ill be pouring the extra to ingots from now on and see if I run into the oatmeal iron anymore. I was curious on your thoughts, and maybe would give you a good laugh.
@@ChirpysTinkerings I f you look at windyhill foundry videos he always tips the remaining iron on to the floor and never reuses it. I am not sure why he does that but I do the same. I found that a build up of ferrosilicon results from reusing iron causes a lot more shrinkage and in some cases chilling. It has got me stumped why you are having these problems.
@@luckygen1001 Yea, I know he does that, I figured he just doesnt have any ingot molds, so he dumps it out so that he could just later hit it with a hammer and shatter it into pieces big enough to fit back into the crucible. When Im casting, I usually do up a bunch of patterns, so I have very little metal left over when Im done with a pour, if very little, but if I had a little bit, I usually refilled it with extra scrap and went to start melting agin starting with a heel of metal to help it melt faster. I guess iron is just not kind to doing that, lol. Ive always heard that ferrosilicon, when you add it to the metal, you have to pour within 5 mins or it just goes away, so I assumed that it would get burned out or shoved out into the slag over time rather than staying in the iron for remelting.
i honestly know nothing of metallurgy or blacksmithing really but it is obvious to me this is a man that has mastered his particular trade skill. i know decades of experience and a pioneer spirit when i see it. if the shtf in the world this is the kind of guy you would be lucky to know
Good metal disk brakes,one of my mates does nearly all his iron using disk brakes,he made all the patterns & all the castings for 2 six inch scale traction engines he built.
That is great to hear that others are using disc brake rotors to pour castings.
I personally love the raw metal look after you used your belt sander.
Even fresh out of the mold I thought it looked like a million bucks! Love the videos!
Love yr ‘90s camera and text template effects
I purchased it new in march 2009. I will still be using this camera until it stops working. I'm not sure what text template effects means?
The Work Shop sign, is brilliant.
So do I and the black letters and white background gives it a great look.
Great looking sign & wheel castings.
Always enjoy the education about your casting tests.
This is really interesting work, it sure is a lot of fun to shake a casting out of the sand to see how it came out! Thanks for posting your work!
That sign is amazing. Love it. Good job mate. Great video.
I absolutely love your videos I learn so much and it helps being a fellow caster
Thank you for watching.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Something I’ve been struggling with is sharpening my drill bits.
Always a pleasure to watch and learn from your videos, thank you for sharing your experiments.
Great looking sign, and an interesting experiment!
I cannot resist making signs because they look so good when they are finished.
Amazing channel love your videos
Wonderful and greatly explained as always
Absolutely fantastic what a great looking sign.
I believe the cheaper brake discs brake drums from China and them sort of places are made of a much cheaper quality cast iron and Wear away very very quickly.
Yes it looks great and it was made from scrap metal that has been recycled which is even better.
Great pour
Good results
Cheers
Wonderful job, chock full of useful tips. Cheers.
Thanks for sharing! You know although your sign looked great after you painted it, it would still have looked amazing with just a clear coat.
You must mean when I cleaned up the letters and borders with the belt sander. It gives a nice contrast between the letters and background.
Nice video. Amazing how quickly that last pour cooled off. I guess though, if it was still flowing that you wouldn't have had enough metal to fill the unfilled voids.
Good observation
I agree
But good video
There is a possibility that pouring those flywheels one at a time one could have filled up but not both as I was short by a small amount.
Cool stuff
Great information, more videos please.
Second comment, after finishing watching the whole video. Unlucky the two small flywheels didn't come out - maybe they can still be used in a stove top :-)
The other castings came out beautiful, machined well and the sound when drilling was very nice. The sign looks great, and you just proved that cutting corners can be beneficial :-)
He he he he.
