Love Casting

Which sort of torch for small metal working?

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:24:16 +0000

Keep in mind, that I’m new to metalworking and so I’m sorry if I’m not using the correct terminology. Well, anyways, I decided that it would be interesting to get into small soldering or metal casting and try and recreate small foot-tall sculptures. Based on your experience, what would be the best sort of small torch to do this with? I have a teeny bit of experience with MIG welding and simple soldering, if that helps any. Thanks in advance!

Check out The Little Torch. Look at jewelry supply sites like Rio Grande Jewelry Supply.

Can you use clay for metal casting?

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:54:58 +0000

Hey I was wondering if you can use clay as a mold for poring hot liquid metal to make things like brass knuckles.

Sure, but it has to be the right clay and baked dry or fired. If you are really using brass it can only be ceramic/pottery clay as any other will melt/burn at the roughly 1900F it takes to melt brass. And depending on the way you make the mold, you will have to do a little bit or a LOT of filing to make it smooth – open face will be the worst. You might want to learn about investment and lost wax casting which is much more precise. http://www.mikegigi.com/metalctr.htm

What should I wear to model castings if I am pear shaped?

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:22:04 +0000

I always sturggle finding clothes to wear for castings. Especially runway castings cause i’m really small up top- my bust is 30” my waist is 22” but my hips are 36.5” cause of my booty. So was just wondering what I can wear to sort of ‘camouflage’ my pear shape, but still show off my body- if that makes sense.

Models usually wear dark skinny jeans, heels and a fitted white t-shirt. It doesn’t matter how you dress as they are going to measure you anyway. You can’t hide your shape

Please Answer the following questions about sand casting?

admin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:29:29 +0000

Why is sand casting a beneficial and popular industrial manufacturing technique?
Why is green sand used for sand casting
what are the names of the top and bottom of the sand casting mould
what is a pattern
what are patterns usually made of
what are the runners and risers
why are they important in sand casting
how are artifacts removed from the mould
advantages vs disadvantages of sand casting and die casting
Give an example of a product made by automated casting. what material is used in this application

Read the information in the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_casting

Which two handed tool is used to remove waste from the casting sand?

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:53:27 +0000

Technical/ Craft & Design.

To filter waste (iron/copper/lead scraps) from casting sand, sand that you wish to re-sue would be a sieve.

Cooling drum for mold shaking, casting cooling and sand recycling
is another term.

How to trace a picture onto die cast aluminum?

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:20:20 +0000

Can I use carbon paper and then go over the transfer with a marker?
I’m trying to label and decorate an aluminum electronics panel (guitar stomp box), and want to put some graphics on it without silk screening, etching, etc.
Any ideas on how to trace images onto it? Once I trace the picture, I can go over it with colored sharpies.
Thanks!

Carbon paper is waxy, so it might work for you. If not, try graphite paper (transfer paper) from an art store, it’s cleaner and not greasy. I really don’t know which would work better on cast aluminum.

how many different kinds of metal casting techniques are there and what are they?

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:22:20 +0000

Half a dozen?
Die casting is done with lower melting point metals and involves a metal die into which the metal is forced – like plastic injection molding. Metal bodied electric tool cases like hand drills and kitchen mixers are made this way.
Simple pour molding into reusable molds is done with low melting point metals up to aluminum. Short run toys for example, lead soldiers, bullets for home reloading.
Simple pour molding into non-reusable molds – aluminum into sand molds for making address plaques, etc. is done this way.
Enclosed sand casting with poured metal with two or more part molds and perhaps cores, venting and sprues to get the metal in. Iron/steel/aluminum engine blocks, heavy duty basic castings for construction equipment – further machining being done for bearing mounts, etc.
Lost wax casting with solid investment – rings, fine art. Bronze, brass, silver, gold. Mold is heated to melt out the wax and set the investment which is then chipped away from the poured metal.
Lost wax casting with ceramic investment – wax is dipped in liquid then silica flour and then back and forth to build up a thick coating – a dewaxing oven burns out the wax and fuses the silica to a hard shell into which, while still hot, the metal is poured, the shell then being chipped/blasted off.
Lost wax casting with sling molding – a single item mold is made up usually with investment and is heated and mounted on an arm in a device which has a place for melting metal with a torch, a heavy spring drives the mold arm in a circle and the metal is released to forcefully fill the mold like injection casting but with much higher temperature metals, up to platinum in jewelry making.
I probably missed one or two.

Can die castings be produced in iron and steel?

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:11:41 +0000

How can die castings be produced in iron and steel? i guess Die casting is mostly used for metals with lower melting point like aluminium … or it is also used in case of plastics … Iron and steel have … Continue reading →

can you melt brass in a cast iron skillet?

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:18:26 +0000

Technically, yes you could because brass melts at about 950 while cast iron melts around 1,300 F.

You would do better to buy some ceramic crucibles. You can find them on the internet and sometimes used ones on Ebay. They’re cheap. You must be very careful handling molten metal. A crucible makes it easy, certainly easier than a cast iron skillet. I learned my lesson the hard way when some molten lead accidently dripped into my shoe.

By using a skillet are you intending to use a kitchen range? If so, you won’t get the temperatures necessary to melt brass. I use two propane torches in a home-made refractory smelter.

Is it possible to cast bullets out of brass?

admin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:43:19 +0000

Would brass be too hard for the barrel? I mean, people use lead with copper, brass jackets, but why don’t people cast bullets from solid brass? I actually was wondering this, because there are some people who shoot a lot of .22 and a lot of centerfire could theoretically use .22 brass to cast bullets for their centerfires. Anyone know if that’s possible?

Brass would be a poor choice to cast bullets. Lead is far heavier and softer and allows for expansion. Jacketed bullets always have a lead core. To make a bullet out of solid brass you would have to reconfigure your powder load. Lead core bullets, being heavier than pure brass, require a load that will provide the velocity and the impact required for that caliber.