Hello
Can anyone tell me anything about casting sand recipes for homebrew
casting of aluminium
I have a small kiln 1500 celcius max with digital temperatue control.
I have allready done some test melts in this which work ok so am now
looking for an appropriate medium to cast in.So far I have come up with
the following 2 recipes by reading old posts.

1. Silica Sand 50kg.
Starch 1kg
Vegetable Oil 2kg
Water .5litre (or less)

2. Silica sand(dry) 60kg
Water 1 litre
Dextrin 1kg
linseed oil .5 litre

I have not tried these out as yet and am wandering if any one in the
group especially in the Uk has sucessfully cast aluminium in small
quantities like this
and could advise me what works best, by small castings I am talking 2x3
ins or less in homemade wooden flasks.

Regards
Ron Priest

Unless you really want to make your own I would just find a nearby
foundry and buy some as you don't seem need much for castings of that
size. I know finding a foundry is getting more difficult, within the
last 10 years the foundries around Bath have reduced from 3 to 1. I
think what you probably want is Manfield red also known as green sand. I
know some people that may have some spare.

ronpriest wrote:

Hello
Can anyone tell me anything about casting sand recipes for homebrew
casting of aluminium
I have a small kiln 1500 celcius max with digital temperatue control.
I have allready done some test melts in this which work ok so am now
looking for an appropriate medium to cast in.So far I have come up with
the following 2 recipes by reading old posts.

1. Silica Sand 50kg.
Starch 1kg
Vegetable Oil 2kg
Water .5litre (or less)

2. Silica sand(dry) 60kg
Water 1 litre
Dextrin 1kg
linseed oil .5 litre

I have not tried these out as yet and am wandering if any one in the
group especially in the Uk has sucessfully cast aluminium in small
quantities like this
and could advise me what works best, by small castings I am talking 2x3
ins or less in homemade wooden flasks.

Regards
Ron Priest

To be honest, if your really wanting to do the casting and molding
yurself, look for some bentonite, and leave out all those extra items
like vegetable oils, starch, linseed oils etc. All they do is
contribute to a greensand that is hard to maintain and manipulate. A
good 8 to 10% bentonite clay to sand is as good a cheap and usefull
mix as you can get. Odds are you can find bentonite in the UK, as its
used world wide for all kinds of things. If the drill well over there,
and I am sure they do, it could be found though the folks that drill
wells.......Usually for green sand its a mix of either western or
southern bentonite, and one works better than the other, but regular
southern type (calcium based) will work just fine and if all yu can
find is sodium based (western) it will work ok for what your doing.


On Mon, 06 Feb 2006 13:58:28 +0000, David Billington
wrote:
Unless you really want to make your own I would just find a nearby
foundry and buy some as you don't seem need much for castings of that
size. I know finding a foundry is getting more difficult, within the
last 10 years the foundries around Bath have reduced from 3 to 1. I
think what you probably want is Manfield red also known as green sand. I
know some people that may have some spare.

ronpriest wrote:

Hello
Can anyone tell me anything about casting sand recipes for homebrew
casting of aluminium
I have a small kiln 1500 celcius max with digital temperatue control.
I have allready done some test melts in this which work ok so am now
looking for an appropriate medium to cast in.So far I have come up with
the following 2 recipes by reading old posts.

1. Silica Sand 50kg.
Starch 1kg
Vegetable Oil 2kg
Water .5litre (or less)

2. Silica sand(dry) 60kg
Water 1 litre
Dextrin 1kg
linseed oil .5 litre

I have not tried these out as yet and am wandering if any one in the
group especially in the Uk has sucessfully cast aluminium in small
quantities like this
and could advise me what works best, by small castings I am talking 2x3
ins or less in homemade wooden flasks.

