I was wondering some stuff and did not see a thread so I thought I'd start a sort of catch-all... 1. Molding Bench -I have nothing for this. I was working in the house before this year's thaw, making a mess. Then I was working on the same bench as my miter saw and the combination of sand and sawdust is also a nuisance. I have a spot that is about 42" wide in the corner of the garage, away from woodworking tools where I now keep the mixer. I was thinking of making this the sandy spot in the garage. 2. Shake out tray -I have nothing for this. I take it you do not want hot sand going into a molding bench. Just get a metal wheelbarrow? I have also dumped right back in the mixer and carefully into the plastic sleds I use for drying too damp sand. If I made a bench I could have some of its storage made for hot sand dumping. 3. Mulling -I feel good about my little concrete mixer and field stones, just need to slow down and not add water prematurely. I got the small mixer in case I need to 'winter' it somewhere warmer. 4. Sand storage -I am liking 5 gallon pails with lids lately. 5. Winter work -For another 3-4 months outside is the plan. As it gets colder, I am worried first about my small batch of Petrobond and second how to handle green sand and sand-pounding in general below freezing. I have a mud room that is between house and garage and easy to maintain at about 60F when subzero that could house a small molding bench and some pails but I would want to pour outside. I could possibly liberate a corner in the basement but that would mean carrying sandy things through the house. Do people have means and methods to dealt with this?
1: Here's a thread on moulding benches. https://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/molding-benches.632/ 2: I use a wheelbarrow 4: Storage totes 5: I only use PB now and heat it up before use in the winter.
I’m not molding as often as some others and have limited space for other activities so I put my stuff away. If I was working out of the house in any capacity (sand) my Judy would tire of this hobby way, way before I would! My molding table is welded steel 14x24 with a 1/4” steel top. 30” tall. It has a set of lawnmower wheels mounted to one side so I can tip it back a little bit and move it around. I welded it together from a junk treadmill. It is a great little table for welding and general bench work. When I’m molding I use two 5/16-18 bolts to attach a 24x36 sheet of 5/8 plywood with t-nuts embedded in the plywood through the steel top and employ a set of simple outriggers so it won’t tip. It takes less than 3 minutes to set it up. I use a portable bench grinder base for a side table for molding tools. I either shake out directly into my muller or into a 20 gallon galvanized washtub sitting on a small Harbor freight 4-wheel dolly depending on the size of the mold. You can see from the picture how I heat the petrobond when it’s cold out. I’m in the process of switching my sand from 5 gallon pails to yellow kitty litter buckets. They’re not as heavy, stack and close nicely, and aren’t as heavy. They’re also lighter. They come up on Craigslist occasionally so I picked up 10 of them for a buck apiece. I have several hundred lbs each of greensand and petrobond. Pete
Small work space and cold winters eh? I have that here. I was casting flask parts and molding tools all through last (Canadian) winter using petrobond sand. I did have to move things inside through the coldest part of the winter, but that was because my frozen fingertips went on strike, not my sand. Although IIRC Petee has mentioned having problems getting petrobond to work well in colder months, I haven't had that issue. But working with freezing cold petrobond is just really hard on the fingers. Here's a pic of my molding bench next to my muller. The sand bin built into the bench is half of a plastic 55 gallon drum cut lengthwise, and it holds about 300# of petrobond. Its high walls on 3 sides keeps a lot of sand from escaping onto the dirt floor. I was shocked how much I dropped on the floor working off a plain old flat table in my basement during February. I really hate losing sand, so luckily I had put down a tarp to catch most of it. The molding bench takes up a good amount of my 12x16 casting shed but it's a good use of that space, I would not want to give it up any more than my muller. The sand goes straight into the molding bench after I dump a few loads out of the muller into the plastic garbage bin shown in the pic. Very handy when the time comes to make the next mold. When I used to use greensand I had to store it in the sealed barrel on the right instead to keep it from drying out so fast. The back wall of the bench is actually a hinged lid that I keep closed when not in use. The molding bench lid/cover instantly becomes a shelf and/or workbench at that point of course. I had hoped the lid and its blue foam gasket of sorts would somewhat seal the moisture in my greensand. Not so much, but at least it keeps the cats and most of the bugs out of my sand. I use a wheelbarrow for shakeout, then load the muller with half of a 5 gallon bucket of sand at a time from the barrow. My muller doesn't like to chew on more than that much at a time. Maybe I should switch to smaller buckets. A very short handled square tipped shovel works well for getting sand up out of the corners of the wheelbarrow. Good luck! Jeff
