Hello all, I am new to this group. I am on some other groups through
Yahoo...not sure if there is much over lap here. I do metal casting
on a hobby level. I have done lost foam, lost wax, greensand, RTV,
and oil bonded sand casting.

Here is a link to my web site which shows my projects:

http://metalshop.homestead.com

Dave

PS: Make sure you check out the riddle.

Very nice castings. And good point on making something at the cost of
$100 that could be bought for $10...

i

Fun site; nice work
thanks
JR
Dweller in the cellar

metalshop wrote:
Hello all, I am new to this group. I am on some other groups through
Yahoo...not sure if there is much over lap here. I do metal casting
on a hobby level. I have done lost foam, lost wax, greensand, RTV,
and oil bonded sand casting.

Here is a link to my web site which shows my projects:

http://metalshop.homestead.com

Dave

PS: Make sure you check out the riddle.



--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes
Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive
The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me
No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dependence is Vulnerability:
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal"
"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.."

"Ignoramus29233" wrote in message
...
Very nice castings. And good point on making something at the cost of
$100 that could be bought for $10...

i

Ain't that the truth. My wife reps lines of household goods. She got a new
catalog the other day from a manufacturer that makes plant stands, wall
hanging shelves, ornamental metal items. Mostly out of curved small rods,
and some light angle and flat bar.

I could make the exact same thing, but it would take me hours and hours to
do it. We bought one REALLY nice looking 3' gate once to keep the grandkids
from going up the stairs. It was solid 1/4" square bar, lots of stamped
designs, lots of twisted spirals, etc. It was $43. I couldn't have built
it in three days, and didn't have the equipment for making the spirals and
bends. Had a really nice layered color paint job, too.

Steve

"metalshop" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello all, I am new to this group. I am on some other groups through
Yahoo...not sure if there is much over lap here. I do metal casting
on a hobby level. I have done lost foam, lost wax, greensand, RTV,
and oil bonded sand casting.

Here is a link to my web site which shows my projects:

http://metalshop.homestead.com

Dave

PS: Make sure you check out the riddle.

Interesting site! Welcome to the group even though I am not an official
welcome, just an occasional poster, frequent lurker.

I never heard of lost foam. I have an investment casting setup in my shop
and cast aluminum and bronze from time to time. Use the lost wax method.

I imagine you burn out the foam the same as you would the wax? How do you
maintain a nice slick surface finish without using self skinning urethane
foams?

Wayne
www.pueblaprotocol.com

"Wayne Lundberg" wrote in message
...
snip-----

I imagine you burn out the foam the same as you would the wax? How do you
maintain a nice slick surface finish without using self skinning urethane
foams?


Dry sand is poured around the pattern, which is foam board (pink or blue
insulation board) or a pattern made from polystyrene bead, and then the
metal is introduced, which burns away the form and replaces it. It sounds
like it wouldn't work, but they're doing some pretty decent casting that
way.

Harold

On Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:12:28 GMT, "Harold and Susan Vordos"
wrote:


"Wayne Lundberg" wrote in message
...
snip-----

I imagine you burn out the foam the same as you would the wax? How do you
maintain a nice slick surface finish without using self skinning urethane
foams?


Dry sand is poured around the pattern, which is foam board (pink or blue
insulation board) or a pattern made from polystyrene bead, and then the
metal is introduced, which burns away the form and replaces it. It sounds
like it wouldn't work, but they're doing some pretty decent casting that
way.

Harold

I don't know how old the technique is (lost foam), but some
of the guys were messing around with it over 30 years ago in
my high school shop class. Pretty much everything we cast
back then was aluminum, no other metals that I knew of.

Sure wish I could go back in time and make better use of
that opportunity with what I know (or think I know now.

I did make a pretty cool split mold meat tenderizer for one
of my class projects. Milled the heads from aluminum and
spun the rest of it on a lathe in the wood shop. Pegged and
split it down the center of the handle. I suspect the
teacher held on to that one for show & tell/examples in
future classes. He was a bit dubious of it until seeing the
finished item.

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

"Leon Fisk" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:12:28 GMT, "Harold and Susan Vordos"
wrote:


"Wayne Lundberg" wrote in message
...
snip-----

I imagine you burn out the foam the same as you would the wax? How do
you
maintain a nice slick surface finish without using self skinning
urethane
foams?


Dry sand is poured around the pattern, which is foam board (pink or blue
insulation board) or a pattern made from polystyrene bead, and then the
metal is introduced, which burns away the form and replaces it. It
sounds
like it wouldn't work, but they're doing some pretty decent casting that
way.

