Hobby Metal Casting Knowledge.

You Can Learn How To Sand Cast Molten Metal?

In this age of rapidly diminishing practical skills, the purpose of this web site is to teach practical foundry methods & techniques which will provide independance and freedom of expression in metal. People tell us over and over that they lament the death of the old style skilled tradesman, you know, the kind of bloke who can get to, & make or fix almost anything, or create things in metal from a simple idea.

If you are practical minded, like to build things, and you also enjoy a creative challenge, then welcome to the world of metal casting, we have a heap of idea's and things for you to explore.
   
You'll be joining other people from over forty seven countries from around the globe learning about the art of metal casting, we can help teach & share with you how to set up hobby foundry work can be done in your home workshop using equipment & tools you can easily build your self.

The basic skills & methods we'll explain to you have been successfully used by many people who have never before tried their hand at metal casting.
Once you understand the basics of this metal craft then the sky is the limit.

You will really enjoy casting metal, because there is something magic about watching molten metal flow into a sand mould,

What can I make you may ask? All kinds of things. The only limiting factor is the amount of: Skill - Imagination - Determination - Passion you have. Foundry work is fairly basic, generally, a timber pattern is made using simple tools, this is used to create a cavity in a two-part sand mould, the sand is ramed around the pattern, then it is carefully removed, the molten metal is poured quickly into the mould cavity. The more you learn about metal casting, the better your skills, creativity & work will become.

Practical minded people begin casting metal for all kinds of different reasons, the trigger for most is a desperate need to remake an obsolete part for a restoration project, and when you think about it, it really makes sense, if a part was originally made using the green sand casting technique, then nine times out of ten, it can be reproduced again using the same technique, this is the kind of thing we teach in our ebooks, using practical methods to recreate castings from aluminium or bronze. The metal casting process is not difficult to learn, and once you know how, you are only limited by your imagination.

The image below shows a common foundry moulding medium called green sand, the name has nothing to do with the colour. When a pattern is rammed with well prepared green sand in a mould box, the fine grains of sand bond together & retain the shape of the pattern, (foundry sand is not the same as beach or river sand), and when the pattern is removed, an exact shaped cavity remains which is where the molten metal is poured. Other types of silica sand can be used for making moulds also, but green sand is good to start with.

Well Prepared Foundry Green Sand.

 

Aluminium, because of it's relatively low melting temperature (700C) is a great way to begin metal casting, you can melt good quality scrap to make your own ingots, which will be used at a later stage to make your metal castings, good clean scrap can be sourced from: engine inlet manifolds, old Aluminium cylinder heads, cast aluminium cover plates, bell housings, etc. Good scrap metal can be found in all many places. 

Aluminium Ingots. 

 

When melting the raw ingots into molten metal, they are placed into a crucible that can withstand extremely high furnace temperatures, aluminium melts at around 700C,  bronze melts at around 1200C. Crucibles come in all shapes and sizes. The best quality crucibles are made from silicon carbide, properly cared for, they will last for several years, they will outlast clay graphite crucibles. Some people make cheap melting pots from a short length of heavy walled pipe with a base plate welded on, but they generally have a limited life.

    A Salamander Silicon Carbide Crucible.      

Most hobby foundry workers build their own Gas Fired Furnace. The Metal Casting Made Easy ebook provides complete instructions. All measurements are supplied in both imperial and metric. The furnace interior is lined with a high temperature resistant refractory cement which can be obtained from foundry supply houses, you can also make your own home made refractory, (an old time recipe is included in the ebook) but the home brew may not last as long as the proven commercial variety, but it is cheap to start with.

   

Internal View Of Gas Fired Furnace.

 

   

After preparing the sand mould, and the metal has reached a molten state in the furnace & crucible, it is then ready to pour. The crucible full of molten metal is carefully removed from the furnace with a pair of special lifting tongs and placed into a well designed pouring shank, wearing the proper safety gear you take hold of the pouring shank which cradles the crucible and then quickly pour the molten metal into the sprue of the sand mould. After the metal cools down, the mould boxes can be pulled apart to reveal the bright new metal art casting - car - motorcycle part, or perhaps a reproduction part for an old machine of some kind, the objects you can make with metal casting are almost endless.

    Pouring Molten Aluminium Into A Green Sand Mould.    

 

   

When you have become familiar with the methods and techniques of metal casting you will be able to start making your own special castings, which may include parts for veteran & vintage cars, or even the later model classic models built in the sixties. The raw castings in the picture below are fresh out of the green sand mould, the large cone shaped vertical extensions are the sprues & riser. These castings are the raw castings of clutch slave cylinders for a British car built in the sixties.  

  Raw Aluminium  Automotive Slave Cylinder Castings.        

The gates - runners & sprues are then removed from the castings, along with the sand cores, the cylinders are then prepared for the machining operations, to carry out the machining of the castings, a small bench lathe, a pedestal drill, and some small home made tooling & jigs were used to produce the cylinder as shown below. The casting of pressure vessels requires that very tight, porous free metal is cast, there are simple special techniques you can employ to cast high quality cylinders, these techniques are explained in the books.
 

Fully Machined Slave Cylinder Ready To Install. 

   

Our ebooks have helped many people learn how to make their own: vintage car - motor-cycle - antique - art castings - sculptures - property name plates - or parts for special projects. The possibilities are endless once you know and understand the basic methods and techniques of metal casting. But you should also be aware that handling molten metal can be dangerous, unsafe practices can cause personal injuries. The metal casting process requires that great care should be exercised at all times, the foundry is not the place for stupidity.

 Would you like to know more about this ancient metal craft?

If you are just starting to explore metal casting as a hobby, a good way to begin your learning is to download the sample ebook, or download the Power Point slide show. The ebook is a shortened version of the 98 page Metal Casting Made Easy ebook, you can read about twenty randomly chosen pages. This is the main ebook which is also accompanied by The Design Of Gates And Risers, plus all of the valuable bonus ebooks we include with the package described on the library page.

The complete ebook package can be purchased and downloaded direct from this web site, or they can be ordered and supplied on CD ROM and delivered via airmail. (Ideal if you have linited download speed or data transfer). Overseas delivery of the CD is normally about eight to ten days.

The package provides an awesome amount of hobby foundry info.

Before you visit the ebook library page, take a moment to download your free ebook & power point slide show.

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Thank you, to learn more >> visit the LIBRARY PAGE 

Take a moment to listen to a short mp3 audio message from Col Croucher, the Australian hobby foundry ebook author. The audio runs for one minute 46 seconds, and downloads pretty quick. To download and listen, click on the blue button below. Dont forget to turn your speakers on. Feel free to save the mp3 and share with your friends.


 
We really do enjoy communicating with our customers from around the world telling us about the success they are having. The email below arrived recently from a happy customer, we're pretty thrilled to know that Keith is enjoying real success with the hobby foundry knowledge he has gained from the ebooks. Just imagine...you could also enjoy the same kind of metal casting success.

Hi Col. Thank you for checking in on me. Also thanks for the ezine. Good stuff. I actually purchased several books on home foundries and I am pleased to write that I literally have my furnace behind me, here in my room with a 100 watt light inside of it to slow cure it. You see, I just cast the refractory this weekend. I am very happy with the way it has turned out. Your design is the best of all of the designs I have found put together. Plus I added a few of my own ideas along the way. I will send you a picture of it when it is done. Thanks again. Keith Taylor. California USA.

The hobby foundry ebooks have sold in forty six countries worldwide!  More. >>

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