Sprockets&Cogs Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Just want to take the time to introduce myself. My name is Erick and I like to take long walks. (Oops wrong profile) I have been playing with metal (blacksmith and casting) for a number of years and am always looking to improve. For that I think I have come to the right place, amazing! Here are some of my latest... More can be seen at: Sprockets & Cogs Thanks Erick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Welcome Eric! I think you will find lots of great stuff and people here. I took a momnet to look at you work, Nice! I realy like the partial basket castings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyancarrek Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Welcome to IFI Eric. I second Fe's comment - really nice looking work! What kind of foundry setup do you have? Enjoy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtWerkz Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Welcome to IFI Erick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprockets&Cogs Posted March 3, 2010 Author Share Posted March 3, 2010 Thanks for the positive comment re: my work. Nice to be appreciated by your peers. My foundry is a little "cowboy furnace" from Lost & Foundry out of Spokane. (Lost & Foundry). Works quite well for how simple it is. Erick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyancarrek Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 My foundry is a little "cowboy furnace" from Lost & Foundry out of Spokane. Works quite well for how simple it is. Erick Simple is good - melt the wax, tip the cruce, pour the metal! Post a pic of it when you get a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 Thanks for the positive comment re: my work. Nice to be appreciated by your peers. My foundry is a little "cowboy furnace" from Lost & Foundry out of Spokane. (Lost & Foundry). Works quite well for how simple it is. Erick Your kidding!!!! I've looked at those furnaces on fleebay and thought they were more of a toy. Now I'm really impressed!!! Do show pics- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprockets&Cogs Posted March 3, 2010 Author Share Posted March 3, 2010 I can melt 15 pounds of Aluminium in 20 minutes and 35 pounds of brass in about 45 minutes attached to a 20 lb propane tank. I added a little blower to make it a bit more efficient. I have yet to melt bronze but it will do it. I need to get a proper crucible for that. My mother-in-law enjoyed the ritual sacrifice of her tacky 80's brass animals to the foundry gods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 Damm! Thats simple!!! How much did you pay? Will it hold a #8 Crucible? Do you use a pyrometer to check temps? How hot does it get? Sorry for so amny questions but this is simple enough to make it doable. Oh, buy the way- your shop is WAAAAAY to clean! Also, I had assumed you did the basket castings in ceramic shell, yet you have investment casks ready for pouring. How did you do the basket castings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyancarrek Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 Great shots of your setup Erick! It's nice o' family to make the sacrifice for our art . . . did M-I-L get a special piece made for her donation? Here's a pic of the set up I made - very similar in size to yours - it handles a 40 - 50lb bronze melt with no problem at all. I keep mine on a rolling cart so all I have to do is hook up the tank and go. Take a look at Budget casting supply. They've got some pretty good prices on graphite cruce's. Here's their website: www.budgetcastingsupply.com/ Thanks for sharing the pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprockets&Cogs Posted March 3, 2010 Author Share Posted March 3, 2010 Damm! Thats simple!!! How much did you pay? Will it hold a #8 Crucible? Do you use a pyrometer to check temps? How hot does it get? Oh, buy the way- your shop is WAAAAAY to clean! Also, I had assumed you did the basket castings in ceramic shell, yet you have investment casks ready for pouring. How did you do the basket castings? Hi Fe-Wood, All the prices are listed on his Webpage and they are available on ebay. I am just a happy customer no affiliation yada yada yada. He sells 2 sizes and I believe both can accomodate a #8 crucible. (If I am right, by convention that means 8 lbs of Aluminium) I typically do 15 lbs. I don't have a pyrometer yet (I may try and build one with a thermocouple/volt meter in the future). It gets hot enough to melt the metal! As for when to pour, I just give it a few minutes after all is melted and this seems to work for my purposes. My baskets are all lost foam sand cast. I weave them complete out of foam backer rod and then cast them. I hate when they pour to completion as I like the globular voids. For this I have been experimenting with less venting, tighter packing and wetter sand. I want the metal to cool before it makes it all the way through the basket. Erick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Thanks Sprockts & Cogs- I lookedd at the wesite, oh for want of more money and time! I've heard about the lost foam casting but never tried it. The heat of the metal vaporizes the foam and you don't get a valcano from the gas? As I said, nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprockets&Cogs Posted March 4, 2010 Author Share Posted March 4, 2010 I've heard about the lost foam casting but never tried it. The heat of the metal vaporizes the foam and you don't get a valcano from the gas? Depends on what foam you use. The green garden/florist foam is nasty. The pink/blue standard white styrofoam does produce some toxic smoke when it burns off. I use a polyethylene foam (backer rod) which according to the manufacturer's propaganda only produces C02, water and wax when burned. When I pour there are definitely flare ups from the burning foam that can shoot molten metal around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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