New member from Oslo, Norway here. I worked a long time ago in a ferro silicon steel plant, so that's where my background and interest originates from. So, I've handled thousands of tons of molten metals - in open sand casting, but never tried this end of the trade. Want to focus on lost wax and lost foam casting, and I'm slowly building up my tools collection and workshop in that direction. I'm also into zinc and nickel plating, and have built myself a 75 L plating tank, to restore plating on parts for my classic motorbikes. Reproduction parts for classic bikes, is also something I will have a go at, as soon as I have the necessary skills on mould making and casting. First task, will be to get a little more understanding about shrinkage from silicone mould - via wax model and then investment. But wax injector hasn't arrived from the Far East yet, so I'm just watching Youtube videos for now - trying to make good use of the waiting time. I guess I'm not the only one here, watching YT...LOL
Welcome Erling, Besides lost foam aluminum casting, I also do zinc electroplating on a small scale (8l tanks) for hardware and carburetor parts. As far as lost wax, good tooling silicones will have neglible shrinkage and good library life, but you'll want to find a wax you like and stick with it because the shrinkage there can vary a bit. Avoiding hot tears in a aluminum can become a little tricky depending upon the part design and features, but when you have your processes in control, can produce quite accurate high quaility parts. I recall a fellow from Oslo on another forum that did some fantastic metal forming for motorcycle restorations. Was that you? Best, Kelly
