Foundry

[Joe Sull]

Excellent stuff.
Seen this?

I've seen that before. Very cool! Theres a process called "lost foam". You make a part that you want to cast out of styrofoam with the runner. You bury it in sand with the runner sticking out and pour the aluminum on the runner. It melts the styrofoam in a flash and displaces the area were the foam was. It makes a rough casting but it's very effective. I saw a guy making aluminum skull that way. He cleaned them up and was selling them for good money.

[Joe Sull]

I've heard that on a quiet day, you can hear those ant screaming from the centerpiece. I dono if it's true or not

Heres a pic of the burnout furnace ready to assemble. See the form for the inside. It needed to be taken apart and reassembled
in the shell. The bottom is packed 3" thk and slopes. It needs to have a hole formed into it for a drain in case a crucible brakes.
Packing the clay mix takes time. I put 2" in and then pack it with a 2 x 4. I covered it with a tarp for a week then remove the tarp
and let it dry completely or the moisture will turn to steam and blow apart while firing.







The lid needs steel to keep the clay in.



The clay cannot dry quickly. I kept it covered for a week and then over a couple of days, remove the plastic
and dry completely.



Well thats it for now. When I get going on it again, I'll post some stuff here.
Thanks for watching and thanks for the replies. Joe.