Advice casting brass hammer

[territorialmillworks]

I've collected over 11 pounds of brass valves and shuttles from work with the intent of casting brass hammers. Nothing complicated, just cylinder in shape..probable turned on the lathe and then machine the eye.  I'm not really interested in going to the effort of using green sand and clay....  So the question is this:  Can I melt the brass and pour it into a  piece of pipe as a mold.  Having shown my total ignorance, let me know if I can pull this off...THX, Keith

 

MODS...move as appropriate

[Charles R. Stevens]

First, pooring it in a pipe will brase it to the pipe, other words it will stick like glue, second as brass is copper and same stuff the use to "galvinize" steel with it can be a rather unhealthy pasttime (can be done, right process, right PPE, but be aware that a budy of mines wife got lead poisening casting lead hammers and fishingweights) third, if it isnt the right alloy it will be to brittle. Might be better to simply sell it for scrap value. Bet copper would be slick tho... Electrical wire is almost pure, and wonce you have mushroomed the heck out of one yiu could just melt it down and start anew...

[Michael Cochran]

I've been trying to do a little research on this myself. I thought about trying a mix of sand and bentonite to make my mold and copper for the hammer hear. I would be interested in seeing your results if you do it. I'm still collecting scrap copper right now then I have it find something to hold molten copper. What kind of crucible are you planning on using?

[Frosty]

No, don't try casting brass. If you know me you know I frequently speak out about the almost knee jerk panic where zinc oxide is concerned. The stuff isn't nearly as hazardous as folk think UNLESS you're sensitive to it.

Casting brass is something else though, melting brass puts zinc oxide in the air even if it isn't hot enough to burn it off so there are no blue green flames and lacy while sooty smoke to warn you. One of the guys in our club is a caster and won't touch brass. I even offered him the use of my supplied air welding helmet and he passed, says the fumes linger too long for safety. And YES, this once it IS a welding Helmet not just a shield.

Go with bronze, it's far FAR safer.

Trying to cast brass or bronze into steel will braze it to the mold. Green sand is easy as is investment casting.

How's this for an easy cheat, cardboard tube on a piece of card stock in a container of fine sand, open at the top and pour it full. The burning cardboard will deoxidize the pour like a flux. Deoxidizing is important for casting copper especially but doesn't hurt with bronze and it'll keep the sand from sticking.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Michael Cochran]

I like that idea, Frosty. Do you have a suggestion for how to cast the handle hole? Or would it be easier to drill/file it out?

[Charles R. Stevens]

Ceramic or grafite cusables, as you have to get steel near orange before copper melts, unlike aluminum because tin and zink make copper melt at lower temps, and tin inparticular makes copper harder/ more brital. 

Sand and bentonite has been around a wile as grean sand. I would recomend experimenting with aluminum first. As it melts at lower temps and you can learn from your mistakes on a less costly material. Dont mess with bear cans tho, look at automotive scrap and wire. Heads, pistons, water pumps, oil pans, valve covers, breack masters, ac compresors, alternator housings, transmition cases.... All known castable alloys. Tho that big chunk under the dash? Not aluminum, magnisium and it will ignite and melt dowm your furnace. Always srape of a few shavings and try and lite it with a liter first. 

Clasicly that would be a "core" make it up from your grean sand and thoroly dry it, cut a close fiting hole in the tube if your trying Frosties cheat. 

Edited May 22, 2015 by Charles R. Stevens

[Glenn]

Some idiot (in my opinion) added magnesium to the aluminum before casting it into the car part, pump housing or tranny bell housing as I recall.  I used that car part for a casting project and when heated the magnesium started to burn. Fortunately I had a plan B in place and used it to dispose of the hot molten metal safely. I got OUT of casting aluminum real fast and took ALL the aluminum to the junk yard and cashed it in.

 

[Charles R. Stevens]

Yes sir, never saw the sense in putting mag in cars, car fires are nasty enugh with out adding a material that likes to be doused with water to the mix. We used to burn volkswagon trandmition cases (old swing axle) at Glammis. BLM would have a caniption fit now.

[Quarry Dog]

Don't forget sobe bombs and trash bags full of oxy-ace with a long speaker wire fuse...good times.  Don't forget 5 christmas trees in one fire at midnight on New Year's Eve.

