Started doing an inventory of dads foundry and supplies, trying to figure out what to hold on to and what to let go. Some of it is pretty straight forward...green sand, petrobond, flasks and molding tools, but there are several things I've simply little or no idea about. How much is "enough" for typical hobby use? I do have un heated storage in the barn, so space is not a major consideration but don't want to store "more than I'll ever use" either. Realistically, I cannot keep it all. I'm in over my head and hoping you'll lend me the benefit of your experience...and your .02 regarding what you'd hold on to and if you're feeling generous...perhaps why. Will try to attach an album of dads foundry and the stuff in question...pics are occasionally interesting I think. https://imgur.com/a/wF0psjf Some rocks in a pail marked FeSi....Ferrosilicon for use with iron I think, but have no idea how to use it...or if I need it. Have about a gallon pails worth. Gilsonite...have 2x 20L pails says it replaces sea coal...for coating the mold when casting iron I think, but I don't know. Charcoal... 2x 20L pails of what looks like powdered charcoal...it is labeled charcoal. For "what", I don't know About two 5olb bags of petrobond binder...how much does a guy really need? Millcot K 220 is the oil dad used for petrobond..have a pail and a half. Lane Mountain sand (VERY fine)...have 5x 50lb bags and 3x 20L pails marked LM 120 that appear to be the same stuff. Is this the sand for making petrobond? Petrobond (used) 6x 20L pails and guessing about another 200lbs in the molding bench Silica sand, marked as 80grit...6x 20L pails. Western Bentonite 4x 20L pails Southern Bentonite 2x 20L pails. Green sand...seems mixed as it has clumps. 5x 20L pails ZA12 14 ingots Brass...lets just call it lots of brass, unknown alloys though. Bronze ingots x4....looks like bronze at any rate, not marked. Aluminum bronze...some kind of cut up jack hammer tools and some cast in a labeled pail Aluminum...lots of pistons and a set of rims. Cast iron Grain refiners for aluminum...red and green...going to read up on these. Various flasks. Monster muller...something like 4' diameter. Sand fluffer for breaking up lumps...think it was for green sand rather than petrobond. Didn't get a picture of it. Temperature probes, I know there's an optical pyrometer or two around here somewhere as well. Sleeves of some sort...insulated risers? Some sort of mold...welding rods maybe??? Some type of ceramic bricks (look like for a gas bbq) along with what look like Mica plates? Sodium silicate most of a 20L jug (in the heated shop) Gingery type furnace w/ 1 1/4" Monster burner, Ducast 2800 refractory w/ ITC100 coating Coffee can furnace w/ 1/2" Mikey burner Thanks in advance, Al
WOW! Neat as a pin! If you are planning on picking up your dads torch, I'd say hold onto everything for the moment. Then you can figure out where this casting thing will take you. Who knows, you might want to do bronze work and all that aluminum can go away. Speaking of, your dad has(d) good taste in metal. That stock pile of filet mignon outside in the barrels is impressive. Some of the best casting metal you could ask for. Can I ask what happened to him? I lost my dad in 2012, he was a hardcore woodworker. Tonight in the garage, I realized I don't have but 2 crappy wood clamps. How in the hell does the son of a woodworker not have his dads massive collection of clamps? I'm pretty sure my stepmother put half that shop in a garage sale.
