Practically born and raised in the family non-ferrous foundry - greensand. Went on to design and build automated machinery for a career when small foundries in California became unwanted (unless is was "art") but built a home foundry for myself. Now retiring and moving myself and the foundry to Joshua Tree. The Gingery-style furnace I built in the 90s came with me - it's still going strong! Will be converting it to propane and switching to petrobond. Moving is going to take a few months but in my downtime I'm designing a muller.
Well OK, here's that furnace running in the 90's, and how it looks now after some sprucing up at it's new home.
Welcome JTMD. Looking forward to seeing some casting projects after the completion of your move. I'm always envious of folks who have a permanent location for their furnace. Best, Kelly
Haa welcome. I used the exact same zep barrel for my first furnace. Unfortunately I used portland cement/sand/fireclay for insulation so it melted itself after about 20-30 melts and I remade my next furnace with a water heater tank. Welcome.
HA! I got lucky with that barrel, my brother was working at a gas station (back when gas stations did more than just sell gas) and was walking it to the dumpster when I pulled up for a visit. The refractory was something of a mistake - I had bought a tub of "castable" along with another tub of some other material (cant recall what it was now) intending to try both. Had a hard time packing the castable and it turned out it wasnt enough. I dont know what was going through my head but I decided to just mix the two together.. it molded easy and seemed to work OK.. now it's 25 years old and still going strong. I'd like a bigger one though, been thinking about making one like we had when I was starting out.. in-ground built with pie-section firebrick and a hybrid propane-diesel burner. I still have a #80 carbide pot new in box from when the foundry closed in '79.
you and me both. I've been a Olivine/Bentonite/Water greensand guy my entire life but really, greensand is a lot of work unless you're using it daily. Getting it back into shape after being idle for a month or two ends up taking longer than actually using it when it dries out. I'm thinking I'll have less issues with Petrobond. Maybe not.. I'm planning on building a muller either way.
Yeah I wouldn't mind a larger one too. I'm getting into bigger sculptures now too. An in ground would be nice. Would make it a bit safer too. But you'd need a crane/hoist to get a #80 out. Even my #16 is a bit too big to comfortably solo lift. I've been making a swivel arm/crane for ages that hopefully will let me solo lift and pour. If I ever get around to finishing it.
I'm designing a hybrid CNC router/plasma table larger that the one I have now, planning on using castings throughout including the gantry risers, motor and bearing mounts, etc.. I have a CNC mill and could make them with that but it's a hobby and I enjoy patternmaking so... besides, I like the look and the ability to recycle aluminum into useful parts instead of overpaying for billets only to throw most of it away in the form of chips...
yes indeed, we used to have three people to take a pot out of that monster. one to manage the tongs, the others on a bar that lifted the tongs. I'd use an overhead A-frame with a chain hoist to lift it but it would be rare. I'd probably end up only using #40 pots but if I'm going to build it - build it big I dont have any trouble at all working solo with a 16 in the Gingery.
Welcome to the home foundry, JTMD! I did not grow up in a foundry, just casting metal as a hobby on weekends since 2013. But I did pick up a bunch of petrobond last fall after several years of hobby greensand molding. In my experience it is really great stuff even if you only consider the fact it never dries out; you can leave it in your molding bench and it will be ready to go the next time you need to make a mold, without you needing to run the muller first. But it is also much more forgiving. It will sort of smoosh where greensand breaks when you are repairing damaged molds or cutting gates or slicking down areas. It seems much less prone to crumbling around the edges of the mold cavity on the parting line, and not just compared to my homemade greensand either; it's also nicer to work with than the really good greensand I bought from a big foundry supplier. Although it's possible that stuff isn't as good as I think it is... My Petrobond came from the same supplier, but it was 20 years old (basically never used) when I got it. Good as new after some muller time. Petrobond holds together better in sub freezing weather than greensand too, though I haven't tried using it when it was more than just a couple degrees below freezing. But cold weather is probably not an issue too often in California... For all of those advantages, I am very willing to deal with a little smoke and oily fingers. I haven't used my greensand since I got mine. Good luck! Jeff
I dont have such great luck when it's cold. I can heat mine in the muller. Do yourself a huge favor and dont be cheap with it. When you get really burnt up stuff, separate it and throw it out.