Hi Tops, I'd say most of my casting has in the past occurred in winter outdoors, and much of it in Vermont. I do avoid pouring in the absolute coldest weather we can manage (sub-zero) and particularly avoid rain (it also happens in winter sometimes). But it's do-able and it is a season that is less busy for me otherwise. I also use minimal equipment, mainly because I don't have the protected space for anything more. For me the essentials boil down to a place outside for the furnace and pouring that is level, hard surfaced, clear of snow and ice (generally covered with a tarp, which is removed to do the clearing). And at minimum a covered outdoor molding surface near the furnace (I have a small lean-to roof adjacent to my shed). I have a simple plywood covered bench about 18" wide (and below belt level for turning over flasks). For greensand containment I have a rectangular covered plastic tub which holds at most 100 lbs of sand. The container(s) live below the bench. The green sand is mulled by hand with a small towel. I've been doing that for more than 20 years. I moisten sand with a hand spray bottle. Without a muller, that is more effective in distributing it before troweling than pouring. Even with totally dry sand, it only takes about a cup of water for 50 lbs or so of sand to bring it to what I like -- about 4% for iron. I go by feel, more than anything else. Greensand also takes time to fully absorb moisture without a muller, so the feel is better an hour or more after troweling than it is immediately. I do not use Petrobond. I can bring that tub indoors if there is only 50 lbs of sand in it to keep it from freezing before molding. Or if closer to 100 lbs, and left outdoors, I have an aquarium sub gravel heater cord, that is a at a guess 20 feet long. I can wind that through the greeensand and plug it in overnight before molding. Things are much easier in warm weather, and this year I have been molding all through the spring, and may through this summer. Quite a luxury! I do own a cement mixer, though frequently used for actual concrete, but I am so used to hand mulling that it almost seems like a hassle to try to get that thing to do my mixing for me. It takes me 5 minutes at most to mix the relatively small amount I use, I don't mind the exercise and I like gradually seeing how it looks and feels. I do not do production molding with multiple flasks going and large crucibles. If I did, I would build a dedicated muller. In the past when I lived in Mass. I had an indoor molding bench -- just a table, and brought my packed flasks outdoors to the furnace when ready to cast. Again during winter mostly, and again using tarps to cover ground space for snow removal before a molding session.
I live in a region much milder than you Northlanders. But I often work greensand in a drafty unheated barn at just above freezing temperatures. An cheap electric radiant heater has made that work quite tolerable. I wear garden gloves when molding summer and winter to avoid pokes from sharp bits of tramp iron. Layering with wool or polypropylene helps the arms, legs, and trunk. If the temps are to get well below freezing I move my 5gal buckets of sand to a small bathroom in the barn that does have a warmer to keep it 55 deg or so. I would think an foam-insulated box with a light bulb, warming blanket, or the like would prevent “sandbergs” forming in green sand. It sure is nice when it is warmer, but it is OK when 34deg. Molding at 18F might not be much fun. Denis
Thanks Pete, Jeff, SR, and Denis- I love seeing the pictures and hearing about the workflows in your shops/yards/sheds/barns !
9$ shop upgrade today, a 3 gallon oil 'shakeout' pan that just fits under my largest flask. I have a wheelbarrow coming in September when a buddy 'moves to town' into an apartment along with some other yard stuff. I can get pails at work for free only hitch is that there are no bails and handles on them. I hear kitty litter buckets are lighter...I need to ask about barrels.
