Clarke, I'm extremely pleased with what you've done on my wheels. Obviously, my first attempt at patterns wasn't great, but it appears that it's going to work fine. The concentricity of the rim is not critical since I had extra meat on the pattern to machine them down to size. Also, as you point out, I can drill out the holes that broke off in the mold. Not a huge issue. Just a little extra work on my end on drilling, machining and grinding. Thanks for the fine effort.
With each of these videos I watch, I am gaining an appreciation that putting together these sand molds requires excellent spatial visualization skills. Plus of course an understanding of how the metal will flow through the channels into the eventual cavity. Many thanks for the videos.
It’s great to watch you work so patiently. Many young ones would get bored with the repetition. The product that comes out is always impressive even for a wall hanger. I’m going to have to think up a project and find a local foundry I reckon. Thanks for sharing.
After having cast a goodly number of that type of loco wheels myself, i commend you. You did much better on the first one than i did on the first 20 or so. I do enjoy watching your videos. Wish i could still do that myself.
Clarke, A coupe of flat head nails pushed into each of those pesky areas that break away may help a lot - typically for something like this I would use 1 1/4 inch flat head boxing nails. Just remember to pull them out of the sand afterwards (magnet) as there is nothing worse that a nail in the finger when pushing the sand through a sieve😏.... Martin
Thanks Martin and great to hear from you. Yes, on the larger rounds and ovals I did just that on the latest ones. Those really small holes have a really rough surface finish on the pattern itself so I resorted to just plug and drill those. I had originally thought about using cores but I can drill those out faster than mess with the added steps.
I'm always surprised at the amount of disc you have to break up. You must have specific scrap yards that will sell to you. I worked in an aluminum and magnesium foundry while I was going to collage. I enjoy watching you work even at 73 now!
l see Dollar looks all growed up....Pretty dog....Thanks Clark...l sure do like watching you cast...l do it on a small scale just gold rings and stuff.....!
@@windyhillfoundry5940 Well Clark you can just order bit of gold and cast something...But gold act a lot different than most other metals,you would need a casting throw you wind it up lock it melt your gold to the right temp in a 45 degree angle krousible and let it fly...lt spins really fast and it takes it about 5 min to wind down after about 15 other steps along the way to the finished product + some other stuff....In you case you can do it your way it would work OK l think...But you might have a lot of loss gold...But try it on a very small scale and see what goes on it is l think worth a try...M y friend...ln my deal l need a lot of machines to do this...l use the lost wax system kinda...! l am about past this cause l am 77 years now...!
Hope you fared ok through the "weather". Another channel I watch in South East Texas was affected but just power outage. Enjoy watching and your sharing. Thanks
You're right, packing a mould in real time wouldn't make for riveting viewing. Perhaps you could add some "time elapsed" markers occasionally during editing. Thanks for sharing your work, Clarke!
I don't like stabbing vent holes out from the mold cavity. The added mass of the formed 'wire' always makes a little shrink below the surface on the casting. Better to stab inward while the pattern is still in place. You won't see a hole from the pattern side, but air is so fluid that the few grains of sand in the way won't matter. (Takes a while to train yourself to run the vents while the patterns are in. It's hard to think of venting before seeing the mold cavity.) Alternatively, some short vents can be scratched away from the cavity on the parting surface, starting just outside the cavity. Then use the vent wire to run through the sand to the top.
Thanks for the tips Verdant, I do pierce from the outside on production jobs. The one off jobs I do here make it difficult for me to familiarize where the pattern lies sometimes
Always satisfying to watch you work Clarke. Is there a reason for keeping the top of the riser below the top of the cope? Is that to preserve the heat in the riser? Regards, Mark Presling
Thanks Mark and yes. I always prefer to use blind risers when I can just to insulate the head from the atmosphere. I have had good luck with that method
Thank you Randy. I see you are making great progress with your building. I am about to build a room in my building to climate control.the molding area. I guess you and Steve Sommers have motivated me😁
Clark, have you ever tried using the sodium silicate sand with C02 method for those most difficult molds when normal casting sand is too fragile to keep it's form? Would make a great video and be an additional option in your arsenal. Thanks!
Hi Carl, I do use sodium silicate and co2 for core work and I have used it for special applications. The problem with using this for the decals is cost, it can be done and, before it's over I may just have to go that route but I'm trying to keep the price as low as possible and still get the same results
I feel for you. Casting bopox drivers. The name of the locomotive wheels are "bopox". The wheels with out the flange are in the middle of the locomotive.