@@luckygen1001 :-)
Yes, I think that you are right - a vent would not have made any significant difference with that open sand of yours. However I wonder if splitting the flow into two cavities is a part of the problem - Would just one cavity on its own have run?... Martin
I was going to have two separate cavities and pour them one at a time but decided against this as I just wanted to see how fluid the iron was on the last mold, also I knew that I did not have a lot of extra metal to spare and it was not enough, maybe 0.5 kg more was needed. By the way the second last mold filled up perfectly using one sprue feeding three cavities.
Really awesome work. Which fuel are you using in furnace ?
80% waste oil 20% diesel.
Regarding your question about the concrete not exploding. Is your garage slab a suspended slab or do you recall if it was poured over a membrane ? (the black builders polythene). If it wasn't punctured during the pour and depending on the age of the concrete, it still should hold up and prevent moisture. Also ground water run-off around the garage - whether you're garage is on a flat or near a hill, that type of thing can make a difference to the moisture content. The sign looks great !
There is no membrane and because I live in a flat area the slab was raised above the surrounding area so water cannot not come into my shed. I think what happens is when there is very humid weather the concrete sometimes explodes but most times it does not.
Can you show us how a single operator would make an anvil. And what size and type of metal would a single fella be able to do. I should love to do one one day. Edit I’ve seen ausmetal casting but they are a bigger style makers and more people.
Anvils are massive castings so they are prone to shrinkage. If you do cast one allow a lot of metal for the risers. Also because they are massive the casting will be too soft so you will have to lower the carbon content. I can lift 14 kgs of iron in a crucible from my furnace, any more I would need a crane.
$1M! Nice
Interesting results. Do you have any success annealing chilled castings?
No need to for sign as the belt sander takes off the hard spots.
Sorry for asking a lot of questions. Is oxygen gas used in this system?
Awesome learning information as always - thanks. Where do you get the Ferrous Silicon that you add to the cast iron melt? Thanks
From a foundry supplier in Australia.
I noticed that while you were drilling the mounting holes on the sign the way the drill was cutting and the sounds it made. To me it sounded like the metal was dense and soft, not brittle. I wonder about the length of run from furnace to molds, could that time be part of the problem. A larger furnace and possibly more molds might help with temperature loss if your travel distance is set in "iron". Thats my two cents for what it's worth. BTW, I love your process of elimination for problems. Thanks for the look see.
You can tell if the iron you are drilling is hard because it makes a horrible squealing noise. That sign I drilled is one of the best irons I have melted. The length of time from the furnace to the molds is not an issue because if you look at my past videos you will not see many molds that have not filled up. Having said that the mold before the flywheels filled up with no problems. If I was to pour seven molds of flywheels then the iron would have to be hotter.
looks like the brake rotors worked out after all, it seems to be hit and miss of if it will cooperate or not, lol. I was wondering since you use copper motor windings to load the scrap into the crucible, do you have any issue with copper contamination causing issues over time?
Copper is a poor substitute for ferrosilicon so if copper goes into the melt it will not make much difference.
Thanks for all the information - do you ever offer classes?
No I don't but it is a lot simpler to make videos so everyone can learn.
Since you're machining off the front of the frame of the sign anyway, if you created some vertical channels up from the sign corners roughly the diameter of a pencil, could that help by pushing the issues with chill into those sacrificial channels instead of the chill setting into the portion of the sign that you wish to retain?
That is great idea, I will use it in a future video.
Why not on the corners instead of removing or rounding the corners add a round area with a small pipe to remove sand. This is to act as a reserve of sorts for extra metal on each corner. Then you can remove the extra area later with a saw or the mill.
Hi Lucky,
Thank you for the videos, you have mastered castiron as it seems.
I've got a question about your furnace:
Which kaowool are you using ?
I can only find one up to 1400°C
Kind regards Christoph
The one I use is rated for 1260C. I got a lifetimes supply for a give away price so it does not matter that I have to repair it sometimes. There is a 1600C kaowool but I never got any because it is so expensive. 1400C kaowool would be better than what I have. You must coat the kaowool with a protective paint otherwise it will not last one cast iron melt. All the coatings I have used are no longer made so a lot of metal casters on youtube are using satanite to coat their kaowool.
