New to spruing

Discussion in 'Lost wax casting' started by LJLundgren, Jul 25, 2020.

  1. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Sil bronze of course. I get mine from Industrial Metal supply. But guys around here in the eastern part of the US get it from budget casting supply. There is another one, but I don't remember who the supplier was. Maybe Zap will chime in who that was.

    I see something has changed at budget.. Looks like now they are Amazon bound. https://www.amazon.com/C873-Silicon...sting+supply+llc+bronze&qid=1595916915&sr=8-3

    $7.85 a pound with free shipping is a fair price. I know it seems high, but it's really not.

    Here is the company I use for crucibles. They are good quality, I've had zero issues with them.
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/Morgan-Sal...501621?hash=item2cdf6508f5:g:XMUAAOSwsrBe4X89
     
    LJLundgren likes this.
  2. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    My source is Lancaster foundry supply in PA. Usually costs about $4.10 / lb and they can ship 2-3x ingots to you via priority mail for ~$15. I'm planning a trip out there in the next 2-3 weeks to pick up more bronze before I drive down to Virginia to start at my new job. They sell other foundry supplies, like castable refractory and ceramic fiber rolls for insulating furnaces, also aluminum and brass ingots. Nice folks.

    http://www.lancasterfoundrysupply.com/contact-us/

    Phone: (717) 394-0753
    Email: info@lancasterfoundrysupply.com
     
    LJLundgren and Jason like this.
  3. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Thanks Zap..
     
  4. LJLundgren

    LJLundgren Copper

    I bought some from Belmont metals for 18/lb. so I figured you had a cheaper source when you said it was cheap.

    I notice some bronze seems to add either Zinc or Manganese. Do you have a preference? I know whenever I melt brass I can see the Zn burning off which I don’t like. But I don’t know much about Mn.
     
  5. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Do I need to send you a link to the brass or bronze video on my page..:p Even sil bronze contains trace amounts of IRON.. But Brass is 35% zinc and sil bronze is manganese.
    You will also note that brass is CHEAPER to buy because of the much lower copper content (around 65% copper) where as bronze is around 94% copper. You should never see ZN burning off bronze. Brass, yes, but not bronze. If you saw that other recent thread, bronze is easy to weld and repair where brass is straight up miserable. It can be brazed, but not welded. Sil bronze easily welds AND brazes like butter.;)
     
  6. LJLundgren

    LJLundgren Copper

    Do you ever sleep . I see a lot of sil bronze has around 4% Zn but others will be Zn free and have Mn instead. I don’t know if you would see 4% Zn burning off being is so little but I would think and re melts would still be affected.
     
  7. Petee716

    Petee716 Gold Banner Member

  8. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    We never sleep. Metal casting is all consuming.

    Silicon bronze shouldn't have more than trace amounts of Zn. Usually 1% manganese/iron/impurities, 3-4% silicon and the rest copper. Manganese I think is added to help the pouring properties. It doesn't seem to burn off when welded or melted.

    I'd steer clear of anything that has significant zinc quantities. As Jason said it is miserable to weld. The arc burns out the zinc from your weld puddle and you get pits in the metal that are very hard to fill, not to mention a free dose of vaporized zinc fumes which causes fume fever.

    Proper silicon bronze is a dream to work with in basically every way. Its the perfect art metal. Much better than old bronze alloys IMO.
     
    Jason likes this.
  9. Where brass comes into it's own is the machinability of the stuff, the "machinability of metals" scale rates all other materials relative to brass for a good reason. Not many materials exceed brass for ease of machining, tool life, surface finish, need for lubrication etc.. I'll be casting brass bars, not ingots with my brass excess once I get into casting it.
     
  10. FishbonzWV

    FishbonzWV Silver Banner Member

    I was at the Cleveland Clinic two weeks ago and tried to hookup with Lou to get a hundred pounds. The stars didn't align and I came home empty handed. :(
    I'm ready to step up to bronze.
     
    Tobho Mott likes this.
  11. Jason

    Jason Gold

    I haven't machined brass yet, but sil bronze sure machined pretty damn nice from what I saw!
     
  12. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    I just bought more everdur silicon bronze from lancaster. Price is 3.90 per pound. Here's my receipt.

    They ship cheap too. $15 for a priority mail box.
    20200729_160256.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2020
  13. Jason

    Jason Gold

    That's a great price!
     
  14. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Yep. They also have smallet ingots for smaller crucibles so you don't have to waste time cutting up the big ones. Also sold at same price per lb.

    20200729_191543.jpg
     
  15. Jason

    Jason Gold

  16. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Nawww, I just stack 2-3 of them up tee pee style in the middle of the crucible and let them melt down. No cutting req'd.

    So the diamond cutters work well for bronze? Interesting. I just buy drums of 20 blades from my local flea market for $1 each (dewalt brand). I'll have to stock up this weekend for the next 2 years that I'll be in Virginia but the diamond blade is interesting. I might have to give it a try.
     
  17. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Try it! It works great for me. Best part, the only dust flying around is bronze and not the wheel as it wears away. btw, your dewalt brand dollar wheels are most likely knockoffs, These scumbags will knock off ANYTHING these days.
     
  18. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Maybe. Looks and lasts s long as the home depot kind though. I've noticed home depot Mark's up consumables by 5 to 8x the internet price so it wouldn't surprise me if $1is the normal price and they just charge $5.70 for 1 wheel to make cash off idiots.
     
  19. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Maybe... I quit using them a couple years ago. I get some off brand now at the welding shop. Last just the same as the dewalt cutting steel. It's the flap discs that piss me off. Suckers are expensive, but worth paying the money. Only place I can find a 120grit flap disc is HF and they suck big time. I get good life out of the dewalt flap discs so I bend over and pay the money.:oops:
     
  20. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Yeah I stopped using flap discs entirely. Way too pricey. Sanding drums are much cheaper and work about the same. I get them in bags of 100+ for a couple bucks on ebay for my dremel for small stuff. Sand blast the big stuff after using a thick angle grinding stone.
     

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