Regards
Ron Priest



--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

Roy wrote:

To be honest, if your really wanting to do the casting and molding
yurself, look for some bentonite, and leave out all those extra items
like vegetable oils, starch, linseed oils etc. All they do is
contribute to a greensand that is hard to maintain and manipulate. A
good 8 to 10% bentonite clay to sand is as good a cheap and usefull
mix as you can get. Odds are you can find bentonite in the UK, as its
used world wide for all kinds of things. If the drill well over there,
and I am sure they do, it could be found though the folks that drill
wells.......Usually for green sand its a mix of either western or
southern bentonite, and one works better than the other, but regular
southern type (calcium based) will work just fine and if all yu can
find is sodium based (western) it will work ok for what your doing.

Ok Roy

Never heard the name Bentonite over here its a new one on me
I wander if this is the same as what we call Fullers Earth over here a
fine white clay
that occurs naturally in some parts of this country. ?


On Mon, 06 Feb 2006 13:58:28 +0000, David Billington
wrote:
Unless you really want to make your own I would just find a nearby
foundry and buy some as you don't seem need much for castings of that
size. I know finding a foundry is getting more difficult, within the
last 10 years the foundries around Bath have reduced from 3 to 1. I
think what you probably want is Manfield red also known as green sand. I
know some people that may have some spare.

ronpriest wrote:

Hello
Can anyone tell me anything about casting sand recipes for homebrew
casting of aluminium
I have a small kiln 1500 celcius max with digital temperatue control.
I have allready done some test melts in this which work ok so am now
looking for an appropriate medium to cast in.So far I have come up with
the following 2 recipes by reading old posts.

1. Silica Sand 50kg.
Starch 1kg
Vegetable Oil 2kg
Water .5litre (or less)

2. Silica sand(dry) 60kg
Water 1 litre
Dextrin 1kg
linseed oil .5 litre

I have not tried these out as yet and am wandering if any one in the
group especially in the Uk has sucessfully cast aluminium in small
quantities like this
and could advise me what works best, by small castings I am talking 2x3
ins or less in homemade wooden flasks.

Regards
Ron Priest



--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

Well From what i can gather so far from the net bentonite is fullers
earth and is the chief constituent in cat litter and speedi dry
(industrial absorbent).
I assume fine sand ie silver sand or childs playsand as we call it in
this country can be mixed with crushed cat litter and a little water
to make a form of casting sand.
I wander how many Females realize that fullers earth (used as a
cleansing cream by women worldwide) is really crushed Kats litter ! The
mind boggles

Bentonite is a fine collodial clay. It is available in a large variety
of mesh sizes..ONce mixed with water it expands to many times its
original size and has a very pasty stickey texture. A common mix ratio
is 100 pounds of sand, 10 pounds bentonite, 3% water. A lot of folks
have sucessfully used kitty liter to make greensand, as a lot of kitty
liter is made with bentonite clay as its prime ingredient. Its usually
the clumping type. Biggest problem though is milling the kitty liter
down to a fine enough mesh size.

The big problem with adding the organic type ingredieints you
previously listed is they sour or spoil pretty quickly, and are very
hard to maintain. I do not know off hand what ufllers earth is, but I
have heard that name before.

Regards
'

On 6 Feb 2006 06:43:24 -0800, "ronpriest"
wrote:

Roy wrote:

To be honest, if your really wanting to do the casting and molding
yurself, look for some bentonite, and leave out all those extra items
like vegetable oils, starch, linseed oils etc. All they do is
contribute to a greensand that is hard to maintain and manipulate. A
good 8 to 10% bentonite clay to sand is as good a cheap and usefull
mix as you can get. Odds are you can find bentonite in the UK, as its
used world wide for all kinds of things. If the drill well over there,
and I am sure they do, it could be found though the folks that drill
wells.......Usually for green sand its a mix of either western or
southern bentonite, and one works better than the other, but regular
southern type (calcium based) will work just fine and if all yu can
find is sodium based (western) it will work ok for what your doing.

Ok Roy

Never heard the name Bentonite over here its a new one on me
I wander if this is the same as what we call Fullers Earth over here a
fine white clay
that occurs naturally in some parts of this country. ?


