Casting a lathe bed in iron.

It is rare to see a lathe bed mold being made and poured in iron on youtube. I am sure that this is only the second video I have seen on youtube about lathe beds. Very interesting video!

 

That is amazing.

 

That must be the most difficult method of moulding possible! Haven't they heard of a cope and drag?

 

After a certain point, a flask becomes impractical. This is a very old method. This is the same technique used to cast locomotive frames back in the steam era, and very large structures can be done this way. They used to cast lighthouse sections this way, large pipes, etc. Loved seeing the old school planer in use.

 

I thought it was amazing that they were able to make a fairly complex and large casting with the most limited tool set imaginable. That takes great skill and lots of experience. Wow!

Denis

 

I was impressed by how surely and smoothly the molder set the cores. Practiced hands!
Pete

 

I agree, they don't have much but they make up for it with their skills and experience.

 

This cannot be done with cope and drag. This is a very complex casting and it is amazing that these guys have the patience and the experience doing this job in this late 19th / early 20th century style foundry.

 

The only reason they do not use a cope and drag is that they do not have:
1)Lots of money to fabricate large flasks
2)Lifting equipment to lift and flip large flasks.

I see work of much greater than this size and greater complexity done routinely and with a lot less manpower in a small to medium sized foundry an hour's drive away. There they have induction furnaces, convenient and powerful overhead cranes, several fork-lifts, Air-Set foundry sand systems, large heat treat ovens (I do not think this casting was stress releieved though it may not actually need stress relief), in-house spectrometry and and all the alloying materials to control the grade of grey iron produced. This would be a no-brainer for them. Incidentally, I hardly ever see an individual pick up a shovel there.

Send that equipment to these guys in Pakistan or wherever and see how many days it would take for them to dial in their process to include these modern "conveniences." Maybe even send them some work boots though I would not be amazed if they chose not to wear them.

Denis

 

"The only reason they do not use a cope and drag is that they do not have:
1)Lots of money to fabricate large flasks
2)Lifting equipment to lift and flip large flasks."

I thought the same thing but towards the end, over-head lifting gear can be seen pulling the castings from the ground.

Making things in that place is cheap, I don't doubt. Foundries can make metal moulding boxes fairly easily, by casting the parts, or complete frames.