I am interested in making a manual sand mold squeezer and was wondering if anyone on the forum had used one? I know of the larger foundry pneumatic ones, and I could build one of those. I have a nice spare air ram laying around in the shop but I was thinking more on the lines of a lever fulcrum type unit. If my calculations are correct I should be able to get 3 times the force in newtons that I can apply on my own. Looking for constructive suggestions. Thanks. Jgaertner
Thanks, that is a beauty, for sure. I am afraid I do not do enough casting to warrant buying a professional squeezer. Thanks for the picture and share. Jgaertner
This machine is for flasks up to 20" x 20" typically 14" x 18". I would think it would be loud, the air the jolt. A new 12" machine is over $20,000. I am replying not only to you but for anyone else who might read this thread.
I sold one in good working condition to a guy on this board a year ago for 650. The market for these machines is minuscule. They are great for making bench top molds and don’t make much noise at all. The ram is about 10” diameter iirc. So it develops about 7000 to 10000 pounds of squeeze. http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/in...achine-available-working-good-condition.1660/ Denis
That's actually a great price for that Osborn. It really looks like a very nice machine. The ones I posted are the next size bigger.
It was a good machine. I suspect that a willing buyer and seller infrequently meet for any given machine. They probably almost always go to scrap. The family and I decided on the 650 price as being “respectful” of the deceased prior owner.They did not want to give it away and did not want to scrap it. I think the buyer got a great deal and the family was positively delighted that the machine he restored would live on. Given the rest of the estate was well into the millions of dollars, the actual money from this transaction was incidental Denis
Picked this old SPO brand machine last October on eBay, overpaid for it but I've been after one of these for years. It's the correct size for my shop operations and it was only a few hours away (most I have seen for sale are 16+hrs away from me) Had to upgrade my air compressor and been fighting a lack of free time so I've verified the machine works but haven't been using it for molding yet. I had a thread here previously regarding air suspension bags as the motive force in a DIY squeezer, had I not found this machine I probably would have gone that route Thread: http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/useful-item-for-diy-molding-machine.1804/
Spo and Osborn are the same company now. Ok, that is a portable cantilever type. Stationary and swing head are the other choices. And that valve is the reason users with these machines will buy them for the parts. The squeeze cylinder rarely needs replacing but replacing the rings is a must on these older machines. Not easy without a ring suppressor. So basically, if there are no cracks or spiders on the machine, the machine is good.
