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Hobby Foundry

Masters of 2008
Presenting a series of unique foundry projects from
some of the worlds leading hobby foundry practitioners.

Introducing:

Roly Border - Ray Brandes - Trevor Desecke - Dale Hampshire -


Simon Milner - Bob Perrault - Jarred Plourde - Daniel Postellon
Paul Quyle - Larry Schnipke - Don Steffania - James Walker -
Carl Wilson.

This is a free ebook of


shared hobby foundry knowledge.

Sponsored & Published By


Col Croucher. Owner of:
http://www.myhomefoundry.com

Read and learn how the talented individuals featured in this book
developed an idea, then transformed their idea into a solid cast metal
object.

International Copy Right 2008.

You have permission to share this ebook with others, but you do not have the right
to alter, add, or delete content & photographs. Reprinting & reselling of this ebook for
commercial gain is strictly forbidden.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed material.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 1


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
This ebook was born out of a “for fun” show & tell hobby casting competition
sponsored and organised by Col Croucher, the owner of
myhomefoundry.com web site. The competition awarded prizes to what was
considered to be the most interesting entries, taking into consideration the
resources, skills, and the metal casting journey of each entrant.

While preparing the many images and articles submitted by subscribers of


The Hot Metal ezine, (Published by myhomefoundry.com), we thought it
would be a great idea to compile all of the entries into an ebook which would
represent & display some of the leading metal casting talent from around the
globe.

Hobby casters who are featured in this ebook are here by invitation only, IE,
they are all subscribers of the ezine and they submitted their foundry projects
to the inaugural Show & Tell Hobby Casting Competition.
Of course you need to know when you can enter your project in the
competition, the only way you will know about the comp is by being a
subscriber of The Hot Metal Ezine.

If you would like to have the opportunity and the possibility of having your
work featured in the 2009 hobby metal casting masters book, visit our web
site now to signup for your free subscription to the ezine.

If you are unfamiliar with what hobby metal casting is all about, then before
you get too deep into this book, go make your self a nice cup of coffee then sit
back and relax at your computer for a very interesting and entertaining read,
these stories will help you to learn about & enjoy the world of hobby metal
casting, many people do not realize the many wonderful things that can be
produced with some simple foundry equipment, a home built furnace and
basic metal casting skills.

Some of the submissions in this ebook are clients & loyal supporters of
myhomefoundry.com, and we are proud of the people who have taken up the
challenge to learn and master the art of hobby metal casting. There are also
people who have submitted work for this ebook who have simply learned what
they know from other people, either from one – on - one tuition, or simply by
asking lots and lots of questions, of course there is nothing like being tutored
by someone in your own shed, or attending a weekend casting workshop, but
if that is not possible then a selection of good ebooks or hard cover books can
be purchased which will get you on the road to success. Of course a personal
coach/tutor is one of the best way’s to fast track your learning, this way you
have the constant guidance and access to experience & knowledge than any
other learning method.

We hope what you glean and learn from this book will help you to take up the
metal casting challenge, this is one very old world metal craft that will certainly
not die out, as there are literally thousands of people around the globe (And
growing) who just love melting and pouring molten metal.
The range of products and things on show in this book will astound you; this is
a very real opportunity for you to learn from the experience of others.
The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 2
Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
The author of this ebook has been, at the time of writing, involved for just on
twenty years with hobby metal casting, nothing is more enjoyable than taking
a small seed of an idea and developing that idea into a pattern, then turning
that pattern into a real world metal casting in your own back shed.

If you have a dream of creating something for a special project, such as a car,
or motorcycle restoration, an art casting, then really, the sky is the limit when
it comes to making things with metal casting, the only limitation is that of your
acquired skills and your passion and persistence for getting the job done.

Now, sit back, grab some beverage & read through the twenty-eight pages &
learn what others have gone out and achieved, if they can do it, so can you….
Are you ready?
Enjoy.
Col.

The people & their featured casting projects are presented in this ebook
in alphabetical order.
-----------)0(------------

Introducing: Roly Border:

Electric Muffle Furnace and Crucibles. 28/06/08


A prime requirement was electrical safety. Therefore both of these projects
are powered by my AEM arc welder. This has two different voltage outputs
with five current ranges for each one. The nominal 40-volt output is for 10 &
12 gauge rods. The 70-volt is for smaller 14 & 16 gauge.

Muffle Furnace.
In 1988 I made an electric heated muffle furnace. Home made tube dimension
is 2.5 × 2.5 × 8 inches, the element being wound from 16 gauge B&S N80
nichrome wire which has a melting point of 1400ºC and a maximum
recommended service temperature of 1230ºC. Element wattage is 550, 65V
@ 8.5A. The ceramic fibreboard & blanket insulation is about 2 inches thick. A
The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 3
Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
thermocouple is used & the auto temperature control is selectable up to
1000ºC. This muffle furnace still works.