On Mon, 06 Feb 2006 13:58:28 +0000, David Billington
wrote:
Unless you really want to make your own I would just find a nearby
foundry and buy some as you don't seem need much for castings of that
size. I know finding a foundry is getting more difficult, within the
last 10 years the foundries around Bath have reduced from 3 to 1. I
think what you probably want is Manfield red also known as green sand. I
know some people that may have some spare.

ronpriest wrote:

Hello
Can anyone tell me anything about casting sand recipes for homebrew
casting of aluminium
I have a small kiln 1500 celcius max with digital temperatue control.
I have allready done some test melts in this which work ok so am now
looking for an appropriate medium to cast in.So far I have come up with
the following 2 recipes by reading old posts.

1. Silica Sand 50kg.
Starch 1kg
Vegetable Oil 2kg
Water .5litre (or less)

2. Silica sand(dry) 60kg
Water 1 litre
Dextrin 1kg
linseed oil .5 litre

I have not tried these out as yet and am wandering if any one in the
group especially in the Uk has sucessfully cast aluminium in small
quantities like this
and could advise me what works best, by small castings I am talking 2x3
ins or less in homemade wooden flasks.

Regards
Ron Priest



--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

Cool I learned something today, fullers earth is bentonite clay....
You owuld be surprised what it is used in. Its used in feeds,
cosmetics, soaps, paints, and many many other items. Look for a mesh
size of 200 to 240 for "fullers earth" and a mesh size of 80 to 100
for the sand itself. regular playsand or Silica sand will work for
what your doing, although its not the best choice, but its still
doable. MIx the dry ingredieints thouroughly.......(the easy part)
then add the water a little at a time.....so that it gets to a
consistency of..putty. YOu know you have it about right when you can
take a handfull and squeeze it in the hand and form a fistfull that is
all bonded toghter. THen take that formed wad of greensand and place
it in your hand palm side up, and let it span across your ing and
index finger. Apply pressure to the piece with your thumb, and it
should break cleanly in half. YOur hand shoul dbe relatively free of
the greensand and yur hand should not have any traces of water on it.

If its too wet it makes steam when its poured and will ruin the
casting. Too dry and it will not ram up tight or have sufficient
strength. If its too wet, just spread it out on the floor or in a tub
and allow to dry a bit, and remix. Greensand thats used can be added
to unused sand and remixed/ retempered to proper consistency. ONce it
no longer retempers and retains its green strength its time to add
more fullers earth or toss it all and start again. The more its used
up to a certain point the better it works, so the darker and more
brown/ black it becomes the better is works.

Have fun


On 6 Feb 2006 07:18:28 -0800, "ronpriest"
wrote:
Well From what i can gather so far from the net bentonite is fullers
earth and is the chief constituent in cat litter and speedi dry
(industrial absorbent).
I assume fine sand ie silver sand or childs playsand as we call it in
this country can be mixed with crushed cat litter and a little water
to make a form of casting sand.
I wander how many Females realize that fullers earth (used as a
cleansing cream by women worldwide) is really crushed Kats litter ! The
mind boggles

--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

Another bit of Trivia about Fuller Earth.

It is one of the main fillers in Acetylene bottles, along with Asbestos and
aids in holding the Acetone evenly distributed. The Acetone is there to
absorb the gas (from calcium carbide). Were it not for this absorption of
the gas, it couldn't be compress more than about 30 psi without becoming
unstable and exploding.

The above comes from my memory of things I learned as Steamfitter
apprentice, 50 years ago. (and maybe slightly confuse but to the best of my
recollection.) FWIW.

Steve

I think also known as kieselgur and diatomatious earth. A component of
dynamite used to hold the nitro glycerin.

