Howdy from West Michigan

Discussion in 'New member introductions' started by Preston Smith, Oct 29, 2021.

  1. Preston Smith

    Preston Smith Copper

    Hope I can contribute something to the community. Dabbled in aluminum over the past few years, and am now focused on casting grey iron from old piano frames into more useful things. Happy to connect with anyone locally.
     
    Tobho Mott likes this.
  2. Al2O3

    Al2O3 Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Welcome Preston. There are a number of practicing iron casters here so you should fit right in. Looking forward to seeing your projects. We like pictures!

    Best,
    Kelly
     
  3. Rob Hall

    Rob Hall Copper

    Howdy from (soon to be) Central Michigan! Check out the Google map, I can put you on it if you wish. I know THUD just joined from West Michigan as well.
     
  4. Thud

    Thud Copper

    Howdy back atcha! how far west are you? I am on the southern edge of Muskegon,(spring lake/Norton shores no mans land LOL)
     
  5. Preston Smith

    Preston Smith Copper

    Live in Allendale, work in Muskegon. About as west as it gets without getting wet.
     
    Thud likes this.
  6. boroko

    boroko Copper

    Hi, finally figured out the "joining" process, and got to sign in. North of Holland, and strangely fascinated with wanting to cast aluminum. I have been collecting the parts and materials to move forward. At this point, interested to find out who is in S.W. Mi, and where they are in the journey. I race a car, and there are times where a cast part would come in pretty useful.
     
  7. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

  8. boroko

    boroko Copper

    Map shows Todd in Spring Lake, but a search of members isn't giving me anything. Lets see if he bites...
     
  9. Thud

    Thud Copper

    Hello Boroko, I am on the edge of ferrysburg & norton shores (spring lake mailing address) grand haven schools. I race vintage motocross...if you need anything or want to meet up some time, give us a shout.
     
  10. boroko

    boroko Copper

    Ahh, so Thud it is, I wondered. Definitely not far at all. Thank you for responding. I did a little lost wax jewelry years ago and have been becoming more and more interested in doing some larger things. I think we definitely need to converse some more.
     
  11. Preston Smith

    Preston Smith Copper

    I may be running over to the HWI distributor near Detroit in the near future. If y'all need any refractory, let me know.
     
  12. boroko

    boroko Copper

    I have been working on finishing a waste oil burner to heat my pole barn, and it led me to this forum a few weeks ago.
    I have been interested in the past, but now I have one or two parts that I'd actually like to cast. I have been just working on familiarizing myself with all I can, and getting some CAD skills up to speed. Currently have a box of ceramic wool and a itch. I have been looking to see if wool was a good choice for me, and how to properly build one if I go that way. Along those lines, I was considering ordering some satanite to give it a shell. I think $62 for 20# from Alabama (hightemptools.com). If someone within reach already has a set up, I could hold off on building a furnace until I have more exposure to what would work for me.
     
  13. boroko

    boroko Copper

    Guess that didn't answer the question very well. If there is a refractory that will work well to seal up wool, and is comparable in cost, then yes, I would like some. I would also like to make one of Kelly's pouring basins, so also interested in castable ceramic. I'm reluctant to answer, because I'm still learning at what would work best. Trying to piece this all together as effectively as possible.
     
  14. Thud

    Thud Copper

    1. Boroko, I have bought supplies from: "Industrial fire brick" in Grand Rapids. I bought a high insulated, ramming refractory that I built my last furnace from.
    2. They were really helpful a few years back answering questions & would sell me small quantities (less than pallet) You can stiffen up ceramic wool with sodium silicate also.
     
  15. boroko

    boroko Copper

    A buddy I work with is a knife guy, and we had a friend that was a full blown member of a forging society. He and I have always toyed with the idea of building a furnace to play with casting. I think he knew about the place in GR, but I have never went there. Good to hear that they are hobbyist friendly. Trying to determine if castable refractory or coated wool would serve me better.
     
  16. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    I have 2" of kaowool lining both of my furnaces. Both builds are documented here and linked in my sig. The furnace intended for running on waste oil or diesel has a 1" wall of dense castable refractory protecting the wool, and the propane furnace has less than 1/4" of satanite coating it.

    My 2c? 1" of Castable is far more durable than ~1/8" of satanite, but the thicker hot face layer is a heat sink that takes much longer to come up to temp than the thin layer of satanite, and building the forms and curing the castable refractory is much more labour intensive and time consuming than painting on a couple layers of satanite (days or weeks vs hours to build).

    I choose the lower mass furnace when I'm just planning to pour one crucible of metal that day, which is most often. If I'm doing back to back melts (rare for now but maybe one day) I would use the heavy duty furnace instead and turn all that thermal mass into an advantage. It takes nearly as long just to preheat as the lightweight furnace takes to bring a charge up to pouring temperature... But once it's hot, subsequent melts go faster, and again, the furnace is practically bulletproof.

    20# of satanite is enough to line 4 furnaces like my low mass build (with not much left over for patching later) but the heavy duty furnace used up about 3 bags of expensive dense castable. Mind you it is also a bigger furnace.

    Long story short, think about how you are most likely to use it before picking a design. If you're only going to use it for one melt on the occasional weekend, the low mass construction is definitely worth considering. But if you're going into production mode or just enjoy a more complex diy build, you won't regret building a heavier duty furnace.

    Jeff
     
  17. boroko

    boroko Copper

    I'll look at your builds, but you kind of confirmed my understanding. I already have the wool, and the expected usage is infrequent.
    Thanks
    bo
     

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