Small Aluminium Melting Crucible.


The success of the above venture inspired me to try making an electrically
heated crucible for melting aluminium. The crucible selected had been found
many years previously at the Chillagoe copper smelter site where the assay
building had been. They were presumably meant for single use only, marked
Battersea Round, Morgan England. This was long before it became a listed
site. It was wound with 3 metres of the same N80 wire. Powered from the 40-
volt output, wattage is 800. A full melt takes 50 minutes from cold, about 30
minutes for additional ones. Made in 1989 it is still in use. Insulation is 1.25
inches thick at the top of the crucible.

Large Aluminium Crucible.


A Morganite AC8 crucible was purchased. Using the same N80 wire required
2 elements in parallel, centre tapped & powered from the nominal 70-volt
output. Current is 26 amps @ 60 volts giving a wattage of 1560. From cold a
full melt took 80 minutes with subsequent ones taking 45 minutes. Insulation
is 1 inch at top. It was used from 1989 until 2006 with over 50 melts to its
credit before the lower element went open circuit.

Decided to upgrade this one to Kanthal A1 wire which has a melting point of
1500ºC with a sustained operating temperature of 1400ºC. Wire is 1.83mm
dia with a resistance of 0.551W/metre. Recommended surface load for hobby
kilns for the wire used is 3 to 9 watts/cm². My 5 metre long element has a
dissipation of 5 watts/cm². Input is 65 volts @ 23 amps. Wattage = 1495

Brass & Bronze Crucible.


Last year my thoughts turned to melting brass & bronze. Kanthal A1 wire
should suffice if the rate of temperature rise was conservative & therefore
preventing the wire temperature exceeding that of the crucible by very much.
This time a Morganite A4 crucible was used. The element is 2.75 metres long,
in use volts = 38, amps = 25, watts = 950. Fixing & insulation carried out in
similar manner to previously. Only 2 melts to date.

General.
A good source of material for me is the local Pottery Supply shop. Winding an
element onto a crucible & achieving even turn spacing requires patience. It is
made easier if the winding is preformed using a series of mandrels to give a
firm fit on the tapered crucible wall. The elements were first fixed in place with
dabs of Kao Grip, which has a temperature limit of 1000ºC. The space
between turns was filled with a paste made from Moral Bond 50 & teased out
ceramic blanket & I also over coated the wire to improve conduction to the
crucible wall. The bottom of crucibles are supported by either ceramic board
or a piece of insulating brick, the top being centred using the insulating board.
All secured in place with Kao Grip & Moral Bond. Insulation is ceramic blanket
packed tight. Safety clips are fitted to go over top lip of crucible to prevent
The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 4
Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
movement when tilted to pour metal. A good cheap source of heavy gauge
copper wire for connecting leads are car jumper cables. Due to the low amps
compared to welding any current setting will suffice. The welder stays cool.
Obviously the above are engineered for my welder, but I can see no reason
why for instance a MIG welder could not be used, from memory the output
voltage is about 40.

Aluminium engine castings & Electric crucible melting furnace.

Regards Roly Border.


Australia.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 5


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Ruby & Ray Brandes.

This is my story;

When I was young, probably pre-teens, in


the late '50's and early '60's, dad would
bring home Popular Science magazines
from work. He worked at Bell Laboratories
in Murray Hill, New Jersey. This is where
they invented the transistor, the laser and
built Telstar, the first communications
satellite. Dad worked on Telstar.
Anyway, every once in a while, the
Popular Science magazine would have an
article on a little steam engine. Photos
showed it whirling around. I wanted to build
one! "Dad can you help me build this?"
Dad's reply was that we needed a metal
lathe to build one. "Well, we have a metal
lathe!" Dad told me our lathe was for wood
turning. "But it is made out of metal!!!!!" I just didn't understand.
Eventually I did understand, and took metal shop in high school. After high school, I
entered a tool & die maker four-year apprenticeship. After that I worked in many
shops and I spent years cutting metal, but it wasn't until after my 60th birthday on
April 8, 2008 that I started build a "real" steam engine in earnest.

The engine I built is from four issues of Popular Science from 1947, a year before I
was born. It had the Stephenson reversing gear and this presented me with a
challenge. Since about 1990, I have been casting metal. The Internet is better than
any class you could take. I have learned more from other casters on the forums than
I could have from any book.

Building something like this tends to over power me. But, if I try to make one or two
parts a day, eventually I get it done. I find I look to make the next bit in between my
regular work, which is mostly servicing the CNC machines. I'll put some stock in the
Haas and while it is cutting I have a minute or two where I can do a little engine work
in the manual lathe or mill.

Being familiar with lost foam casting, I thought this project would be a good
application of the technique. Many parts were cast or made from stock that was cast.
The standard gave me trouble though. You will notice the first foam model has
cutouts in the legs. This is the one that failed. The second foam model had solid legs
(and a little thicker too) and it turned out OK.

