The more I look at this part the more places I see where loose sand could get caught in one of the small ridges if I cast it normally (lying flat). The small sections (where the holes are) are give or take 6mm wide and 9.5mm deep, or 1/4" x 3/8” in the old money so I’ve been thinking about doing it vertically. Something like this? My thinking is that any loose sand would/could be carried out the top and the entire mold would basically become a vent. Oh ya . . it’s going to be aluminum. Any thoughts?
unless there is something wrong with your sand, loose sand is not an issue , loose sand is housekeeping, blow the mold out, there will be no loose sand, erosion is different , but that is hard to get unless you pressurise the gating system, and then choke it improperly Vents are not open to the atmosphere, they are paths of lease resistance for escaping gas, I'm assuming that board is inch squares , if it is cm ignore , but to me the blocks on the ends of the Y shape are a shrinkage issue, which your current gating does not address, AT ALL, if the yellow cylinder at the top is supposed to be a riser, your design is fubar, if you feed a riser into a casting, with a choke in most instances, the choke becomes the effective size of your riser What are your thicknesses??? V/r HT1
I cant really tell what your draft angles look like from the pictures. Those through pockets might be a challenge to pull. This one might take a couple pours to get your runners and risers dialed in. I like the idea of gating from the heavy prong ends but the vertical strategy might not be necessary. Pete
If you do go vertical, flip the pattern. Feed the circular end and a riser on each thick part. Here's my vertical pattern. https://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/exp-styrofoam-followers.1254/
As drawn it looks to me like the coved portion of the thick part is nearly certain to have a shrink defect. The large riser on top will do nothing as the narrow parts will freeze long before the thick portion and the thin runners will freeze before anything else. Vertical casting should not be needed. Hot risers at the gates should do the trick. Pouring basin could be located right midway between the gates shown. Eliminate all the rest. That is my possible solution. Probably a lot different ways to get it done. Agree with others that loose sand should not be a factor. Denis
That’s a 1/2” grid on a “Sew Easy” cutting mat. My wife uses them for quilting and when she has decided that there warn out I get to abuse them on the shop bench. And if you think metal casting can be an outrageously expensive hobby check out quilting. The webs are .75” wide by .375” thick with the bearing blocks on the ends 1”. Over all it’s a split pattern with 4 degrees of draft 8.375” long and 4” wide. I have tried it in my barely thawed out sand and it did pull after a lot of judicious sanding. As a note a week at -40 is hell on your green sand. That is a very nice casting Fishbonz. I think I wanted to cast it vertically just to try it and it’s still a little cold (-2 for a high today) to do much more in the garage (unheated) than build a couple of new flasks. I still want to try casting something vertically but I agree I’d be better off just casting this flat.
Something like this...dont have time to fill it all in but think you will see...gate in bottom fed by runner with choke...round riser at top between the thick sections....may want to get riser as close to castings as possible and try to have all riser above thick part being fed so it does not wind up feed the riser with the casting...my drawing may not represent that well. No vents....riser acts as vent in top.
at 1.175 ( those lower bosses,) I would cast it flat, and feed directly into those with a slightly oversized gates and runners through a blind ( or open riser) about 1.75 Diameter on each , or put the largest riser that will fit (probably 3 inch Diameter ) between the bosses and feed both from the same riser , not only does this give you feed metal, it will introduce alot of heat localized in that area, which will help with feeding In short to save sand ant to get it into a smaller flask, i would place the gating system in the middle of the Y shape with only the pouring well and runner outside and below the Y , i would place a large riser between the bosses , and include a long gate up to the apex V/r HT1 P.S. Ill get i doodle in here in a second
Thanks guys. It’s supposed to be warmer this weekend and going into next week so I might get a chance to pour something.
