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: 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. Detailed them with some wax fillet 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. I spritzed them down with some soapy (Dawn dishwashing soap) water and dipped in refractory coating 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. Planning to cast tomorrow morning. Best, Kelly
Colder today (15F) and a small melt so I melted inside and walked it outside to pour. Here’s the dried pattern Into the sand it goes..... Pour & De-mold Here’s how they came out of the sand. Got the second set detailed up and ready to cast. De-gated 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. Into the furnace for little heat treating and then machining. Best, Kelly
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. Like I said in Post #1, space is tight..... Progress...One step at a time. Best, Kelly
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
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.
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
Cast up the second set of parts yesterday. One complete fuel manifold and linkage, and three sets of casting should keep me in business for a while. 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