When all the parts were made, they still had to be fitted. As precise as I made the
different parts, there was still quite a bit of shaving, polishing and lapping before the
engine turned as smooth as I wanted. Now it runs nice and slowly on about 5psi. You
can see it in action at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x82mEiH7_k
Regards Ray.

Woodson Engine Building Project.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 6


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Woodson Engine. Foam patterns

Woodson Top End Engine Casting’s.

Regards, Ray Brandes, Marianna, Florida USA.

Trevor Dasecke.
Australia.
The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 7
Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Pyro Trev’s Adventures.

I am a 40-year-old man that has a desire to


create most things myself from scratch.
I come from a background of jack-of-all-trades
and master of none.
My venture into the world of home metal casting
started from the need for extra equipment and
tools for a small Chinese lathe that I purchased.

Not having the spare money to just go out and


buy them, I looked to the Internet for the answer.
Being an Aussie, Col’s page of books and info
came up in the search engine listing first page.
I purchased a few of them and with some other
info from the web, off I went to melt some metal and create all the workshop
gear I needed.

Big pipe dreams and wishes where soon to be wetted down with failures and
frustration. A steep learning curve began. I eventually got the right type of
green sand, learnt not to melt the metal till the cows come home and make it
hotter than hell, ram the moulds hard enough, and why the venting wire was
invented. I used steel crucibles with a clay wash to stop iron contamination.

After making crude shapes of Aluminium that where to my satisfaction, they


were ready to be transformed into my desired projects; I started to make real
pieces of equipment that I could actually use. Gingery books have a good
deal of instruction for the beginner and frugal caster.

I need a dividing head to make the cutters I needed to make other tools
and gears and such. Here is the pile of patterns I used to pour the aluminium
parts to make my own dividing head.

To coat the patterns I made a mixture of paint thinners and Styrofoam with a
little marking dye. It works quite well at smoothing the pattern edges and
stopped sand from being broken away when the patterns were pulled from the
moulds after ramming.

I had to learn to handle brass as well as Aluminium. Being frugal and broke, I
tried using fired 22 cartridges from my local gun club. It is a 70/30-brass mix
and casts ok and machines fairly easy as well.

The worm wheel is cast using the 70/30 brass. Pictured also is the home
made tap I made from a high tensile 1 inch 12 tpi bolt I found at the local
recycling centre. I used the tap making jig and another bolt as the worm.

Drilling the index hole plates was a whole new world to me. That thing called
dimensions I found out is really needed if you want things to fit with other
parts. Here are all the parts partly dis-assembled. I also need to make a few
The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 8
Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
more hole plates to finish it off. I make things as I need them, and when I can
scrounge the parts for little cost as can be seen from the following pictures.
My furnace. An old drum lined with local clay and mixed with local silica sand
and a talc/clay wash for the hot face.

I have a pile of reclaimed metals, aluminium, brass, lead, cast iron. I make
my own home made burners. My first attempts not that good, the newer ones
are based on Mike Porters design. They are very stable at low pressures.

Some of my other attempts at casting some useful equipment are:


Stand off for faceplate - Die Stocks - Moulds for home made crucibles. Head
for Sanding Machine - Tang for Black Powder Rifle - Bullet Mould for 45 Cal
Black Powder Rifle - Home made tap and reamer dividing jig.

I hope my story inspires others to follow their dreams & passion and realise
that given time and a little know how, almost anyone can make their own
metal casting equipment & really useful stuff for themselves.

The backyard furnace. Worm wheel casting & home made tap.

Assorted Patterns For Dividing head. Cast & Machined Index head components.

Trevor Dasecke.
Australia.

Dale Hampshire.
Calgary. Alberta.
Canada.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 9


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
After returning from living in Vanuatu (1987-1995) I
began working on finding a way for villagers to
make their own coconut oil at the household level.
One of the most difficult parts of making oil
efficiently is pressing the coconut. Although you
can squeeze the cream out by twisting the
shredded coconut in a cloth, the process only
yields about 10% of the oil. Commercially
available presses start at $1,500 (not including
shipping from India or China) and replacement
parts are impossible to get. At first I had some
success using modified meat grinders and fruit
presses but I needed to design a press that would
cost about $80 or less and that could be manufactured at the village
level. That led me to backyard metal casting.

In October of 2006, I began by casting aluminum using a small, charcoal


furnace and green sand. I struggled for a couple of months trying to make
moulds and mixing sand that resulted in good castings - the hollow, press
barrel was especially difficult. Then I found some information about lost foam
casting on the Internet.

Lost foam casting sounded like my answer and I tried a couple of simple
shapes - they came out as gross deformities. I puzzled over this problem for
several weeks until I realized that the painted coating on the Styrofoam mould
was not simply to make the surface of the casting smooth, it was to delay the
sand from rushing in until the metal flowed down into the mould. After a few
experiments with various coatings, and drying times, my castings started
turning out perfectly.