PS: Don't try any of this at home!

Edited May 22, 2015 by Quarry Dog
Fergot fun stuff.

[Frosty]

Were I casting copper hammer heads I'd use a more standard method of ramming up green sand molds. Cope and drag halves of the flask and spend days tempering the sand. The real hassle is making the master pattern. You could saw a hammer head in half OR make a rubber master mold then cast it full of the media of your liking, casting resin works nicely. Once it's set, cut the resin casting in half and glue it to opposite sides of the pattern board. It'll need index pins so the hammer head is lined up correctly. On the hammer halves AND the pattern board.

Now all you need is parting compound, some basic casting tools, rammer, riddle, sprue punch, gate knife, striker and someone to show you how to make it work.

I'd recommend taking a college extension class in casting or find a studio that gives lessons. Casting bronze is NOT something to teach yourself it's dangerous if you know what you're doing and WAY dangerous if you don't.

I shouldn't have told you what I have, I really don't like encouraging someone to do dangerous things unprepared.

Frosty The Lucky.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Copper has an affinity for oxygen which will make it bubble, and be very porous if it isn't degassed properly before pouring.

[territorialmillworks]

ZINC   That's all I need to know about that subject.......This is why Iforge is such an indispensable resource.  Heading to the scrap yard after work LOL

Charles, Quarry Dog  I know all about mag wheels and xmas trees.  I was one of the rangers who gave miscreants citations for such behavior.......   

[Latticino]

Not hugely relevant to this safety discussion, or pertinent on a site where we all take pride in making handcrafted tools to use, but I think you would find it tough to make a brass hammer for less than what it costs to buy one at Harbor Freight:  $25 2 LB Brass Hammer.  I use mine as a "disposable" striking tool for hitting the back of punches, chisels and the like to save my forging hammer's face, as well as avoiding mushrooming the back of the struck tools.  Works great for me.  I suppose if you want to class it up you could engrave it or do some ornamental filework... 

Wish they made them in larger sizes.  Perhaps that was your plan.  Glad to hear you are choosing the safer path.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Put a longer handle on a cheap drillers hammer. The squarish ones that look like thor's hammer. They are soft for driving hardend stone carving tools. Go ahead and aneal it first just to be safe. Its an od looking hammer so not easaly mistaken for a smithing hammer in the shop. 

I have an asian one (still has the industrial aqua paint) that gets used for a lot of bashing chores, has a nice bernealed finish, lol. 

[evfreek]

Brass does release zinc fumes if overheated.  I once cast a couple of brass hammers in a shop class.  We had a nice dedicated shop area with vent fans, but I used dirty brass from used valves from a repipe job.  They got a little overheated and I had not properly choreographed the pour, and I ended up getting a lungful of the fumes.  The instructor was yelling at me to breathe and pour and had a pretty good laugh when I expressed concern about fume fever.  He told me that nobody gets sick from a little whiff like that, but if you mess up, you will be reminded of it for a long time.  It turned out he was right.  There were a few surface voids in my hammer that I get to keep looking at.  He was very strict on safety and gave us aprons, face shield, gloves, spats, hardhats.  Turns out he worked in a local foundry before they all started going out of business.

One thing that he insisted on was doing it right.  I had to make the pattern at home, including the core for the hole, and the body had to be split type with core prints.  He said "no shortcuts".

[ThomasPowers]

I took an "out of hours" brass casting course at a local University with a friend and he cast a brass hammer for removing pegs from Japanese sword tangs.  We used petrobond oil sand for the mold and he took his toddler son's little wooden hammer from a peg pounding toy for the positive.  Didn't make a match plate.  Rammed it up in one /12 the flask then cut to the parting line, used parting powder and rammed up the second half of the flask. To make it more interesting he took a bunch of leatherworking stamps and tooled the sides of the mold save for the hammer faces  ended up with a very ornate small brass hammer.  (the instructor, who was an artist and expected people to do small jewelry pieces, put a limit on the size of the pours the next time he gave the class)

[Nobody Special]

$25 for a brass hammer? Oof. You gotta hit the flea markets more often. Payed three for my last one. Had to dress it a bit, but they're dirt cheap. You'll find copper ones too.