Watch out Vermont Castings - Craig fires up his own foundry....

Here it is!

I'm firing up the backyard aluminum foundry for the first time!

The wooden things on the ground are molds - the stainless bowl has a little experiment I am trying in "lost foam" casting.....

Another pic shows the molds after casting - you can see the excess metal - it goes in one vent and then comes out the other.

Most soon with the results - I already have learned a few things.....

Here is one the the patterns after casting. I think the metal needed to be a little hotter and also perhaps the pattern was a bit screwed up - notice the flat face on the dog - not bad for a first try.

You can see the thick round where the metal was poured in and the "gates" that allow it to flow to the impressions- then the small vent which I poked to allow the gases to flow and metal to fill.

The "lost foam" thing actually worked! This is a process whereby you can take a block of plastic foam - carve anything you want into it, and then put it in a bucket filled with sand. You then pour the metal in through a spout and the foam burns off, allowing the metal to fill the recess. The good part is you can cast just about anything this way - the bad part is that your pattern can only be used ONCE.

IN this case, the pattern was just a block of styrofoam but I carved some letters into it freehand and also an X on the side, etc. It worked fine.

Just have another hobby, that's all......
I can make some gifts and stuff like that, and also possibly help a friend or two that may need some crazy part for R&D.

Once I get the aluminum down, I'll try some bronze if I can get the furnace hot enough!

I have to make a pattern for a nice Hearth.com plaque. Anyone want to volunteer to machine or carve one from a logo I can provide?

Here is my first "product" - a nice paperweight for webwidows desk.

Yeah, one of those programmable routers would be nice - or one of those 3D prototyping printers!

I've always wanted to get one of those CNC plasma cutters - just for fun, mind you. Martha would not let me buy one for Extendaflue....but the funny thing is, she'd probably let me get one for a hobby!

Something like:
http://plasmacam.com/

I'd be dangerous with one of those things....and it would fit into the new shop nicely. Heck if I know what I'd do with it.....I would have to get into the custom chimney cap biz or something....just so the hobby at least created something.

Hey, Elk - thanks - but, turn it in for scrap. Remember, I have about 30,000 lbs of extendaflues!

The furnace is sitting on a piece of aluminum with some super high temp bricks below it (that soft stuff that oil burners fire into) and then the particle board - the wood didn't even get warm!

I am using green sand.....it is a special sand with some clay in it. I think the color you are talking about is mostly once it has been used a bunch of times....it turns browner from the burnt clay, etc. - although there are a number of various types of sand mixtures.

I also have some "parting dust" which you sprinkle on the pattern - I'm not certain, but it may improve the finish.

One thing that is hard is to figure out the actual metal temp......there is a proper temp to pour at, and I am just guessing.

There are some neat sites around the net relating to backyard casting. Some folks even built furnaces that are electric - or even ones using waste oil. Some are melting iron (2500 F), which I doubt I will ever attempt!