@@luckygen1001
Thanks for the answer. Quite suprising that the 1250°C also holds up so well.
Maybe you can give me.your opinion on castable Refracotry as inside lining?
I've talked with a foundry supplier, and he recommend using castable refracotry as hotface, since only a coating wouldnt withstand the iron temperatures very long
@@ChristophLehner I only use kaowool so I have no idea on which castable to use.
Great video as always. How do you estimate the amount of ferrosilicon that must be added to get soft machinable cast iron?
I start with 0.25% and most times it is enough to get machinable cast iron. Sometimes more has to be added.
@@luckygen1001 Thank you for the reply.
The concrete didn't explode because there wasn't enough that spilled. It needs to cover an area to trap the moisture underneath and cause the steam explosion. I had a really scary steam explosion under some flux that I stupidly put onto the concrete after skimming. It was enough to cover about a 3" diameter circle and left a 1/2" deep hole about 5" across in the concrete when it detonated.
I have spilled iron about the size of a grape on my concrete floor and it exploded with a loud bang with sparks showering everywhere. Look through my videos and you will see me spilling small amounts of iron on the concrete floor and it explodes. I think a lot has to do with how much humid weather I have been having.
@@luckygen1001 Ok good to know
What books or references do you use for your iron alloys or is it a matter of trial and error?
I am interested in that information as well
Lots of knowledge here
Using a hard wearing cast iron alloy like rotors requires a bit of trial and error
Great job! I made a foundry with your dimensions but with some firebricks and a ton of cement. Currently, the burner is losing pressure because the propane tank is cooling too quickly. Do you think that if I get a bigger propane tank it will fix that problem? And I was wondering if you think the foundry could get up to 1700 c because I want to forge tungsten which gets workable around there. If not do you think 2 burners would fix that? Thanks!
The best way to to stop the pressure drop with propane is to find a container that is larger and put in hot water. If you have plenty of money to spare just buy a larger propane tank. Many years ago I purchased a pyrometer to see how hot my furnace would get without trying to melt metal, it reached 1680 C with propane. Going to those temps many times you will need very good firebricks.
@@luckygen1001 Thanks for the response. My firebricks are rating for 3000 degrees f so they should be fine hopefully
I'm having problems with the sand!!! would you share the formula?? or even better would you consider doing a video up on it??? thanks for your videos they are greatly appreciated...
7-8 % bentonite, 4% coal dust is only needed if you are pouring iron.
What do you reckon was the temp difference b/w the second casting and the failed casting?
Hard to tell without measuring the iron before pouring into the molds.
I wonder why the furnace is very large compare to the crucible you usually use, isn't it waste more energy and time to bring up the temperature ?
It was made large crucibles but I mostly use an A12 crucible but using waste oil which I get for free it does not matter if it is wasted.
When they say chilled, is it really about the temperature? If so, is there any way to preheat the mould to slow its cooling if it is cooling too fast?
I inoculate iron with ferrosilicon so the iron that cools quickly will be soft to machine. Yes you can preheat a mold and it will prevent chilling of the casting but I would prefer to have the iron right in the first place.
Is oil fired hotter than propan?
Oil is slightly hotter.
Makes me wonder why you don't use anything to keep the crucible heated while pouring like I've seen in large scale production. Able to get by well enough without or is there another reason like risking more oxide inclusions by having a flame directly on the molten metal?
The problem is how do I fit a heating device to my pouring trolley?
@@luckygen1001 Part of the reason I asked was due to wondering exactly that myself, and an idea does come to mind. It's tough to estimate measurements based on the video, and I'm not sure what size cylinders are available in Australia, but the space between the trolley legs looks large enough to mount a general use 20lb (about 5 gallon) propane tank commonly used for grills here in the US.