Roy wrote:

Cool I learned something today, fullers earth is bentonite clay....
You owuld be surprised what it is used in. Its used in feeds,
cosmetics, soaps, paints, and many many other items. Look for a mesh
size of 200 to 240 for "fullers earth" and a mesh size of 80 to 100
for the sand itself. regular playsand or Silica sand will work for
what your doing, although its not the best choice, but its still
doable. MIx the dry ingredieints thouroughly.......(the easy part)
then add the water a little at a time.....so that it gets to a
consistency of..putty. YOu know you have it about right when you can
take a handfull and squeeze it in the hand and form a fistfull that is
all bonded toghter. THen take that formed wad of greensand and place
it in your hand palm side up, and let it span across your ing and
index finger. Apply pressure to the piece with your thumb, and it
should break cleanly in half. YOur hand shoul dbe relatively free of
the greensand and yur hand should not have any traces of water on it.

If its too wet it makes steam when its poured and will ruin the
casting. Too dry and it will not ram up tight or have sufficient
strength. If its too wet, just spread it out on the floor or in a tub
and allow to dry a bit, and remix. Greensand thats used can be added
to unused sand and remixed/ retempered to proper consistency. ONce it
no longer retempers and retains its green strength its time to add
more fullers earth or toss it all and start again. The more its used
up to a certain point the better it works, so the darker and more
brown/ black it becomes the better is works.

Have fun


On 6 Feb 2006 07:18:28 -0800, "ronpriest"
wrote:

Well From what i can gather so far from the net bentonite is fullers
earth and is the chief constituent in cat litter and speedi dry
(industrial absorbent).
I assume fine sand ie silver sand or childs playsand as we call it in
this country can be mixed with crushed cat litter and a little water
to make a form of casting sand.
I wander how many Females realize that fullers earth (used as a
cleansing cream by women worldwide) is really crushed Kats litter ! The
mind boggles

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Another bit of Trivia about Fuller Earth.

It is one of the main fillers in Acetylene bottles, along with Asbestos
and
aids in holding the Acetone evenly distributed. The Acetone is there to
absorb the gas (from calcium carbide). Were it not for this absorption of
the gas, it couldn't be compress more than about 30 psi without becoming
unstable and exploding.

The above comes from my memory of things I learned as Steamfitter
apprentice, 50 years ago. (and maybe slightly confuse but to the best of
my
recollection.) FWIW.

I seem to recall another bit of useless(?) info about fullers earth. It is
or was , used with some oils as a stock filler in the finishing of
gunstocks. It's used because it won't dull the cutters when checkering the
stock.


--
Tom Wait
Barton Rifle Shop
1805 Barton Ave Suite #9
West Bend, Wisconsin 53090
(262) 306-RIFL (7435)

Steve

Roy wrote:
Cool I learned something today, fullers earth is bentonite clay....


You probably don't want to learn it.

"Diatomaceous earth is composed of the opalescent silica shells of
microscopic free swimming plants while bentonite is a swelling
montmorillinite clay mineral that results from the weathering of
volcanic ash deposits."

Kevin Gallimore

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On Mon, 06 Feb 2006 17:40:38 -0500, axolotl
wrote:
Roy wrote:
Cool I learned something today, fullers earth is bentonite clay....

I new diatomaceous earth was in no way suitable for greensand except
perhaps for parting dust......but fullers earth is a montmorillonite
clay which should be suitable for making greensand form.

Bentonite is used in so many products its unreal.....
There is a huge mine about 7 miles from me that they have been working
for years and years. I can get all I want for free if I just go shovel
it up in the wharehouse / processing section, as its so plentifiul
that they just push it out the door with skid loaders when the clean
up the place...Dirt cheap to buy.......but I use sodium based
bentonite more than calcium based, and that comes from the western
portin of the USA.......I had a seep in my poind last year and pumped
it with sodium bentonite slurry and it stopped it up pretty darn
quick. I just lucked out and found a well driller that had a tank
truck full of the slurry already mixed and needed a place to dump
it........My pond was a perfect candidate...

http://www.mindat.org/min-2821.html





You probably don't want to learn it.

"Diatomaceous earth is composed of the opalescent silica shells of
microscopic free swimming plants while bentonite is a swelling
montmorillinite clay mineral that results from the weathering of
volcanic ash deposits."