@@windyhillfoundry5940 The idea is that a locomotive needs flanged wheels at the end of the wheel sets and what are called "blind drivers" (wheels with out flanges). The blind drivers are used in the middle of the wheel sets so the locomotive can negotiate tighter turns. Tho Bopox drivers were originally made from plate steel with only the hub and tire of the wheel made in cast steel. It was done this way to create a lighter wheel.
My wife has a rectangular strainer just like yours, Clark. She calls it a colander. I gotta show her she’s been using a foundry tool! It does work pretty good on pasta...
Learning more with every video that I watch. A question. I note that when I watched Keith Rucker do some casting he "dusted" the mold face before placing the initial sand, i.e. parting the mold from the sand. Would that have helped with the voids in the train wheels?
If I understand you correctly you mean applying dust to the pattern? If so, that does help with the release sometimes if the pattern has a rough finish. I always use it on the parting line though
@@windyhillfoundry5940 Yes I was thinking of applying dust to the pattern, but primarily as a way to free the molding sand in the small holes in the train wheels. I claim no experience in metal casting. It is just an observation from an old civil engineer.
@@ronzimmer6763 it will help to a certain degree but not in this case. If the small holes were polished it night stand a chance but because of the diameter, cores would work better
More good stuff. I've really enjoyed watching the progress you've made. What are your recommendations as far as what to watch and/or read to make a good pattern? I've run into a few things over the years I'd like to have made.
Thanks, as for pattern making vids, there are very few out there. I will be making a 1 or 2 part series to cover most of the rules if I can ever get to a stopping point.
Just curious as why you don't have the beater sticks/ vibration sticks have a tapered center so it can fit many sizes? kinda like a dead center rest on a lathe.
I love the care you use in forming up your molds for pouring. It shows a great del of your concern for quality. The pup has really grown. Thanks for the view.
I always thought that brake discs had additives to make them harder than ductile iron and would be difficult to machine. Do you have an additive to the iron to reduce its hardness? Surprised that you don't use a little sodium silicate sand in the really tough areas to maintain small features, you know, like using a core but is in place of regular sand for difficult spots.
Lee I do use sodium silicate in unique applications where special core type boxes are supplied but it all depends on the pattern maker. I don't make these patterns. I use rotors because the composition is well governed. Regardless of the alloys, it's highly consistent and predictable. I have had only positive feedback from machinist once I isolated the source
I just found this channel. Plenty interesting and well presented. I had an idea that I am certain would grab views. If you would do a series on Lost PLA for beginners... preferably from scratch. I suggest making one video first to test the waters. If it takes off there could be a from scratch series. There have been some new resins made specifically for casting using resin printers as well as brand new large format resin printers (the generation of printers took a leap forward a few months ago)... this is new tech so no worth you sourcing but you can ride the wave of interest. Using a normal FFF 3D printer using PLA would be more applicable to the vast number of users. The title should have 3D printing and Lost PLA in it. From scratch would be... approach it as if you had nothing and only the information gleened from the video. Aluminum or bronze might be easier... aluminum especially assuming old engine/transmission housings make good scrap? Maybe lead would be better on a small scale using buckshot as a source?... bad for getting the shakes but if the safety side can be adequately dealt with by hobbyists it might be good too. Possible ideas are easily gotten from thingiverse. There are several busts available including some that are professionally modelled for a few dollars... people seem to be interested in the deadpool one for instance. Keep up the good work. It has been nice watching something on the internet that is actually as the internet was intended. To share ideas and learn something.
Thanks for the input. Currently I just do videos to demonstrate what work is being done here and I'm way behind on back orders. If someone wants to make a pla mold I'd be happy to pour it.
I had close to an hour tied up in this one. If I had already rammed several molds like it it would probably take me 30 to 40 minutes. Except for a few castings, the molding time is usually equal to grind and cleanup. By the time you factor mulling sand, ramming the mold, grind and cleanup, then packaging you can easily have 2 hrs minimum invested into each casting. That doesn't include any possible scrap ones I may have to reject. The straightedges alone require 45 minutes grinding and deflashing the holes and there is usually 1 out of 10 failure rate. I had to scrap out 1800.00 worth of squares last week.
