Cupola furnace ?

Interesting that you say that.... as a matter of fact there is... and more local casters than I thought there ever would be...

 

I cant get the images in those links to load in Internet Explorer. In MS Edge the thumbnails load but wont expand.......haven't tried other browsers.

Best,
Kelly

 

I've observed a number of small volume cylinder block and head developments over the last thirty years and even own a few of the resulting engine blocks. IMO, at those prices (about $11.2k & $4.6k US) they'll never be anything but a novelty.

Even if it's for a very collectable car whose value could bare such a price, those cars are usually valued based upon the degree of originality and a contemporary engine block doesn't help that cause. Many times, an entrepreneur sees a rare piece sell on an auction site for a very high price and assumes there is a market at that price. When the part is reproduced, you discover the market for the part at that high price is something like <5 people, and the rest are only willing to pay a small fraction for the same because the mere act of reproducing the part means it's no longer scarce nor unobtainable.......and in any case it will rarely if ever be valued as an original piece. This is the voice of experience speaking.

In the US, a performance aftermarket V8 engine block can be purchased in iron for $1200-$2000. Aluminum versions of the same are $2k-$5k and many notable engine builders are hesitant to (or flat won't) build on the aluminum blocks because even with the better known names in the business they have had many problems with quality control issues ranging from poor/inconsistent mechanical properties to porosity.......neither of which are a very pleasant discovery after an expensive engine build. Iron blocks seem to fair somewhat better in this regard.

A few possible exceptions are products for the racing world where very high costs can sometimes be manageable if required to be competitive or win......F1 does some amazing things with low volume castings and engine production.

I personally own 3 engines built on aftermarket aluminum Ford racing blocks that had production numbers only in the 100s. One distinguishing factor for them was they were developed and proven in World of Outlaws Sprint Car racing.......and there were some hard lessons learned along that path.........better to have bought after they were proven than before but I figured if they were good enough for pro teams with 800HP race engines they were good enough for me.

I'm aware of a handful of smaller companies efforts to develop V8 engine blocks. All of their initial customers became unknowing/unwilling participants in their development programs.....about half of the development programs made it to market for some sustained period. All were comparatively expensive and none were lucrative.

Don't mean to be a killjoy but it's not an endeavor for the faint of heart.

Best,
Kelly

 

This block wouldnt be for anyone except for myself. Its what I would call a "cheater" block, looking like a model A engine only externally.

Back in February I had reached out to a guy in St Michael's MD who was doing some lost pla casting at the maritime museum. I never heard back from him until yesterday when he messaged me though face book, and I saw where I had messaged him back then. He has built several cupolas ranging in size from 10" bore up to 30 inches. He is the second person that I have spoken with that wants to melt iron in a crucible furnace instead of the cupola for the same 2 reasons, being able to handle the melt and pour by himself and to get away from the coke as fuel since it just keeps getting more difficult to obtain. Im supposed to go and have a beer with him in a couple of weeks to discuss things. He is only about an hour from me. Should be and informative meeting..

This is the cupola from the sloss foundry that @ESC was thinking of, its a 2" bore and the coke and iron charge has to be reduced to the size of a pea to get it to work.

 

What would roughly be the rough L x W x H dimensions of the block casting?

Best,
Kelly

 

About 18" long 13" high and about 12" wide.
It's a pretty simple casting except for the water jacket core..

 

Actually 19" long 11.75" tall and only 10" wide.
But the new block casting might be wider I. The crank area.

 

That's smaller than I envisioned. I couldn't get that into my 30gal cylindrical LF rig but it would go into a 55gal drum (23" diameter) version. If it was 130lb in iron I'm guessing 45lb or so in aluminum. It would be right on the verge of what I could pour with my A60.

Best,
Kelly

 

Dont forget gating and risers..
Looks like I'm going with a 19" bore on the cupola. I have a 25" diameter tank, so with 3" refractory walls...

 

Those 3d printed molds are expensive as hell.
I had been thinking about building one before I moved. Dont think I'll be revisiting that project...

 

I wasn't proposing iron. I wasn't really proposing aluminum either not that David would allow anyone to do his casting for him. I was just comparing it scalewize to my kit. But you're right, it would be a big full crucible with either.

Yah, even on that part though I figured <10lbs for that.

That's good sized. Is that what you figure for 200lb/tap?

Best,
Kelly

 

I'll have to ask, but I think that is what they tap.

 

Just sticking this link here so I can find it later.
I think it's too small of a size for a cupola..
https://www.centaurforge.com/mobile/Coal-Coke/products/277/3/0

https://asbury.com/materials/coke/

http://www.shamokinfiller.com/carbon-materials.php?id=2

http://www.penncoal.com/

 

Tap for this size cupola is 300 lbs