Chainsaw Cylinder & Head

Discussion in 'Lost foam casting' started by Al2O3, Feb 25, 2018.

  1. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Think I could get them both with an A10 and if I'd already established pour parameters and was making multiples that's what I'd do but on the first go I plan to do one at a time in case of misrun and/need for process adjustment. I can also weigh one with sprue and cup after the first run.

    Best,
    Kelly
     
    Red97 likes this.
  2. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Beautiful weather today so time for a casting session.

    I prepared the foam patterns with foil sprues and oriented the first one in the sand, filled and vibrated.

    13 Two Sprued.JPG 13.1 In sand.JPG

    I degassed the melt for 10-15 minutes with my degassing lance. I updated that thread with some video from today. Here’s a link.

    http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/degassing-lance.204/page-3

    Here’s a video of the pour.



    Best,
    Kelly
     
  3. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    ……and here are the results. They came out well. Next, they need to be heat treated.

    15 Cast.JPG 15.1 Down Bore.JPG 16 Chainsaw Casting.JPG 17 Chainsaw Casting.JPG 17.1 Chainsaw Casting.JPG 18 Chainsaw Casting.JPG 19 Chainsaw Casting.JPG 20 Chainsaw Casting.JPG

    Best,
    Kelly
     
    Red97, Mark's castings and Mister ED like this.
  4. They came out really well Kelly. Your furnace and pouring handle design really pays off when it comes time to pour the crucible: there's no appreciable delays that allow the crucible to lose heat. As I'm overseas the video was able to be watched on Youtube's site but blocked on the forum due to the background music content by EMI music.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2018
  5. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Yeah, Freddie Mercury came back from the grave and screwed him.... Stupid YT.
    You have 2 choices.... Really one.. NO music in the back ground, or add in music later. You'll still get dinged when ya cover video with music... Some clown outfit called repost lays claim to EVERYTHING, even the no copyright stuff..... I don't care anymore. I'm going to do my own thing and they can all go and play nice with themselves..
     
  6. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Someone makes things look way too easy..... Not giving any names :)
     
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  7. Red97

    Red97 Copper

    Wow, those look great!!

    You feel the degas made a noticeable difference in the pour or finish?

    Can't wait to get one finished up and running.
     
  8. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Thanks Mark. It seems to be working well for me. A fella that goes by Junkyard here on this site turned me on to the open ring shank....snatch and pour in one go.

    Sorry about that Mark.

    Ya-know, I just had the music on in my shop and wasn't even thinking about it. The imbedded video plays for me. Anyone else blocked too?

    Best,
    Kelly
     
  9. Mister ED

    Mister ED Silver

    Its good here. Very impressive Kelly.
     
  10. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    ;) Thanks David. Was out in the shop all day and just came in. It was a good day.

    Best,
    Kelly
    The degas can only help. In the last photo I just briefly held the base against my disc sander. By appearance it looks to be pretty solid. Hopefully they'll temper well. Need to decide how brave I want to get in that regard. They're about 180 grams heavier than the stocker as cast but I suspect you'll lose at least half that after machining and porting. You should post that link to your chain saw build thread.

    21 Comparison.JPG 22 Comparison.JPG 23 Comparison.JPG 24 Comparison.JPG 25 Base.JPG

    Best,
    Kelly
     
  11. Red97

    Red97 Copper

  12. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Don't worry about the music. You tube sends a warning and then usually lets the video continue. Sometimes it won't play in some countries. I think it also prevents monitizaton in the future. Most of us care about getting a check from YT. 1/2 a cent per view from YT isn't going to change my life or yours.
     
  13. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Red, I rigged up this shield and was going to run a T6 solution schedule but chickened out and just went the T5 precipitation route at 435F all day. I think I can closely control the temp just fine if I knew with certainty the alloy composition but if the alloy was a little off or it was actually 319 instead of 356 I'd loose them on a 356 solution schedule. They should be good and stable and have some temper.

    26 Heat Treat.JPG 27 HeatTreat.JPG

    Best,
    Kelly
     
    Red97 likes this.
  14. Red97

    Red97 Copper

    I believe the t5 will be just fine.

    I am still amazed how well those turned out, pouring liquid aluminum onto foam buried in sand...

    Thank you for documenting this project.
     
  15. garyhlucas

    garyhlucas Silver

    Some really nice work there, and a very interesting thread. Man could use a CNC machine! My homebuilt should be awesome for foam, 18"x 18"x 18" work envelope and a 4th axis too. Its light duty but I cut steel and stainless so foam should be a piece of cake. Full enclosure too. I model in Solidworks. Will really need to give this a try.
     
  16. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Thanks Gary. For sure a CNC router is on my build list. You need lots of speed and big open gullets like wood cutting bits to cut foam with a decent finish, otherwise it's a piece of cake.....except it gets all over the place.

    Best,
    Kelly
     
  17. garyhlucas

    garyhlucas Silver

    Kelly,
    My machine is like a minimill in rigidity but is quite fast, it rapids at 300ipm and cuts at 200ipm. I have two spindles, one is a 5000 rpm maximum R8 while the other is a Hitachi router with 8,000 to 35,000 rpm so nearly the ideal machine for foam. I have a pump rotor part I'd like to cast. I am going to try cutting in foam to see how it will work.
     
  18. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    The pink foam board is actually very good material for lost foam casting and a good compromise of machinability and density. I use the Fomular 150 and 250 which is Owens Corning product but Dow has a blue foam product line that is equivalent. I posted the properties of the OC products here.

    http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/lost-foam-process-and-my-rig.145/#post-2604

    You'll need to experiment with laminating. I have a few threads in the Lost Foam section that may be of interest to you.

    Best,
    Kelly
     
  19. garyhlucas

    garyhlucas Silver

    What glue for laminating the foam together? I am thinking the wrong glue might not burn out properly and wreck the casting.
     
  20. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Lot's of things burn out just fine, the problem is how well they machine at the joint and that they are suspended in a solvent that won't attack and/or densify the foam. If you cut perpendicular to a thin hard joint it's not a big deal but if it is a feathered cut or you try to sand the joint the foam will abrade unevenly. I was using shellac because it can be very thin and is reduced by alcohol which wont attack polystyrene. Wood glue when used sparingly burns out clean and I use that frequently. I would thin it with water to laminate and clamp in in compression to keep the joint as thin as possible. There is a spray contact adhesive made specifically for gluing foam but IIRC it's latex based and if so may instantly load your cutter. Same is true with hot melt which is a moot point for laminating because it sets too fast. More discussion here.

    http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/lost-foam-pros-cons.120/page-3#post-4164

    Best,
    Kelly
     

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