Clarke, I'm extremely pleased with what you've done on my wheels. Obviously, my first attempt at patterns wasn't great, but it appears that it's going to work fine. The concentricity of the rim is not critical since I had extra meat on the pattern to machine them down to size. Also, as you point out, I can drill out the holes that broke off in the mold. Not a huge issue. Just a little extra work on my end on drilling, machining and grinding. Thanks for the fine effort.
Hopefully I will have this complete by next week. I added screws in place of glue so there will be a few mods to your patterns
@@windyhillfoundry5940 sounds good to me.
With each of these videos I watch, I am gaining an appreciation that putting together these sand molds requires excellent spatial visualization skills. Plus of course an understanding of how the metal will flow through the channels into the eventual cavity. Many thanks for the videos.
Thank you👍
It’s great to watch you work so patiently.
Many young ones would get bored with the repetition.
The product that comes out is always impressive even for a wall hanger.
I’m going to have to think up a project and find a local foundry I reckon.
Thanks for sharing.
I always enjoy watching you cast metal. Keep on keeping on.
I'm very glad to have discovered your work through Abom 79's channel.
It's always very interesting!
Clark you take the meaning of go pound sand to a whole new level. 😂😂😂 awesome video Sir 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Love watching
Clarke, Enjoyed watching, great content, thanks for sharing your video.!.!.!.
Great video, a joy to watch !
After having cast a goodly number of that type of loco wheels myself, i commend you. You did much better on the first one than i did on the first 20 or so. I do enjoy watching your videos. Wish i could still do that myself.
Unfortunately the second, third etc gave me more fits. Probably a good idea I didn't show the rest as this one turned out the best
Thanks for the video
Your dedication and craftsmanship are always a pleasure to watch!
I really enjoy watching someone who has mastered a craft I find very interesting. Good on ya!
Clarke, A coupe of flat head nails pushed into each of those pesky areas that break away may help a lot - typically for something like this I would use 1 1/4 inch flat head boxing nails. Just remember to pull them out of the sand afterwards (magnet) as there is nothing worse that a nail in the finger when pushing the sand through a sieve😏.... Martin
Great to see your suggestion. Still Learning. Mind never stops.
Thanks Martin and great to hear from you. Yes, on the larger rounds and ovals I did just that on the latest ones. Those really small holes have a really rough surface finish on the pattern itself so I resorted to just plug and drill those. I had originally thought about using cores but I can drill those out faster than mess with the added steps.
Very informative and interesting video Clark. And I love the Loch Ness Dollar, she’s gotten so big.
Amazing job Clarke!
Thanks Mike👍
I'm always surprised at the amount of disc you have to break up. You must have specific scrap yards that will sell to you. I worked in an aluminum and magnesium foundry while I was going to collage. I enjoy watching you work even at 73 now!
Thanks for the compliment. I have had some fun times playing with magnesium. Yes I have a steady source on brake rotors
Looking good, good luck with the rest of them!
Thanks J
Looking good Clarke I know you will make them nice ! Thanks Clarke!
l see Dollar looks all growed up....Pretty dog....Thanks Clark...l sure do like watching you cast...l do it on a small scale just gold rings and stuff.....!
Thanks, if you ever have any scrap gold in the way just send it to me😁.
On a serious note, I would love to try my luck at gold sometime
@@windyhillfoundry5940 Well Clark you can just order bit of gold and cast something...But gold act a lot different than most other metals,you would need a casting throw you wind it up lock it melt your gold to the right temp in a 45 degree angle krousible and let it fly...lt spins really fast and it takes it about 5 min to wind down after about 15 other steps along the way to the finished product + some other stuff....In you case you can do it your way it would work OK l think...But you might have a lot of loss gold...But try it on a very small scale and see what goes on it is l think worth a try...M y friend...ln my deal l need a lot of machines to do this...l use the lost wax system kinda...! l am about past this cause l am 77 years now...!
Enjoyed your video I gave it a Thumbs Up
Hope you fared ok through the "weather". Another channel I watch in South East Texas was affected but just power outage. Enjoy watching and your sharing. Thanks
Thanks, luckily we only had small gusts here from the hurricane
Enjoyed it Clark!!!
Nice one, thanks.
You're right, packing a mould in real time wouldn't make for riveting viewing. Perhaps you could add some "time elapsed" markers occasionally during editing. Thanks for sharing your work, Clarke!
