Newbie from New Zealand

Discussion in 'New member introductions' started by Dazz, Feb 28, 2019.

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  1. Dazz

    Dazz Copper

    Hi
    Last time I did any casting was over 40 years ago at school.

    Now I'd like to build a miniature Steam Wagon which will need more castings than I can afford to have made commercially. So the only solution is to build a home foundry.
     
  2. Sounds Legit!, welcome to the forum, any plans to make a Bonneville Flats motorbike as well?. :D
     
  3. Welcome! Several steam guys on here (and others that want to:rolleyes:) but everyone is helpful and a lot of knowledge. Just don't be shy, no charge for posting questions or comments.
     
  4. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    Welcome.
    I am really into making steam engine parts in iron, so I definitely will be following along with your project.

    .
     
  5. Dazz

    Dazz Copper

  6. Al Puddle

    Al Puddle Silver

    Cool project. I saw a steam wagon similar if not the same back in 1972. Truck-O-Mat sponsored a round-the-world trip for that steam wagon.
     
  7. Redwolf947

    Redwolf947 Copper

    Welcome, I'm new here myself. Looks like a great place to ask questions and get answers.. I'm still learning and looking at others projects..
     
    oldironfarmer likes this.
  8. Dazz

    Dazz Copper

    Hi
    Just looking around locally, the biggest problem I face is finding foundry materials. I can get crucibles, but probably nothing else. No tools or materials.
     
  9. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Tools you can make. Refractory cement seems to be the hardest to find. Most of us make our own lifting tools and pouring shanks. They are too pricey even here to buy them in the states.
     
  10. There are several guys in NZ doing home casting. At least two on this forum. At least one will be along by and by.
     
  11. Dazz

    Dazz Copper

    Had a quick look. Refractory cement seems to be readily obtainable perhaps because of the DIY home pizza oven.
    I haven't found any casting sand.
     
  12. joe yard

    joe yard Silver

    Welcome Dazz!
    Below is a copy and paste I had recently written to another new member. Normally I would not just copy and paste but in this case it very much applies. I am amazed to find that there are many people building a foundry with the main purpose being steam related. I have had a life long desire to build a steam engine myself and like you realized. The only practical way to accomplish this goal was to build a foundry.
    PatJ has an awesome sight on steam engines that you will want to visit. .classicsteamengineering.com
    He is doing some real neat stuff and has a lot of very good information concerning steam.
    Have you decided on what you want your foundry to be used for as far as the type and volume of metal you want to melt and pour?
    Some of the guys are melting cast iron. It requires very good refractory and a lot of attention to detail to get it right. As the temperature goes down into the bronze / brass range The demands on the furnace are not so great and a home made refractory might work for you. The commercial refractory is by far superior but man has been melting metals without it for thousands of years. I am sure you are aware. There are many different ways of molding with varying degrees of effort required. Post often and post pictures! If you have any problems the armature experts on this sight most certainly can and will help.
    Welcome aboard!


    “You have found the right place with a lot of knowledgeable guys willing to help. I to am new in that I have not cast in up on 20 years but still anxious to start up again. We will be following a lot of the same paths as I am starting over from scratch with a new furnace that is almost completed along with some of the stuff needed for casting. I also have a long way to go.
    If you build you a furnace just a bit bigger than what you would think you need without going to extremes. Use a commercial refractory and use a proven design. You can not go wrong. A lot of the guys are building around a number 10 crucible for all around casting with others building larger or smaller depending on personal needs.
    I have built mine around a keg that will hold a No.10 at most. It has a OD of 16.5 inches and although not quite completed. I already wishing I had used a 35 gallon drum or similar with a diameter of around 20 inches. A 55 gallon drum has a diameter of 22 inches. You can see my build. Another keg furnace along with some other very nice builds in the forum. Furnaces and there construction.
    Best of luck and send pictures!”
    Joe
     
  13. Look for bentonite clay. If you can buy bentonite you can make your own green sand.
     
  14. Dazz

    Dazz Copper

    Hi
    I can buy bentonite used in the drilling industry. I haven't found a ready made source of green sand.
    I need to work through the factory drawings and figure out the parts I will need to cast and their weights. From that I will size the foundry.

    I have gone through the drawings and figured out the fastest way to make a miniature is to follow the drawings rather than try and simplify things. The wagon I want to model was developed over a period of about 20 years so the design is already refined and simplified. I tried posting and image but this website only accepts urls.

    I have the cutting/welding kit needed to make the tools.
     
  15. Jason

    Jason Gold

  16. JCSalomon

    JCSalomon Copper

    Note that “green sand” = “unfired sand/clay mixture”, and can be made with ordinary (silica) sand of the appropriate grain size.

    (There is actually green-colored olivine sand, but that’s only useful for iron casting—and at hobbyist scale and with decent ventilation silica sand should do fine there too.)
     
  17. Dazz

    Dazz Copper

    Hi
    I found a book at the library, Metal Casting, McGraw Hill 2000. It identifies a bunch of simple tools. I think I will start making those before getting to the furnace/crucible.
    I need to go through the drawings I have and figure out the max volume of casting I will need before choosing a crucible size. I think it will be the cast iron wheels.

    The wheels look challenging to say the least. The attached drawing shows thin walls and multiple cores. If I cast them solid, they could be aluminium but that would require a large volume of metal.

    I really only want to use one casting process and cast iron only to minimise the learning curve. I could go with cores and thicker walls to increase the chance of success.

    The blue plastic has a 4inch scribed circle so I can accurately scale the drawings in the photographs.
     

    Attached Files:

  18. My advice is to start on aluminum to get your feet wet. Whatever tools you make first you likely will want to change after you get proficient so if you plan to grow slowly you'll soon have all the tools that you need and that fit the crucible and furnace you build.
     
    Jason likes this.
  19. Dazz

    Dazz Copper

    Hi
    Sounds like sound advice but I have no requirement for anything cast in Al. Everything I want to make is CI. I plan to start off with simpler patterns/ castings and work from there.

    The tools in the book were mostly aids to working with molds. Trowels, rammers etc.
    The tools to handle the crucible would have to wait until I have a crucible.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2019
  20. Dazz

    Dazz Copper

    P1810115.JPG P1810118.JPG Hi
    I have been taking a closer look at the castings I will need to make. Attached are drawings of the HP/LP cylinders. These are complicated shapes with thin sections everywhere. Full scale thickness in many places is 3/8inch. At 1/3 scale, only 1/8 inch thick. I suspect this will be too thin to reliably cast in sand. I think the cast iron will cool before filling the casting and even if it did fill, would cool fast enough to form white iron. There are other complicated castings as well.

    I am thinking that lost wax with hot ceramic shells would be a better choice. The iron will have more time to flow and more time to cool gray. I only want to learn one method of casting so if I do this for one casting, I want to use the same method for all castings.

    There doesn't seem to be much info on DIY lost wax casting. Specifically sources of the ceramic material used in the slurry.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 8, 2019

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