weathers right casting agian

[Bill Hermsted]

Dave-
Ilike your oak flooring almost as much as the stuffers!
I would rather breathe the air around your foundary, my road racing two stroke minibike, and my 1955 Johnson 10, than around an EPA exec's private jet or our nearby power plant when all those electric cars have to be charged soon. My son just got busted for speeding in our creek with the Johnson. There was no wake, which would have been huge if he was going five mph. A recent ebay seller, who listed a small gas turbine engine for a go kart, said it the best. Although i can't remember the exact wording, this is close to what was said, and i'll remember this the rest of my life- youthful enthusiasm has been obliterated by a whole new culture of risk management. This person became an instant hero of mine! Alas, i couldn't afford that item. I'm getting pretty tired of the atmosphere where i'm told what's good for me and what's bad. Luckily, Mike's fine was 25 bananas, and the bay constable loved the old outboard. By the way, Mike was ratted on initially. Do you have to use a certian aluminum alloy to melt, and how do you get the piece out of the mold? I never knew that the actual temperature of the melt was crucial.
Keep up the good work!
bill

[david a luciani]

hi bill,
that flooring was installed in 1957 and has been refinished twice ,try to do that with the composites they sell now.
it's funny how the fun killers all preach be careful of the environment while riding around in huge limos and heating/cooling mansions that only has staff in.
i've always been puzzled by that.

there are specific alloys that i could be using for casting.
but for now i'm using aluminum i got from various sources.
at first i tried old grills but that's crappy pot metal aluminum.
it generates too much slag.

lately i've gotten a-hold of decent cast car rims and a cast aluminum head.
those are now little muffin tin ingots ready to remelt.
i have an aluminum 4 cylinder block and a couple of rims waiting to be detempered and broken up for ingot mold melt day.
also have a growing pile of dead pistons to melt that are for my piston project since the material needs to be specifically alloyed for pistons.
i've been making white metal ingots too for a foray into lower temp casting i am working on.

the sand molds are rammed up from a pile of manufactured green sand i made.
i am gonna be cruisin the sand banks for natural molding sand soon but for now i deal with what i have.
my biggest tool i have yet too make is a muller and shaker.
i need about 200$ for the parts and funds are low for this project as i keep buying kart stuff.

the molds themselves are made from ramming the sand around the model in the mold frame.
the model is removed the gates cut in and the mold closed.
after casting the molding sand is shook out of the frame into a pile and lumps of sand.
normally then you'd remull the sand (grind it back to loose grains) but no muller.
i then have to hand mull and resift the green sand for the next run.

the temperature of the melt is extremely critical.
the metal acts differently at different temps and interacts with the mold differently too.
the best balance is hot enough to flow out but cool enough to chill quickly thus avoiding whole list if flaws.
my best solution would be to buy the correct probe for reading temps but they start at about 150$.

knowing me the new melt furnace muller and probe will be made soon.
the casting results are positive and i'm getting impatient working with make-dos.
so far my results have been pretty good which i should be happy with but i'm not.
i'm a perfectionist so pretty good casting aren't good enough for me.
dave

[Bill Hermsted]

HI, Dave-
Was that a die-casting mold that belonged to Burt Munro and Tony Hopkins poured aluminum into in the World's Fastest Indian movie? Burt made pistons in it, and the mold had a top cover on it that clamped down with what seemed like a pressure screw. The pour had old Ford and Chevy pistons in it, and Burt used the quenching water to make tea afterwards! By the way, i think his land speed record still stands to this day.
bill

[Mike Reller]

Hey Dave,
You are truly a man for all seasons. What you've done so far is impressive. I need an intake for a 580 that will allow me to use a pair of S.U. carbs. Seriously, keep up the good work, keep us posted.

[david a luciani]

oddly i've never seen the movie.
usually pistons are die cast with vacumn.
made a follow board for the stuffers and the motor mount tonight.
motor mount one is complicated since it's a false cope.
will post pix as explaining would be a pain.
just leave it as the next step is being accomplished in my molding process for three vintage items.

dave

[Jeff Campbell]

Dave,
If you are going to be casting engine parts using minimal resources, you have to watch the Burt Munro movie, it's the ultimate story of over coming limitation of resources (i.e. making parts with out spending much money!).

Nice job with those castings so far! It looks like a really fun project.

I wrote a little blurp about Burt Munro and the 2 movies that were made about his life, anyone who wants to hear about Burt's story ... ... I would love to get my hands on a copy of the 1970 Roger Donaldson documentary about Burt Munro, called “Offerings to the God of Speed” ... some clips are at the page link above.

Jeff

[Alan Warn]

My favorite movie of all time! Madison is also a favorite! These two movies are pretty close to me, since I have several trophies against guys with bottomless pocketbooks. Dave, I told you a long time ago that you need to watch "World's Fastest Indian." Now I am putting "Madison" on your list.

[david a luciani]

hmmm,
maybe if i clone myself i'll have the time to watch these movies.
though i suppose it is research?!?

almost got no dinner tonight as i was MESSING AROUND OUTSIDE TOOOOOO LONG.
WHAT IS THE FASCINATION WITH MELTING METAL ANYWAY?????
the boss lady said.
i wisely keep the ole yap shut and ate a cold dinner.

BUT even though the mold blew out parts i needed made it and were usable.
i've been making some match plates this week too.
a big part of doing a casting with good results.
will post pix as soon as my camera,me and the work are in the same place.
dave

[Mark Brubaker]

Tell "the boss lady" that you're trying to save money by doing it yourself... How can she (reasonably) complain about that? lol

Watch the movies,,,,, it will be time well spent... I've seem the "Indian",,,, it's on my all time favorites list..

[david a luciani]

Tried the saving money line.
always seems to move to why don't you just sell a few and then you wouldn't need all the parts.
truthfully i suppose she has a point , but i'd still be melting the metal.
it's something i'm inclined towards anyway.
anyway heres some pix of this last weeks work.
progress is slow but steady right now.

dave