Finally, at the end of January 2007 I was able to successfully cast all the
press parts, including the hollow barrel. With some filing and sanding of the
surfaces (I use only hand tools in order to keep the manufacturing process
simple), I was able to make the working press shown in the picture (photo
'Coconut Press'). It can make 1-2 litres of oil an hour and is 80% efficient.
With imported materials and local labour it should sell at the village for about
$80. Broken or worn out parts can be replaced by the local (small scale)
village caster. I have made several presses now and the parts can be made
very roughly to size and still work effectively (the specs have a high tolerance
for variation which of course is necessary when only non-electric hand tools
are used to make the moulds and finish the parts).

The press has eight parts, five are cast; the barrel, the base, the auger, the
bushing and the handle (photo 'Parts of Press'). These were all cast in dry
sand (photo 'Lost Foam Casting'). They look rough on the outside because
lost foam casting faithfully copies every detail of the Styrofoam mould (every
scratch, every chip). The barrel mould is shown in the photo 'Foam Mould'.
The masking tape hides particularly rough areas of the surface and the lines
where two pieces of foam have been glued together and makes for a
smoother surface in the casting.
The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 10
Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
As I have mentioned, I used a small (5 gallon pail), charcoal furnace. As far as
supplies, I use the common blue Styrofoam available in hardware stores (not
the white foam - although it casts well, it is hard to work into a mould because
the foam is composed of larger pieces and they tend to chip off easily). I use
liquid rubber glue to join parts of the mould together (a little bit spread on both
surfaces does it, too much melts the foam - I don't use a hot glue gun to join
pieces, although hot glue can be useful for filling in small holes and
imperfections in the foam mould).

I find that Styrofoam can be drilled, cut, and sanded easily (and if you make a
slip, it's cheap and easy to start over). I tried cutting Styrofoam by melting it
with a hot wire but found the melting could not be controlled and contained as
well as cutting with a razor knife or drilling. I use 50:50 water to latex paint
mix to coat the moulds (I use dark green paint because it is easy to see
uncoated areas). I coat once, by dipping, and then let it dry for a few hours
then recoat.

I allow the moulds dry for 2-3 days (any moisture left in the coating will boil
when the hot metal comes near and ruin the casting surface). I use Sil 1 sand
(I sieve the used sand through a fine screen and reuse it). For sprues, I use
the same foam usually cut 3-4 inches long (1/2"x1/2" 'square-ish') and glue a
couple to one end of the mould before applying the paint coating. I try to
judge whether the metal will flow easily to all the areas of the mould through
the sprues and I may add more sprues to a large or complex mould. To cast
the barrel for example, I used about 6 sprues of different lengths glued to
various parts.

Just a note, I recently tried casting cast iron using dry sand and a
Lost foam mould. The cast was a little deformed at one end because I did
not make the sprue long enough but otherwise it was good. I used Colin
Peck's oil-fuelled furnace design to melt the iron. The casting was a 4
pound iron auger.

I have found that lost foam casting gives me the ability to prepare and
cast complex shapes easily. This is very important as I work through a
series of 'experimental models' that may or may not be used in the final
design.

Anyway, that's my casting project. To find out more about my project in


Vanuatu go to www.villagesfirst.com - there's even a video of some
Natives using lost foam casting to cast an aluminum 'A' (A for their
Island Ambae) using a coconut oil burning furnace made from a one gallon
paint can.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 11


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Hand Made Foam Pattern. Lost Foam Sand Casting.

Parts Of Press Coconut Press.

Dale Hampshire.
Calgary. Alberta.
Canada.

Simon Milner.
Melbourne, Australia.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 12


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
As a mechanical engineer, my grandfather had
been involved in casting aluminium adaptor plates
for converting Holden 6 cylinder motor’s into Land
Rover’s back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and
some of his old tooling was still to be found in my
fathers engineering workshop. I have always been
interested in metal casting, and decided to make an
attempt to create my own casting equipment when I
took over my fathers engineering workshop in 1994.

Back then I had no Internet for research, and no


books to look into for details on set-up and casting
methods. My first attempt at casting was extremely agricultural, using a 44 gal
drum cut in half, and the top of it cut thinly to slide across the top to adjust the
amount of heat escape. For a burner, I found my grandfathers original
kerosene jet burner, which used a drum of kero with a tap to stop the flow and
a flow adjuster built into the burner unit.

The airflow was supplied by a reverse blowing vacuum cleaner, and the
burner had a depth adjustable head to control the main orifice distance to the
burner tube. To light the burner I used the oxy torch to create a source of
constant ignition until the kero flow was matched to the airflow and it would
sustain flame itself. This flame was fired into some house bricks shaped to
catch the flame and a cast iron cooking pot sat on top of them, spanning the
gap, which I melted the alloy in.

