Im looking to make my own green sand for casting. It looks like bentonite + silica sand is the best mix. From my research it looks like the finer the grain sand...the better. Im having a hard time finding a reliable source for sand in my area. I can get 120 mesh sand on amazon, but shipping is more than the sand itself. I found a poetry store that sold an item called Silica 325. Has anyone tried this before? I was told "Silica Sand is different from 325 mesh silica" but that was about the extent of the detail I got. I was also curious if anyone has tried using sand blast cabinet blasting media? This looks to be a finer grain sand as well that might be usable. https://www.amazon.com/GLASS-ABRASI...words=Fine+Silica+Sand&qid=1609872982&sr=8-50
That's only true up to a point, finer gives you a better surface finish but too fine and it will impede the flow of air, gases and steam through the sand which can cause casting defects; 325 mesh is WAY too fine, it's basically a powder. Your profile says you're in Charlotte, in my area there's a commercial foundry supplier that's happy to serve hobbyists like us, I realize that's probably not typical for that industry by why not try your luck with Specialty Foundry Products they're just outside of Charlotte in Mount Holly.
Sounds good...thanks for the suggestion...ill hit them up...it looks like they sell green sand already made.
Let us know how they are to deal with, people here are always on the lookout for suppliers that are willing to deal in small qualities, hopefully they'll make on to the short list of hobbyist friendly suppliers. I've got my fingers crossed for you. BTW, if you do end mixing with your own sand, check with that pottery supplier again, they probably have powdered bentonite too, it's much easier than messing around with something like kitty litter.
The pottery place does have bentonite and she has sand...she just didnt know the mesh size. I read about people buying just play sand and getting a mesh filter and sifting through it and getting the large grain out, but it would only produce like 30-40% usable casting sand per bag and the rest is too big and just thrown out. Was hoping I could find something already sifted to the right grain size and mix it with the bentonite the potty shop has on hand. Ill keep you guys posted on what I find.
We use them at Lodge. From what I know they are a good company to do business with but we are probably one of their big accounts.
I had swimming pool filter sand that I had not used and opened it up to see the grain size. Looks too big to me but have seen other people using it. I mixed a little with my sand for a trial run and could tell a major difference in surface finish. I only use it to fill the back of molds now and try not to get it mixed in with facing sand. I would try to get that silica sand if possible...works really well for me.
I used some brick-layer's sand for cores, expecting the surface to produce a very rough finish, but it actually produced a better finish than the proprietary resin-bonded sand that I paid a fortune for. Experiment with any sand near you and see what it does, Cheers Charlie