Kevin Gallimore

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

A good general-purpose sand that I use is made from:

Fine Sand 28 pounds
Fire Clay 3 pounds
Western Bentonite 1 1/2 pounds
Water as needed, so that a handfull holds its shape when squeezed but
does not feel wet.

This sand mix will have about 15% clay and will give a smooth surface
with aluminum if your sand is fine enough. I use a fine grade of
sandblast sand from a local builder's supply house. Southern
bentonite may have some advantages but the western type is all that is
available in my area. You will need to experiment with whatever type of
clay you can get locally if you can't get bentonite.

Bentonite by itself will give good results if you have a power sand
mixer, such as a muller, available to crush the clay-sand balls that
have a tendency to form, however if you are going to mix the sand by
hand then the addition of fire clay will reduce the excessive
stickiness. At least this has been my experience.

Mike

Roy wrote:

There is a huge mine about 7 miles from me that they have been working
for years and years. I can get all I want for free if I just go shovel
it up in the wharehouse / processing section, as its so plentifiul
that they just push it out the door with skid loaders when the clean
up the place...Dirt cheap to buy.......but I use sodium based
bentonite more than calcium based, and that comes from the western
portin of the USA.....

Yea, I answered the wrong post again. I want to try a clay that is found
in layers on sand riverbanks around here, a gray, sticky, fine mess that
will stain anything it touches. I want to mix it with beach sand to see
if the mixture could have been used as foundry sand long ago.

Here's another use for clay.
The gray clay is used to prepare Jersey baked duck (I havent tried it,
perhaps Ed has).

Build a fire in the sand.
Gut the freshly shot duck.
Coat the duck with a layer of the sticky gray clay.
Put the clay coated duck in the coals.
Go away for a while.
Return, pull the duck out of the coals.
Crack the clay layer and pull off the clay.
Most of the feathers will stick to the clay, leaving you with a plucked
,cooked duck.
The clay has absorbed the excess oil from the duck.



Kevin Gallimore

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David Billington writes:

I think also known as kieselgur and diatomatious earth.

Absolutely wrong. Not even close.

I have Located a source of supply for bentonite in the Uk its available
from Potters supply
houses in a powder form and is reasonably cheap mail order they also
sell fire clay will be trying this out in the near future thanks every
one for the input on this I now have a good idea of what I am trying to
mix together and cant wait to try it all out maybe this weekend.
Also Located some oil bonded casting sand which is rather expensive but
similar to petrobond brand in the states.
its called Mansbond.
The price is £15-00 / 25 kg bag + VAT.
Carriage is £16-25 + VAT to my area

Think i will try the bentonite sand mix as you all suggest first
Thanks for all the tips and interesting remarks on fullers earth
Best Regards
Ron Priest

Petrobond.now your talking. Thats the best most easiest sand to use
IMHO........pricey yes as compared to run of the mill bentonite based
greensand, but overall it has a lot more benefits......
Then again you probably will not need all those benefits right now and
wold gain more from understanding how and what to do with reg
greensand, but just one benefit of oil bonded sand like petrobond is
that you can go much finer, up to 180 mesh or more in sand particle
size and pick up a lot more detail, than water bonded sands can.

On 7 Feb 2006 04:52:00 -0800, "ronpriest"
wrote:
I have Located a source of supply for bentonite in the Uk its available
from Potters supply
houses in a powder form and is reasonably cheap mail order they also
sell fire clay will be trying this out in the near future thanks every
one for the input on this I now have a good idea of what I am trying to
mix together and cant wait to try it all out maybe this weekend.
Also Located some oil bonded casting sand which is rather expensive but
similar to petrobond brand in the states.
its called Mansbond.
The price is £15-00 / 25 kg bag + VAT.
Carriage is £16-25 + VAT to my area

Think i will try the bentonite sand mix as you all suggest first
Thanks for all the tips and interesting remarks on fullers earth
Best Regards
Ron Priest


--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....