That's definitely an impressive piece of work for a DIYer. A bit of a different take on the lost foam technique than we're used to seeing here, I wonder if that piece could also have been cast using sand without any binder. I'd be interested in hearing what comments, if any, Kelly has on this.
We shall see what Kelly has to say, but I doubt he would get the same result with loose sand. With a horizontal pour like that I suspect the molten metal would lift and burst through the minimal cover layer. It's definitely impressive pattern and flask work, almost cabinet grade quality.
I'm thinking that, at the very least, the orientation of the mold would have to be changed if loose sand were used.
Very impressive, a different experience with the bound sand and raw lost foam versus something like Kelly would do with a coated pattern and loose sand. I would have liked to seen some fillets on the pattern, I suppose he had enough to do to make the pattern pieces and flask.
Off topic here, I just noticed that Kelly hasn't been here for over a month, anybody here been in touch with him recently? I hope he's okay.
Addendum to previous, Kelly posted a new video on his youtube page a couple hours ago so we can assume he's okay
Totally agree ESC. It took some real effort to make the flask and that was a boat load of SS sand to mix. His crucible for that mass of molten metal made me shiver a bit. Was it 100 kilo's? If that hot steel tore up by the lifting hole it would be a real event. Not sure aluminum would be my metal of choice for a lathe bed, but sounds like he had it on hand and must have had some experienece with SS sand. -Hard to argue with success. A pour of that size is a big win for any home gamer. If I was to do it from scratch, for a one off with my processes, I'd be tempted to buy a piece of duct or culvert, post hole auger a hole in the ground, lower the mold into the hole and cast it vertically. The webs on the pattern may need to be angled a bit to prevent horizontal overhangs but bet it could be done. I suspect he may use linear rails on the aluminum lathe bed. Best, Kelly
Impressive job! However the bed will be very flexible in torsion, what a lathe does. It should have had X bracing the whole length and that would have made a much better bed. If he is using linear rails he is going to want to operate in a very stable room temperature, otherwise the huge difference in expansion rates will warp it badly.
