Fuel Manifold and Linkage Arm

Discussion in 'Lost foam casting' started by Al2O3, Dec 14, 2019.

  1. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    I needed a fuel distribution manifold and a linkage arm to complete the intake manifold induction system I’ve been working on.

    http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/in...ive-intake-manifold-lid.366/page-4#post-21353

    To mount here:

    1 a Intake.JPG

    I suppose I could have drilled and tapped a few holes in some billet, but what fun would that be? Space was tight between the two carbs so I sliced up some foam and assembled four sets of each.

    1 Log.JPG 2 Log Detailed.JPG 3 Link Arm Pcs.JPG 4 Link Arm Assembled.JPG

    Detailed them with some wax fillet

    5 Link and Log Detailed.JPG 6 Link on Log.JPG

    Sprued them up. I attached a couple bobs to flow a little metal through the parts because sometimes the metal that initially hits the cup can produce fold flaws. Tying the parts together also adds some strength to the tree which is helpful when you dip them because the patterns are buoyant, and it takes a little force to submerge them in the slurry.

    7 Sprued.JPG 8 Sprued.JPG

    I spritzed them down with some soapy (Dawn dishwashing soap) water and dipped in refractory coating

    9 Dipped.JPG

    Being Wintertime, I hung the pattern inside the cardboard tube that is sitting over a heater vent in my house. After a couple hours....bone dry.

    10 Drying.JPG

    Planning to cast tomorrow morning.

    Best,
    Kelly
     
    Tobho Mott likes this.
  2. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Colder today (15F) and a small melt so I melted inside and walked it outside to pour.

    Here’s the dried pattern

    11 Dry Pattern.JPG

    Into the sand it goes.....

    12 Into Sand.JPG

    Pour & De-mold

    13 Post Pour.JPG

    Here’s how they came out of the sand.

    14 As Cast.JPG

    Got the second set detailed up and ready to cast.

    15 With 2nd Pattern.JPG

    De-gated

    16 De-gated.JPG 17 Together.JPG

    I keep backing off my pour temps. This one was 1400F. I also poured a thin stream through some cold air and I can see I very close to pouring short.

    18 Almost Short.JPG

    Into the furnace for little heat treating and then machining.

    18 Temper.JPG

    Best,
    Kelly
     
    Mark's castings likes this.
  3. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    They look great!!
     
  4. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Thanks David. I threw them in the vibratory at work with small cylindrical ceramic media. Makes them look like they are grey anodized. Not sure I'm sold on that. Someone told me steel grit makes a great finish...;)

    Machined the fuel manifold which also mounts the linkage arm.

    19 WithFittings.JPG

    Like I said in Post #1, space is tight.....

    20 Between Carbs.JPG

    Progress...One step at a time.

    Best,
    Kelly
     
    joe yard likes this.
  5. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Now who could that have been? :rolleyes:
    The fuel manifold looked 10 times bigger in foam...
     
  6. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Persuasion....
    SmartSelect_20191219-000341_Gallery.jpg
     
  7. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    I have a blast cabinet in my home shop now and just need to plumb some compressed air to it. I'm gonna give it a whirl. Just have to source some. Happen to have a picture from about 2-3 feet?

    The manifold and the link arm are sort of trinkets. Could have just whittled them out of wrought stock but thought the castings looked more period correct and in theme with the rest of it......and after all, this is a casting forum. Need to machine the link arm for bearings and then fit up all the linkage and fuel lines. It's busy work.

    Best,
    Kelly
     
  8. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Machined the arm and mounted the bearings. Sort of like time lapsed photography. o_O

    21 Link Arm.JPG
    22 Link Arm.JPG

    Best,
    Kelly
     
    _Jason and Mark's castings like this.
  9. garyhlucas

    garyhlucas Silver

    Nice work, yet again! One of my main reasons for casting is big chunks of aluminum are expensive, and my CNC mill is tiny so hogging off metal takes forever. A near net shape is so much faster to machine. Also I have been able to reduce the number of pieces, joints, fasteners, and weight, all positives. I need to do two more castings for the CNC router but the weather is cold and everything is outside. The sand is below freezing right now! I doubt the propane pressure is high enough too.
     
  10. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Thanks Gary. If you have a 5-gallon bucket with a sealing lid for the (stinky) sand, just bring both inside overnight and haul them outside just before use. I doubt there would be a problem with your propane unless you are on the verge of freezing in fair weather.

    Best,
    Kelly
     
  11. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Cast up the second set of parts yesterday.

    23 Next Casting.JPG

    One complete fuel manifold and linkage, and three sets of casting should keep me in business for a while.

    24 Its a Wrap.JPG

    We’re going to call it a wrap for this thread. Time to build up and test fit the rest of the system.

    Best,
    Kelly
     
    Tobho Mott and Clay like this.

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