Well as you can imagine, this was a pretty dangerous method of setting up a
furnace, and the results were extremely slow, with over ½ hr required to melt
a relatively small amount of alloy, approx 2.5 kg. The alloy was poured into
split cylinders to make solid ingot bar for machining, and the quality left much
to be desired with air bubbles evident throughout the alloy.

I did make some useful equipment from the small amount cast, but the effort
that went into the melting procedure far outweighed the end product,
especially not knowing anything about sand casting moulds. Many years later,
after selling my engineering business, and changing careers a couple of
times, I found my grandfathers tools in my shed at home and got some
enthusiasm about learning about casting again, only this time I was
determined to learn properly, and take no short cuts!

With the Internet commonplace, I soon found Col’s web site, purchased the e
books, and set about finding the materials required to accomplish the job. I
pulled apart my grandfathers kero burner and utilised only the housing that
had a built in butterfly for air flow control, then fabricated an internal gas jet
complete with venturi to extract the gas under negative pressure while the
forced induction air flow was flowing through the venturi.

Then I welded some plates into the end of the burner pipe the same as I have
seen in jet engines from when I worked on aircraft, with the intention of

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 13


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
swirling the airflow to create a more complete burn of the gas.

After a couple of test runs of the burner mounted in a stand, I sent some
pictures to Col for some input as to whether it would work. He was very happy
with the design, so I got stuck into the furnace itself. Following his spec’s I
built the housing inside a 60lt drum, and filled it exactly to the requirements in
the e book with refractory, and mounted the burner as specified as well.
I built all of the additional tooling such as lifting tongs, pouring frame and even
bought a small cement mixer to mix the green sand. Everything was running
to plan, and even had Col put my equipment as a main story in one of the
ezine articles last year.

I was feeling pretty proud of myself up to this point, and broke out the newly
purchased Petro Bond, the brand new foundry quality sand, along with the
$120 worth of special oil required to mix the Petro Bond, as this was the bees
knees of casting sand, according to an article supplied with one of the e
books. I was absolutely adamant of doing everything to the highest standard,
so this was the sand to use.

Well after mixing up 20kg of sand measured and mixed precisely to the
instructions, I started to ram together my very first mould, carefully following
the instructions step by step. When I parted the rammed sand for the first
time, my excitement turned to frustration, when it tore a huge chunk of sand
leaving it mostly sticking to the pattern. Once again I rammed together
another mould ensuring copious parting dust, including brush dusting the
contact surfaces of the pattern. Once again a huge tear!

I started messing around with different quantities of Petro Bond, Sand, Oil and
even went to the extent of mixing the whole 20kg of sand in my wife’s blender,
totally destroying the mixing blades by the end. The result was the same, time
after time; it just would not hold shape in the moulding box.

Well this went on for several weeks with me looking into buying some green
sand, but I kept getting the run around from foundry supply stores. Even the
Bentonite, the crucial ingredient needed to make green sand, seemed to be a
mystery to obtain when putting the word into a yellow pages search. In the
end, I gave up; put it all away as I had some much needed house renovation
to complete that was getting neglected while I was concentrating on this
project.

Earlier this year after completing the house, I pulled all of the foundry tools
out, dusted them off and started where I left off. I did only one ram together
with the Petro Bond, which predictably tore, then as not to get discouraged I
turned my attention on researching the Bentonite, which I found could be
purchased quite cheaply at any pottery supply store.

I came home and using Col’s recipe, mixed up some common green sand,
which immediately, when squeezed in the hand, held shape, more firmly than
The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 14
Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
the Petro Bond. Getting pretty exited at this stage I quickly rammed a mould
together using a prop hub from a hovercraft as a pattern, quite a bit more
complex in shape than anything I had attempted before, then when it came to
opening the moulding box, the result blew me away. It was amazing, all of the
detail was as on the original pattern. Well I was not going to leave it at that, I
raced inside, 7:20 at night, and asked my wife to put a hold on my dinner,
fired up the furnace for it’s first ever run of fury, and proceeded to melt my first
lot of alloy in 14 years.

In less than 10 minutes I had over 2kg of alloy melted and ready for pouring. I
could not believe how quickly the alloy melted and how fiercely the furnace
was operating. I made the pour, shut everything down and went inside for a
clean up and dinner. After an hour I went out to the shed to break out the
casting. The finished product blew me away. Although a couple of small floors
were evident, the quality of the alloy was amazing, and the casting detail
better than I could have ever expected after the persistent problems I had with
the initial sand issue.

Since then I have been busy buying books, learning methods and recently
purchased an oven off eBay to make sand cores. With overcoming this initial
failure and seeing what can be achieved, the sky is the limit.

