Hello all

Thanks for adding me! Hope to learn a lot from you all. I have exactly zero experience working with metal and less than that with molten metal. I’m a fairly self sufficient fella and once built a house just to spite a guy that said I couldn’t and my family and I still live in it today. That experience taught me a very valuable lesson, you can do almost anything with research, resolve, and a good work ethic. I also learned I will never build a house ever again. Worst 18 months of my life. With that said, I think I am more intimidated to try metal casting than I ever was about house building. My goal is hobby oriented and to learn a skill that most people (like me) don’t understand. I plan on starting fairly small learning how to do small items, like ingots but my goal is to learn how to cast bells in a variety of sizes. Not sure why I want to do bells but I do. I’ve tried to find someone in my neck of the woods to learn from but honestly I have had no luck finding anyone. So any info as far as reading, education, videos, or how to find clubs in this area will be greatly appreciated. I’m reaching the end of my working career and looking forward to working my bees and hopefully working in my hobby foundry (not sure this is the correct term) for many years into retirement.

Thanks again and looking forward to chatting with you all,
Darren

 

Welcome Darren! You came to the right spot to learn about metal casting, there is literally no better place. And I know why you want to cast bells, because they are crazy fun and very rewarding. Another thing to note is that us little kids like pictures. By the way where are you at? And one fair warning for now... you WILL get ADDICTED.

Patrick

 

I’m located in Dothan Alabama and I’ll work on getting a profile pic lol

 

Welcome... Pick a metal you want to pour, pick a method, build your furnace. Bells mean brass. Start with aluminum while you collect your scrap pile.
I suggest petrobond for sand in the beginning because it's ready to use and maybe later learn to make your own greensand.
You have a fellow ding donger around here that does great bell work, he will be a great asset to you.
Monkey see, Monkey do is a great way to go. It's easy when you get to stand on the shoulders of giants. (cheaper too)

 

Any build threads you would recommend for me to follow. Propane will be my heat source.

 

Welcome Darren. Yes indeed you will work in a foundry which will include a furnace. For your propane furnace starter kit search for a member named Fishbonz and his koawool-satanite furnace. Simple, relatively inexpensive, reasonably durable, and very effective. That will get you out of the gate. I suggest this because materials for it are easy to get ($ shipping) and you won’t get bogged down in a drawn-out build that you’re not equipped for. That’s just my 2 cents.
I checked for the heck of it- there is a company called Harrison Walker that makes refractory cement with a distribution hub in Birmingham. I know that’s not super close to you, but it’s something to keep in mind as a potential resource down the road.
I’ve done a couple of bells in sand but they can also be done with the lost wax method as well.
I’m a sand guy but lost wax, lost PLA, and lost foam are very popular media to explore as well. And there is lots of discussion by people-in-the- know to be found on these pages on all of those topics. YouTube is a helpful asset, but beware of yahoo’s. (The lack of PPE is a good tip-off).
As a sand caster I found “The Charcoal Foundry” by Dave Gingery to be a super helpful primer. Don’t be put off by the title. There’s lots of very basic casting info in there and the book is cheap and also available on Kindle.
Lots to learn. Good luck.

Pete

 

Thanks Pete

 

Where's spellcheck when you need it. Lol

 

Thanks everyone. I think I found the video on fishbonz thread and found it informative if you guys know of any other videos of builds that you think are quality let me know. I’m in the middle of tearing down fences and rebuilding them so probably won’t have time to invest in reading large amounts for a couple of months. Then I’ll be rolling into swarm season for my bees and will be making splits catching swarms and so on until mid to late April. When all of that slows down I’m hoping to be ready to start a furnace build and purchase whatever other equipment needed. Anyone that you feel is a good teacher or at least good to watch and learn from let me know.

Thanks again
Darren

 

You and I are in the same boat. I have never cast anything. I have black smith for over 20 years.
I will keep checking in to see how you are doing. Good luck

 

I’m definitely excited to begin but I don’t think I will be able to for a number of months. I’m just going to continue to read and watch as much as I can until then.