Questions about Making Metal Flasks

Melter - you might start a separate thread on your crane/gantry set up you have there. I've been pondering one of those for the shop I'd like to build some day and am always looking for ideas.

 

Now that you mention it, I recall it was cut with a plasma torch. I have no doubt that contributed to the bowing. Hard to say if it would have be better with a saw but I suspect so...
Robert

 

Thanks for the follow up info, Robert. Sure would be nice to know how a saw cut would affect it.

Rammed up a mold in my new flasks today. They worked very well. The level lift strut did its job so that the cope came off in a perfectly controlled fashion. That does not mean the cope print was perfect, but that may mean I need to look for defects in the pattern or make my fillets more generous or both. I got a perfect print on the drag side---the far deeper side. But I think not being able to tap the pattern prior to drawing the cope is causing trouble. I am going to try improving the fillets on that side to make it more forgiving. If I can not get it to draw with the follow-board setup presently used, I may convert it to a split pattern. That would make drawing the cope easier, I think.

I plan to pour some iron tomorrow into the imperfect mold just to test out the new flasks and see how the overall setup works for the pattern.

 

Well,.the metal flasks got broken in today. I was completely satisfied with their performance. My nooby aim with the crucible is not quite what it could be. So, naturally I dribbled some iron down the side of the flask. But, rather than start a small fire, I just got some iron icicles! Knowing how poor my aim is, I piled a small bit of gravel against the flasks and that kept the iron off my bottom board----yes! I took the pic before the gravel though.

One small but useful lesson learned today was that it is a whole lot easier to get dross off your skimmer if you dunk the skimmer in water while it is still bright red. That seems to make the adhering dross quite brittle and it is relatively easy to break it off with a hammer.

Here is a closeup of a vent and part of the uncleaned casting fresh out of the sand. This was a practice casting so,I did not let it cool overnight in the sand as I would have had it been "for real."

The casting as it is pulled quite hot from the sand.
The general setup of my furnace and hoist etc. A view from the barn door out onto the gravel area I use for casting. Mold in foreground. I slide the mold out onto the apron as I do not have an easier way (yet) to transport it. I melted about 55# of iron and just backed the crucible down the gentle incline to the mold.

 

Nice setup!

 

Great setup. Thanks for the pics. That's going to be a very nice casting!
Robert