Col, Thank you for everything you have done. Every month you must sit in
front of the computer trying to think of what to write about this time. While you
are doing that, the people you are helping, are working at, and learning your
very teachings, which bring a level of satisfaction that you will probably never
really get to truly appreciate.

That is why I have just written you about this very long-winded journey. You
might have just helped another guy to melt and cast alloy, but you have also
given me the knowledge that I was never able to find out about from my
Grandfather, and achieved something that I feel I was destined to learn, as it
gives me a closer appreciation to what my grandfather used to accomplish.

Thank you.
Regards,
Simon Milner.

Editors Note: It is inspiring to see Simon and so many other people find the success they
desire with their metal casting/foundry skills, I’m sure there will be bigger and better things to
come from many hobby foundries scattered around the globe.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 15


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Burner Operating. Burner Venturi.

Cast Items. Grandfather’s Antique Burner.

Simon Milner.
Melbourne Victoria Australia.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 16


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Bob Perreault.

Since I was 18 years old I wanted to learn how to cast metal, and build
engines. I am now 52 years old, and this March I produced two crankshaft
supports as part of the project to build an Atkinson Engine as described by
Vince Gingery. I plan to cast the entire group of parts...base, flywheel, cylinder
head and con rod. I own an old lathe and a bench mill, so I can do all the
machining myself as well.

I selected Gingery\'s project book because the Atkinson Cycle Engine was
different from steam engines and the more typical internal combustion model
plans available. The book has more than enough detail, and I felt confident it
would be a good choice for my first home built engine. This gave me all the
reason I needed to begin assembling my home foundry-Gingery charcoal
furnace, Petrobond sand, cope and drag, crucible, etc.

I made the furnace during the winter months whenever I had a spare moment.
(I have a pretty busy job as a manufacturing engineer).

I selected the crankshaft support for the first try because it was a simple one-
sided form. High likelihood of success. I made the patterns to Gingery's
dimensions from pine and walnut scraps I have in my shop, applied body
putty to form the fillets.

When I was ramming the Petrobond sand I had no idea how tight to pack it.
There was advice in the Atkinson Engine book and in Dave Gingery\'s
Charcoal Foundry book, so I was not completely in the dark.

I followed the directions using a dowel to form the riser and cut the sprue in
just before I pulled the patterns.

I welded the crucible from a hunk of steel tubing, and when I poured the
aluminium down into the mould I was a little surprised how quick the whole
thing went. This was in late March. It had been wet, and my shop is in my
basement, so foundry stuff is an outdoor thing for me (right now, anyway).

I waited a few hours, opened everything up and was sort of surprised to find
the castings are usable! A little light cleaning, and into the miller we go.

My next casting was the 8-inch diameter flywheel. Made the pattern, made a
much bigger cope and drag. This time I rammed the sand too tight, and the
mould was distorted a little. The result was not good so I need to do that one
over, going easier and more uniformly
with the ramming.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 17


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Raw castings in Petro-Bond. Castings & Foundry Patterns.

Castings after extraction from Petro-Bond


Sand moulds.

Bob Perreault.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 18


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Jared Plourde.
Orange California US.

I wanted to make a custom timing cover for the Model “A” Ford engine. My
foundry is a modified pottery kiln with drilled out jets for natural gas available
at my house. I bought the petrobond sand at a foundry after major frustration
with homemade green sand. The final picture shows the casting, which was
done by a foundry with my pattern, I got so deep into the project that I now
sell these and a real foundry makes and heat-treats them with my pattern but
the pics show what I can do with my backyard set-up.

Jared Plourde.

Timing Cover Pattern. Casting In Petro- Bond Sand.

Casting with Sprue & Riser Attached. Finished “T” Chest On “A” Ford Engine.

Jared Plourde.
Orange California US.

Nice work Jared, great to see an idea eventually develop to the stage where it becomes a
income producing project, the vintage restoration business (automotive & motorcycle) is wide
open to small foundry entrepreneurs.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 19


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Daniel C. Postellon

Project:
Digital Armillary: Cast iron: 20 X 25 X 25 centimetres (8X12X12 inches)
7 kilograms (15 pounds) this is a post-apocalyptic cargo cult object. (See
below) If that doesn't make sense to you, think of it as what the children in
'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome' would have made if they had a cast iron
foundry!

Armillary spheres are analogue representations of all of time and space, and
are inherently NOT digital. This was cast in 2007 at Ox-Bow, a school of art
and artists' residency, affiliated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago,
as part of a "metal casting for sculpture" class. This was a resin set sand
mould, filled with a two-man ladle from a cupola furnace operated by the
class.