Wow is right. If I had the room, not sure I saw anything I would dispose of. It really depends on how frequently and what alloys you see yourself casting in the future. If you were just going to cast non-ferrous alloys, it's pretty hard to beat Petrobond, but a muller is a must and frankly, even with green sand, most people would kill for a muller with that capacity. If you ever see yourself casting iron, you'd have a lot of attrition with Petrobond and greensand with sea coal is a better choice. Even if you said you didn't see iron in your future, eliminating the green sand iron related items doesn't eliminate much of a percentage of the bulk. A lot of those items are tough to obtain in small quantities and you'd kick yourself if needed in the future. I don't care much for pistons as aluminum casting stock, but, assuming they are cast pistons and not forged, they are high in Silicon content and add fluidity to the melt. They can be added to wrought scrap to make it a little more casting friendly......and make existing casting alloy more fluidic and able to cast thin and ornamental details. It comes at the cost of material properties and the castings tend to be not as strong nor have as much elongation. The grain refiners (TiBor) and modifiers (Strontium) are used to improve the mechanical properties, machinability, and casting properties of aluminum alloys that contain Silicon. They came from JoeC (aka FoundryJoe), a professional Foundryman member on this website. Funny, I recognize them because Joe fixed me up too. More here. http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/happiness-is.339/#post-6433 Best, Kelly
Agree with previous wows... I don't know if I could part with any of it. How much petrobond could you make with that much binder anyway?? Jeff
@Jason Dad passed last August from a heart attack. Still had his wits and mobility and doctor said it was quick. I hear you on the tools, and won't be letting that happen. Dad had what I'll call an "attraction" for tool acquisition, and the rebuild after the fire (prairie fire started at the neighbors in 2005) saw the erection of a very impressive and well equipped shop and new foundry. There are a LOT of tools for working wood and metal. @Al2O3 I'm sure I'll be giving iron a try at some point, but honestly want more experience before I try it...too many folks leap right into things without a decent understanding of the risks. I have been moving toward upping my game with proper crucibles and better ppe...baby steps. I understand some of this stuff might be hard to replace, but how much to hold onto...do I really "need" two pails of Gilsonite? Does it get used up quick or stretch a long ways? The refiners and modifiers sound very interesting, and I'll have to sacrifice a couple just to "see". Will likely save it for stuff that matters. @Tobho Mott Dads recipe is written on one of the pails in the foundry...why didn't I take a picture...I dunno. A quick search turns up 100lbs of sand to every 5-7 lbs of binder...closing in on enough binder for another 2000lbs of petrobond. To me, this seems like much more than a life time supply...but so does all the green sand and supplies to make more. Never having done anything other than LF (which I'm still quite liking), I've no idea how fast this stuff gets used up...and with the muller, my understanding is that it can be reconditioned repeatedly...the petrobond in the molding bench and pails is BLACK, but looks to have been reconditioned already...it's "fluffy" and loose, stays together when you squeeze a handful and breaks clean. Al
Gippeto, It looks like you have everything you need. Keep, but pack away those things you don't see needing in the coming year or two. Two years from now, sort and pitch.
Thank you for answering the question. When you mentioned the fire that burnt his shed, he mentioned to me that he was rebuilding so I thought it can only be Rupert. He was one of those rare backyard casters that could cast anything from aluminuim to cast iron. I first saw his posts on the yahoo hobbicast forum about 18 years ago.
He may have started a few years prior, but that sounds about the time internet get out here. The Yahoo message boards were a wonderful thing, bringing people together from all parts of the world...they were a great source of information and ideas. I know he enjoyed having friends of like mind around the world. Can petrobond and green sand be re-conditioned indefinitely or do they require eventual replacement? Regards, Al
eventually both will require replacement, but that is many years of use down the road, when the fines build up from broken sand, hotter metal makes it faster, if you dont do cast Fe you would probably never need to worry about it V/r HT1
Hi Gippeto, Your dad came and visited several times, about 2004 - as well we went north to your dads sheds… Cheers Joe B BEER KEG FURNACE By Rupert Wenig. Joe's Hidaway Joe holding the business part of his sand fluffer. The can under the fluffer is the receiver. A good use for a discarded propane tank. The motor is mounted in the bottom half. The top half makes a very good funnel to pour the sand into. The wheel is an 8" disc with rods threaded into the disc with about a 1" spacing. Joe's fluffer ready for business. His furnace is behind the fluffer. What you are waiting to see. The beer keg furnace open and ready for use. As you can see the shell is made from a salvage beer keg. The furnace is constructed by lining the shell with two layers of 1/8" kaowool, then about 1 1/2" of refractory. The interior of the furnace with the tea kettle Joe made for me being tempered to remove weld stress. Note the burner port. Combustion is complete in the first 1/4 turn of the flame. There was no sign of flame out the vent while the furnace was operating. I was able to hold my hand about 3 feet above the vent quite comfortably. After the tempering, melting some aluminum to test the tea kettle and then the brass melt, I was still able to touch the outside of the shell without getting a burn. Joe's version of the monster burner mounted in the furnace actually operating when I took this picture. Note the bell. It is made form a oil patch pipe plug. The burner pipe is 1 1/4" SS. This burner runs very quiet. Wish I had brought my DB meter to get a reading as it is much quieter than mine. Note the air fitting. Joe added this feature in order to inject more air into the burner. I believe this allow him to get more fuel into his burner ,thus, more BTU's. Another view of the burner port. The interior of the furnace- hot this time. The tea kettle is up to tempering temp so the furnace will be shut down for a slow cool down. The brass casting Joe did for a small horizontal steam engine. Note the neat brass rammer in the back ground. The finished brass casting and the original used as the pattern.