Harold

I don't know how old the technique is (lost foam), but some
of the guys were messing around with it over 30 years ago in
my high school shop class. Pretty much everything we cast
back then was aluminum, no other metals that I knew of.

The first I heard of it was at about the same time, maybe 1978, when I was
an editor at _American Machinist_. My vague recollection was that it first
came as a press release from Ford Motor Company about work they were doing
with the process.

--
Ed Huntress

On Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:08:17 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

snip Lost Foam description
The first I heard of it was at about the same time, maybe 1978, when I was
an editor at _American Machinist_. My vague recollection was that it first
came as a press release from Ford Motor Company about work they were doing
with the process.

This would have been ~1976 and I doubt if a high school shop
class was using any cutting edge techniques

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

"Leon Fisk" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:08:17 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

snip Lost Foam description
The first I heard of it was at about the same time, maybe 1978, when I was
an editor at _American Machinist_. My vague recollection was that it first
came as a press release from Ford Motor Company about work they were doing
with the process.

This would have been ~1976 and I doubt if a high school shop
class was using any cutting edge techniques

Now that I'm thinking about it, I also saw mention of it somewhere else at
about the same time. It may have been Caterpillar.

Anyway, the idea was around, and people were experimenting with it. Ford had
pioneered the production "thin-wall" casting of iron with their
Fairlane/Mustang/Cobra etc. small-block (221, 260, 289, etc.) as early as
1961 or so and they were in the forefront of production casting technology
at the time.

--
Ed Huntress

On Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:36:45 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"Leon Fisk" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:08:17 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

snip Lost Foam description
The first I heard of it was at about the same time, maybe 1978, when I was
an editor at _American Machinist_. My vague recollection was that it first
came as a press release from Ford Motor Company about work they were doing
with the process.

This would have been ~1976 and I doubt if a high school shop
class was using any cutting edge techniques

Now that I'm thinking about it, I also saw mention of it somewhere else at
about the same time. It may have been Caterpillar.

Anyway, the idea was around, and people were experimenting with it. Ford had
pioneered the production "thin-wall" casting of iron with their
Fairlane/Mustang/Cobra etc. small-block (221, 260, 289, etc.) as early as
1961 or so and they were in the forefront of production casting technology
at the time.
========
google on "lost foam" for 163k hits
to start click on
http://www.lostfoam.com/content/feat...s/article1.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost-foam_casting
http://ezinearticles.com/?Lost-Wax-a...sses.&id=85804
http://www.enigmetallic.com/LFMC.htm
http://www.sculpture.net/community/a...hp/t-4880.html

some tips on improving surface finish
http://www.theworkshop.ca/metcastmac...FMC4/LFMC4.htm


Unka' George [George McDuffee]
============
Merchants have no country.
The mere spot they stand on
does not constitute so strong an attachment
as that from which they draw their gains.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826),
U.S. president. Letter, 17 March 1814.

"F. George McDuffee" wrote in message
...

snip

google on "lost foam" for 163k hits
to start click on
http://www.lostfoam.com/content/feat...s/article1.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost-foam_casting
http://ezinearticles.com/?Lost-Wax-a...sses.&id=85804
http://www.enigmetallic.com/LFMC.htm
http://www.sculpture.net/community/a...hp/t-4880.html

some tips on improving surface finish
http://www.theworkshop.ca/metcastmac...FMC4/LFMC4.htm

Good stuff, George. Thanks.

--
Ed Huntress

On Sep 16, 1:23 pm, "Wayne Lundberg"
wrote:
"metalshop" wrote in message

ups.com... Hello all, I am new to this group. I am on some other groups through
Yahoo...not sure if there is much over lap here. I do metal casting
on a hobby level. I have done lost foam, lost wax, greensand, RTV,
and oil bonded sand casting.

Here is a link to my web site which shows my projects:

http://metalshop.homestead.com

Dave

PS: Make sure you check out the riddle.

Interesting site! Welcome to the group even though I am not an official
welcome, just an occasional poster, frequent lurker.

I never heard of lost foam. I have an investment casting setup in my shop
and cast aluminum and bronze from time to time. Use the lost wax method.

I imagine you burn out the foam the same as you would the wax? How do you
maintain a nice slick surface finish without using self skinning urethane
foams?

Waynewww.pueblaprotocol.com

No, that is what makes lost foam so easy...there is no burn out. You
simply pour the metal into the foam and the metal evaporates the foam
and takes it's place. It isn't easy to get a good finish
however...some people use a thin coating of drywall mud to help keep
the surface nice and smooth. Also, using a foam that has a small bead
makes the finish nicer.

Dave