I have decided to take the plunge and build a furnace in. I have dabbled in machining and woodworking but am new to casting. I will post the furnace section with my plans. Alex
Welcome Alex. A lot great guys and good information here. Do you have any particular area of interest or do you just learn about casting in general?
I am a mechanical engineer with an old victorian house. I would love to cast brass and cast iron hardware for the house. At the moment I am restoring an old murphy bed and it is missing some pieces. I just purchased a 9" South Bend lathe and it needs a belt guard, so that might be a good (if a little big) starter project. Alex
Sounds cool Alex. I'm into architectural stuff too. One thing we absolutely require around here is PHOTOS! Lot's of photos! There was a guy over at AA that was down in Austin doing old door hardware. Sorry, I don't remember who he was or if he moved over here during the photofuket debacle. Having an original is going to be key for what you probably have in mind. If you can pull silicone molds of what you want, you'll be able to get them in wax and cast with investment. It depends on what you want to duplicate. The only downside is things tend to shrink a bit at each step. Let's see what ya got in mind.
Thank you for the warm welcome. As pictures are mandatory, these are the part for my murphy bed I need to replace. It is a bar clamp sort of deal to hold down the mattress. I am missing one bar holder and one clamp jaw. The parting lines seem a bit tricky, I suspect the clamp jaw may need to be made with a lost form as the draft is in the wrong direction. Alex
Walk in the park Alex! Lost foam or lost wax is where I'd go. I personally do not play in the sand box. What were those made out of? I'm guessing iron? For a beginner, I would suggest making them out of bronze. Silicon bronze pours beautifully with no nasty surprises. It works super easy and is forgiving. It's up to you to decide on a casting method. Lot's of options and there are many people here in each method that are real pros. Remember when starting with patterns like you have here, you WILL lose some size copying them with any method you choose. The exception would be if you remake copies in foam carved to slightly oversize to account for metal shrink. If you make any kind of mold of them say in silicone or plaster and then fill with wax, the final part will also be slightly smaller. Probably not much of an issue with a mattress, but you get the idea. Consider stuff you might want to cast in the future when selecting a method to learn now. I don't suggest jumping around from method to method until you get some experience under your belt. If you choose sand casting, great, order some petrobond off amazon and get to work. Pour a set in aluminum to get the feel for your furnace, ramming the pattern and your pouring routine. Learn to make green sand later.... see? If you think you are a wax wizard, get a block of microcrystaline and grab some fire. Wax is not for the faint of heart. I've been at it a few years and it still kicks my ass some days. I will say, if you have the patience and enjoy zoning out into your work, it's the best form of therapy out there. I can get lost in wax work for hours. If you are the need it NOW type, stay far away from wax! Sand is more your bag. It's ram it up and pour! The trade off can be lost detail and difficulty with undercuts or nasty draft issues. All pros and cons with this stuff.
My plan is to start with sand casting. Better suited for the larger functional parts I am interested in. The murphy bed parts are atypically small. Investment casting is a bridge too far for now. I am ok with the draft and parting lines. I design injection molding and diecasting parts on occasion for work. I will use lost foam for the occasional undercut.