Yes, I do hyperlapse at times which shows every step but it makes minutes into seconds which is misleading also
I don't like stabbing vent holes out from the mold cavity. The added mass of the formed 'wire' always makes a little shrink below the surface on the casting. Better to stab inward while the pattern is still in place. You won't see a hole from the pattern side, but air is so fluid that the few grains of sand in the way won't matter. (Takes a while to train yourself to run the vents while the patterns are in. It's hard to think of venting before seeing the mold cavity.)
Alternatively, some short vents can be scratched away from the cavity on the parting surface, starting just outside the cavity. Then use the vent wire to run through the sand to the top.
Thanks for the tips Verdant, I do pierce from the outside on production jobs. The one off jobs I do here make it difficult for me to familiarize where the pattern lies sometimes
That came out alright.
Always satisfying to watch you work Clarke. Is there a reason for keeping the top of the riser below the top of the cope? Is that to preserve the heat in the riser? Regards, Mark Presling
Thanks Mark and yes. I always prefer to use blind risers when I can just to insulate the head from the atmosphere. I have had good luck with that method
Mark You are every where....also check out Paul Hamler from Keith Rucker
Dollar is now looking like a $20 .. she's getting BIG. hey to Nessy..
Yes she is still growing
Nice job on a tough pattern.
Thank you Randy. I see you are making great progress with your building. I am about to build a room in my building to climate control.the molding area. I guess you and Steve Sommers have motivated me😁
@@windyhillfoundry5940 Nice, get going.
Clark, have you ever tried using the sodium silicate sand with C02 method for those most difficult molds when normal casting sand is too fragile to keep it's form? Would make a great video and be an additional option in your arsenal. Thanks!
Hi Carl, I do use sodium silicate and co2 for core work and I have used it for special applications. The problem with using this for the decals is cost, it can be done and, before it's over I may just have to go that route but I'm trying to keep the price as low as possible and still get the same results
I'm always impressed by your work! Thanks! Can you tell me what the ratio of Ferrosilicon is to cast iron charge?
Thanks, I would have to look at my notes on the exact amount in ratio but I use 5g to 6g on an A16
I feel for you. Casting bopox drivers. The name of the locomotive wheels are "bopox".
The wheels with out the flange are in the middle of the locomotive.
Thanks, I rarely no the exact terminology of what I cast. Sometimes I have no idea what these castings will be used for
@@windyhillfoundry5940 The idea is that a locomotive needs flanged wheels at the end of the wheel sets and what are called "blind drivers" (wheels with out flanges). The blind drivers are used in the middle of the wheel sets so the locomotive can negotiate tighter turns. Tho Bopox drivers were originally made from plate steel with only the hub and tire of the wheel made in cast steel. It was done this way to create a lighter wheel.
My wife has a rectangular strainer just like yours, Clark. She calls it a colander. I gotta show her she’s been using a foundry tool! It does work pretty good on pasta...
Yep, even kitchen tools can be beneficial in more areas than one.
Learning more with every video that I watch. A question. I note that when I watched Keith Rucker do some casting he "dusted" the mold face before placing the initial sand, i.e. parting the mold from the sand. Would that have helped with the voids in the train wheels?
I actually got more in now but I always go sparingly if possible.
If I understand you correctly you mean applying dust to the pattern? If so, that does help with the release sometimes if the pattern has a rough finish. I always use it on the parting line though
@@windyhillfoundry5940 Yes I was thinking of applying dust to the pattern, but primarily as a way to free the molding sand in the small holes in the train wheels. I claim no experience in metal casting. It is just an observation from an old civil engineer.
@@ronzimmer6763 it will help to a certain degree but not in this case. If the small holes were polished it night stand a chance but because of the diameter, cores would work better
That too was my thought, maybe heavily dusting primarily the holes. Love watching you work.
"The Lick Ness Dollar" good one
🤣 I had to add some warped humor in there
More good stuff. I've really enjoyed watching the progress you've made. What are your recommendations as far as what to watch and/or read to make a good pattern? I've run into a few things over the years I'd like to have made.
Thanks, as for pattern making vids, there are very few out there. I will be making a 1 or 2 part series to cover most of the rules if I can ever get to a stopping point.
Just curious as why you don't have the beater sticks/ vibration sticks have a tapered center so it can fit many sizes? kinda like a dead center rest on a lathe.
