I am an expat Aussie living in Thailand and have a YouTube channel where I build and machine things, to that end I started trying my hand at Lost Foam casting aluminium this year and in some respects it's a primitive setup up I'm using, but it does the job and didn't cost an arm and a leg. My channel is https://www.youtube.com/c/MyMiniHomeWorkshop if anyone is interested in taking a look. In this video, I go through just what I am using as my furnace. I've had my share of failures, but I think I have the process down pat now. Regards Paul "Bam Bam" Cade My Mini Home Workshop
Welocme Paul. Haven't taken in the video yet but once you get a little experience, and with good process disciplin, you can enjoy high first pass succes. Cheers, Kelly
I agree, like I said I'm pretty sure I have it down pat now, a lot of the foams I see others using I just can't get my hands on here in Thailand, but I now have a couple of different weights that are giving me good results.
Watched your video. You may have moved on a bit from then, but three things I could suggest: Find some scrap aluminum castings and use that as your casting stock instead of cans. It will flow much better during the casting proccess and have better properties afterward for finisih machining. Use a pouring cup around your sprue.....just a soup can shoulved into the sand an inch or two around the sprue will do. Do NOT let the sprue become uncovered once you start to pour. The low desnity coarse foam is ok for sprues, but find a little denser foam for your pattern stock like packing foam with smaller beads. Foam insulation board is best if you can buy that in Thailand......not sure there's much of a market for home insulation there... Best, Kelly
That was my first attempt and the last time I tried using cans, they are just rubbish, I have been using used car parts since then, master cylinders and things like that, my last pour I used some cast overhead camshaft parts. On that pour I also used a small can for the first time. I cannot get that insulation board here, but I found a much higher density foam that I now use for the main body of what I'm casting, but I use the really low density rubbish for sprues, that combo is working really well for me.
Might have a look at this thread. Confessions of a Lost Foam Caster, 5 Years on. | The Home Foundry Best, Kelly