Running lines to a heating tip should be simple enough, which can be wrapped in fiberglass shielding if need be. And as for the clamp to hold the heating tip, looks easy enough to fix a clamp or two directly to the main shaft so it rotates while you pour. I'm sure there's something out there you probably can just buy to use as the clamp or fabricate something fancier, but my mind jumps to just making something quick and simple if you have welding and/or brazing equipment.
Using whatever scrap rod, bar, angle iron, pipe, whatever you have on hand, some copper tube internal diameter generally close to fit around the neck of the heating tip, a door hinge, an M10 bolt or two maybe 30mm or so in length, and some nuts, you're basically set.
Based on how the heating tip would need to be oriented on the trolley, which would give you the measurements and angles for everything, the basic idea is to weld (or bolt) half the hinge on the bar or whatever so it opens flat when fully opened with the hinge aligned to whatever angle the heating tip needs, braze the copper tube toward the end between the hinge and bar (not at the tip), cut the tubing in half, drill an oversized hole below for the bolt, toss the bolt and nut on, and now you have a clamp. Lastly, attach it to the main shaft of the trolley however, and done unless you need a second for better stability.
A starting point to get ideas going if nothing else. It'd take some doing, and there's plenty of room to tweak the general idea, like welding a lever on the bolt so it can be adjusted without needing a wrench and using a couple short lengths of some bar stock, drilling both sideways in the middle to use one like a washer and threading the other to use as the nut so the bolt pivots better and isn't point loaded.
The casting failed because your head wasn't tilted right and your tongue was hanging out the wrong side. LOL!
hey, long time no see. I had a wierd question for you and a bit of a dumb one, but have you ever poured a melt and since you have a little left over, just started adding more scrap to it to fill the crucible back up instead of just pouring to ingots and starting with a clean crucible? After all of this time, I was looking and every time Ive had the crucible turn to slush like that, was after I had poured a melt and had a little left over in the crucible, then adding metal to it turned it to like oatmeal and wouldnt melt no matter how hot I got it or how long I had it at temp. I know it's probably a no brainer, but I really do think that's what has gotten me because it did it to me afterwards, maybe because I had added the ferrosilicon and poured right before that and it messing with the fresh scrap or something. Ill be pouring the extra to ingots from now on and see if I run into the oatmeal iron anymore. I was curious on your thoughts, and maybe would give you a good laugh.
Was the scrap you melted very rusty?
@@luckygen1001 Nope, clean metal. Ive thought about that also and every time, it was clean metal.
@@ChirpysTinkerings I f you look at windyhill foundry videos he always tips the remaining iron on to the floor and never reuses it. I am not sure why he does that but I do the same. I found that a build up of ferrosilicon results from reusing iron causes a lot more shrinkage and in some cases chilling. It has got me stumped why you are having these problems.
@@luckygen1001 Yea, I know he does that, I figured he just doesnt have any ingot molds, so he dumps it out so that he could just later hit it with a hammer and shatter it into pieces big enough to fit back into the crucible. When Im casting, I usually do up a bunch of patterns, so I have very little metal left over when Im done with a pour, if very little, but if I had a little bit, I usually refilled it with extra scrap and went to start melting agin starting with a heel of metal to help it melt faster. I guess iron is just not kind to doing that, lol.
Ive always heard that ferrosilicon, when you add it to the metal, you have to pour within 5 mins or it just goes away, so I assumed that it would get burned out or shoved out into the slag over time rather than staying in the iron for remelting.
What size are the letters you used to make your sign?
They are 60mm high and are times new roman style.
Why didn't it explode?
Because pet tools can't smelt real steam maybe?
That was lucky your concrete was very dry! Otherwise, there would have been some fireworks...
Most times it does not explode but after a long period of humid weather it does explode.
@@luckygen1001 Yes. that's the scariest part of casting.
If it's going to be painted, then why bother with iron? {sorry}