I could but spending the time to put wood between centers and turn is costly when you figure the time involved for one off patterns
I love the care you use in forming up your molds for pouring. It shows a great del of your concern for quality. The pup has really grown. Thanks for the view.
I agree that we probably don't want to see it in real time, but now I'm curious, how long does it take in real time?
Production molds are generally 20 to 35 minutes. One off jobs can take as much as 3 hrs like the planters I did years ago.
I like to watch the guy over in India or Pakistan who does his casting barefoot- holds his flask together with one foot while pouring.
I think I'll stick with my method🤣
Do you ever do cast steel? Can you, or, have you done a video on it?
No I've never cast steel. I experimented with that years ago and it wasn't successful
I always thought that brake discs had additives to make them harder than ductile iron and would be difficult to machine. Do you have an additive to the iron to reduce its hardness? Surprised that you don't use a little sodium silicate sand in the really tough areas to maintain small features, you know, like using a core but is in place of regular sand for difficult spots.
Lee I do use sodium silicate in unique applications where special core type boxes are supplied but it all depends on the pattern maker. I don't make these patterns.
I use rotors because the composition is well governed. Regardless of the alloys, it's highly consistent and predictable. I have had only positive feedback from machinist once I isolated the source
Why not use CORES? Still learning. Great series. Fantastic $ Humor
I actually thought about using cores for the small holes but it's faster to just drill these out opposed to building a core box ect
I just found this channel. Plenty interesting and well presented. I had an idea that I am certain would grab views. If you would do a series on Lost PLA for beginners... preferably from scratch.
I suggest making one video first to test the waters. If it takes off there could be a from scratch series. There have been some new resins made specifically for casting using resin printers as well as brand new large format resin printers (the generation of printers took a leap forward a few months ago)... this is new tech so no worth you sourcing but you can ride the wave of interest. Using a normal FFF 3D printer using PLA would be more applicable to the vast number of users.
The title should have 3D printing and Lost PLA in it.
From scratch would be... approach it as if you had nothing and only the information gleened from the video. Aluminum or bronze might be easier... aluminum especially assuming old engine/transmission housings make good scrap? Maybe lead would be better on a small scale using buckshot as a source?... bad for getting the shakes but if the safety side can be adequately dealt with by hobbyists it might be good too.
Possible ideas are easily gotten from thingiverse. There are several busts available including some that are professionally modelled for a few dollars... people seem to be interested in the deadpool one for instance.
Keep up the good work. It has been nice watching something on the internet that is actually as the internet was intended. To share ideas and learn something.
Thanks for the input. Currently I just do videos to demonstrate what work is being done here and I'm way behind on back orders.
If someone wants to make a pla mold I'd be happy to pour it.
You don't pour a small sample piece to break so you can see the quality or not of the cast?
How do you tell that your iron is hot enough to meld?
That's a tricky question to answer but I go by the intensity of white light to determine my temp. The more blinding white, the hotter the furnace.
For 1/8 scale to IBLS standards there is plenty of meat to the flange.
Are you use waste oil or gas
How long did that mold take to make from start to finish (ball park guess-timate)?
I had close to an hour tied up in this one. If I had already rammed several molds like it it would probably take me 30 to 40 minutes. Except for a few castings, the molding time is usually equal to grind and cleanup. By the time you factor mulling sand, ramming the mold, grind and cleanup, then packaging you can easily have 2 hrs minimum invested into each casting. That doesn't include any possible scrap ones I may have to reject.
The straightedges alone require 45 minutes grinding and deflashing the holes and there is usually 1 out of 10 failure rate.
I had to scrap out 1800.00 worth of squares last week.
Have you ever done any steal casting for parts that require higher strength?
Carl, I only pour grey iron.
It is not a train until you couple carriages or trucks behind the locomotive.
If you are casting so many engineers squares and straight edges are you going to make an aluminum match plate to speed up the process.
I actually do use a matchplate on shallow patterns
@@windyhillfoundry5940 I was thinking of the ease of molding, obviously the faster you can mold-up the easier it gets
Question, is iron too hot for water glass? Sometimes we make entire molds from water glass core sand mixture.
Water glass as a binder will hold up fine. I use it with core work often
abom79
If people want to see you do this in real time, why not do one of a small object and then you can accommodate them?
That's a good idea, I will keep that in mind in the future