The pattern for the base was hand-carved from expanded polystyrene
packing foam, a circuit board from a disposable insulin pump was glued on for
the digital effect, and the base divided in two (split pattern). The pattern for
the sphere was a commercial foam sphere, also divided. A mould was made
with the right half of the base and sphere in position, and then turned over.
The left halves of the pattern were registered to the right halves with
toothpicks, and the left side of the mould was cast on top of the right half. The
two pieces were separated, and the Styrofoam half-spheres were removed,
and replaced by cast-in place resin-set sand half spheres.

These were removed for future use as a core. The rings, axis, pillar piece
connecting the base to the sphere, signature, date, sprue and vents were all
hand carved into the mould or core, and the foam base pattern was removed.
The core was replaced, the mould banded with steel bands, and cast upside
down, with the sprue feeding the middle of the base of the sculpture.
There was quite a bit of flash in the inside of the sphere, removed by drilling
and by a hand grinder with rotary stones.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 20


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Cast iron is fairly brittle, and the piece fell out of the vise when the sprue was
being removed. The sculpture was now in two pieces, the base and the
sphere. I drilled a hole though centre of the base, continuing into the
supporting pillar, threaded it with a hand tap, and screwed the two pieces
back together with a threaded bolt.

This was then cut off flush with the base.


Although it is not really a working sundial/armillary, the angles and spacings
are approximately accurate for the 43 degrees North latitude, where it was
cast. It was accepted for a local juried show, the 22nd Annual West Michigan
Art Competition.

Daniel C. Postellon.
Cast Iron Digital Armillary.

Paul Quyle.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 21


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
I was born and raised in a central California
town that still had several neighbourhoods with
cast iron horse hitching posts at the street curb.
My father was an ex-Army Calvary Officer with
a great love for horses. I grew up with horses
and horse enthusiasts.

When I was in high school I decided we needed


one of those antique hitching posts at our
stable. I went from house to house where these
were located and I asked," Do you want that old
hitching post?" I visited quite a few houses and
always got the same answer, " Of course we
want it." Eventually I found one house where
they said, "Hell No, you can have it if you want
to dig it out." I ended up with two with fists as in
my photo, and one with just a plain ring. This whole story began more than
seventy years ago. These pieces of iron moved with me in 1952 to our ranch
in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains where they are still used as hitching
posts in front of my home.

Now to get back to casting. When the casting virus overwhelmed my good
sense, I decided I needed a hitching post in front of our pottery gallery. I could
have used one of my old posts to do a one-off new casting, but to me this is
cheating. So I did a drawing of my own hand, carved a pattern, mounted it on
a match plate and tried to cast it. I am limited to melting with a propane pot
furnace with silicon carbide crucibles. I have had no problem in melting and
pouring gray iron, but a number 10 crucible will not hold enough to pour this
fist as a solid. So I was forced to make a core mould before I could make a
successful casting.

A friend came to admire my work after I got it mounted on a four-inch pipe


post and cemented in a place of honour at the front of our pottery shop. He
looked at it for a moment and then said, " I have never seen a left handed
hitching post before." He was right; all of the old ones are a of a right hand
fist. I am also right handed so I drew my left hand, carved the pattern to
match, so now as far as I know this is the only left- hand hitching post fist in
existence.
Yours, Paul Quyle.

P.S.
Most of the casting I do is very uninteresting parts to keep our antique obsolete clay working
machines running. Auger blades, filter press plates, etc., nothing of interest to most people.
Clay is very abrasive, and machines have a continuous need for replacement parts. I gave
one class here in my shop for the California Blacksmith Association in simple green sand
casting. Every participant went home with a cast bronze belt buckle. At the request of my
regular blacksmithing students we are planning a second class soon for Aluminium casting.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 22


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Cast Iron hitching post. Hand carved mounted pattern.

Hand Wheel Pattern. Clay machine mixing Impellor pattern.

Paul Quyle.
Quyle Kilns.
3353 E. Hwy 4 Murphy’s.
CA 95247 USA.

Editors Note: What Paul is doing with his metal casting work epitomizes what it is all about;
creating unique objects, & reproducing parts to keep old machines going, very nice work.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 23


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Larry Schnipke.
Ohio. USA.

Garage Door Hinges.


This is the overhead garage door to my shop. It is made from door panels
rejected by a local manufacturer. These panels may have shallow holes or
scratches in them, not good enough for a new house but certainly good
enough for a workshop, especially if they are filled and painted over.

These panels are different than many flush panels in that the pivot of
the hinge is buried in the door joint rather the inside the door. I got
some hinges with the panels but I was missing one for this door, and I
have 4 more panels. This makes it worth manufacturing my own hinges. And
what better way to start than with a net shaped casting?

Original two-piece hinges used as patterns. Sand mould being prepared.

Finished two-piece cast hinge. Hinge installed onto folding garage door.

Larry Schnipke.
Ohio. USA.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 24


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Don Stefania.
Australia.

Col,
Am sending some photos of my metal casting
projects that I completed last year.
I just bought a digital camera a few days ago so
sending photos over the Internet is a new project to
me. I hope everything comes out all right on your
side. I tried to title each attachment to what it is but
it always comes out as Cog Wheels 1. Any way the
first 2 photos is some cog wheels I cut after casting
some aluminium discs to various sizes and facing
them on the lathe to the desired thickness. The
next 2 photos are of a drill base attached to a
Morse taper for accurate drilling on the lathe. The last 2 photos are of the gas-
fired furnace I built about 10 years ago. It works very well as I can even melt
cast iron with it as well as aluminium.

Cast & machined aluminium gears. Lathe tailstock drilling jig

Front view of drill jig. The furnace in the foundry.

Don Stefania.
Australia.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 25


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Jim Walker.

Attached are pictures of a recent casting project. It is made out of lead (about
1 7/8" long) with a screw inside.

My client wanted me to copy a "holder" for his "swinger" clock (the type of
clock where the mechanism is in a ball at the top, attached to a pendulum on
the bottom. The clock swings, thus the name, on a part that extends out from
the holder.) I machined and carved the pattern out of Rockite (a gypsum
based fast setting anchoring cement) and used a RTV silicone that withstands
around 600 degrees F for the mould. Pic 4677 shows the white pattern &
mould, with finished casting (cleaned up just a little). I inserted a brass
bushing in the mould to hold the screw (which extends the length of the piece)
upright and dead centre, allowing the lead to flow around it.

The rest of the pictures show the holder after it was soldered onto the figure's
hand, with parts that I machined to complete the assembly. After these
pictures were taken, I matched the patina so it had the same aged look as the
rest of the piece.

Jim Walker.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 26


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
Carl Wilson.

Below is a set of photos of the patterns for the latest project: a vacuum (flame
licker) engine. This is a joint venture with Dennis to produce an engine to our
design of an engine by Jan Ridders published in Model Engineer recently.
Patterns were machined from acrylic plastic; the base will be aluminium and
the flywheel brass. I have some thought of eventually making both from cast
iron, which will be a new material for me to pour.

Here are three photos of patterns done in the last few years. Some of the
castings are not available for photographs, so I used the patterns instead.

Above: Base pattern.

Image top left. At rear vertical items) back plate for Jubilee Clock, designed by Edgar T.
Westbury and serialized in Model Engineer in front of back plate,
from right: Pendulum support pattern. Support casting. Flat belt sheave casting for small
dynamo. Follower for flat belt sheave pattern done in plaster. Flat belt pattern in MDF

Flywheel Pattern. Base & flywheel pattern assembled.

Carl Wilson.

A message from Col.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 27


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.
When we first instigated & announced the hobby metal casting
competition through our myhomefoundry.com web site, I
thought that maybe three or four entries may have been
forthcoming, little did I know just how wrong that assumption
was, at first there was one or two emails, then it became a
small torrent, gushing forth some amazing and wonderful
metal casting talent from many people spread around the
world.

Gosh, I thought, we have struck a chord here for sure.

Such was the response that we will surely hold another metal casting competition
during 2009, but I will ask you now; will you have a project ready to enter into the
competition? Even if you are just beginning to cast metal, you might be thinking you
wont have a chance against the more experienced metal casters, well, do not fear
because everyone is judged equally, the best quality casting does not always win the
prize…. so “C’mon”, as the Australian tennis ace Leyton Hewitt says, put your head
down and start planing now to give it a go.

If you have just had a quick glance through this ebook, take some time to go back
over it again to read and absorb what each contributor has said, there is some great
learning & wisdom in this ebook, each metal caster has set out with a specific goal in
mind to achieve/create/make something unique, it matters little if what you are
making is a part for an old car, machine tool part, a special project, or art casting…
what ever it is you want to achieve… nine times out of ten you will be able to create
what you want with the metal casting technique.

If you are just beginning to explore the world of metal casting, take your time & don’t
rush things. As the old saying goes, Rome was not built in a day, and neither will you
learn to cast metal in a single day, feel free to visit our web site
http://www.myhomefoundry.com to read, learn and absorb what it takes to do hobby
metal casting, we’ve been online since late 2003, tens of thousands of people have
visited our site and downloaded the free ebooks as well as the large ebook
knowledge toolkit package available for purchase and download; practical foundry
knowledge straight from the hobby foundry workshop floor, easy to understand,
without the complex industry jargon to confuse you.

Remarkable Things Can Be Made With Molten Metal.

Take some scrap. | Melt & pour the metal. | Create your masterpiece.
Anything is possible; you just have to work at it.
We hope you have enjoyed reading & learning from this ebook. This is our small contribution
to the wider metal casting community.
Col Croucher. Australia.

The 2008 Hobby Foundry Masters book. 28


Copyright. 2008. www.myhomefoundry.com
The knowledge vault web site for the down to earth practical hobby casting enthusiast.

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