I 've been saving all my 6061-T6 scraps for ages. I was planning to do some
casting with it, but now that I am getting close I find that 6061 - T6 is
reported to be not very good for casting. I wasn't planning to make
structural parts out of it or anything, but is there anything I can do with
the stuff other than sell it to the recycler for pennies on the pound?

Seems like it has to be formed at pressure and temperature to be of much
use.

On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 16:04:36 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I 've been saving all my 6061-T6 scraps for ages. I was planning to do some
casting with it, but now that I am getting close I find that 6061 - T6 is
reported to be not very good for casting. I wasn't planning to make
structural parts out of it or anything, but is there anything I can do with
the stuff other than sell it to the recycler for pennies on the pound?

Seems like it has to be formed at pressure and temperature to be of much
use.

I've never tried it, but it's supposed to be a fairly good casting
material. Why don't you just give it a try?

BTW, the T6 temper has nothing to do with it. Long before you reach
melting temperature, the temper is gone and it's indistinguishable
from annealed 6061.

--
Ed Huntress

On 8/31/2017 8:37 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 16:04:36 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I 've been saving all my 6061-T6 scraps for ages. I was planning to do some
casting with it, but now that I am getting close I find that 6061 - T6 is
reported to be not very good for casting. I wasn't planning to make
structural parts out of it or anything, but is there anything I can do with
the stuff other than sell it to the recycler for pennies on the pound?

Seems like it has to be formed at pressure and temperature to be of much
use.
I've never tried it, but it's supposed to be a fairly good casting
material. Why don't you just give it a try?

BTW, the T6 temper has nothing to do with it. Long before you reach
melting temperature, the temper is gone and it's indistinguishable
from annealed 6061.

Â* For a pure 6061 casting to be reasonably machinable it needs to be
chilled as soon as it comes out of the mold and then aged for a while or
it's gummy and smears . Aluminum that was cast originally will machine
easier right out of the mold but also is harder on (HSS) tooling .

Â* --

Â* Snag

"Terry Coombs" wrote in message news
On 8/31/2017 8:37 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 16:04:36 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I 've been saving all my 6061-T6 scraps for ages. I was planning to do
some
casting with it, but now that I am getting close I find that 6061 - T6 is
reported to be not very good for casting. I wasn't planning to make
structural parts out of it or anything, but is there anything I can do
with
the stuff other than sell it to the recycler for pennies on the pound?

Seems like it has to be formed at pressure and temperature to be of much
use.
I've never tried it, but it's supposed to be a fairly good casting
material. Why don't you just give it a try?

BTW, the T6 temper has nothing to do with it. Long before you reach
melting temperature, the temper is gone and it's indistinguishable
from annealed 6061.

For a pure 6061 casting to be reasonably machinable it needs to be
chilled as soon as it comes out of the mold and then aged for a while or
it's gummy and smears . Aluminum that was cast originally will machine
easier right out of the mold but also is harder on (HSS) tooling .

**************

Terry,

I was thinking of pouring thick (1-2") bars and rough round stock for
machining for non critical parts. The one video I found that claimed to be
casting stock like that from 6061 (thick bars) for machining was cooling a
steel mold in a kiddy pool filled with water with an anvil in it for
additional heat sinking. Seemed like as soon as it was hard enough to not
run out of the mold it went into the pool and boiled off water for a while.
I wonder if a super quench solution would cool it down faster, and if it
would be a good idea. They had half a dozen bricks cast that you could see
at the end of their video, and they looked decent.

Another technique I've read about with fair test results in 6061 seems to be
doing something similar. Its called ablation molding where they use a sand
mold (or other easily dissolved away mold, and start jetting it away with
water when its right at the cusp of going from liquid to solid.

Yeah, Ed.

I was aware the T6 was a designation of its hardening process.

On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 20:59:45 -0500, Terry Coombs
wrote:

On 8/31/2017 8:37 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 16:04:36 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I 've been saving all my 6061-T6 scraps for ages. I was planning to do some
casting with it, but now that I am getting close I find that 6061 - T6 is
reported to be not very good for casting. I wasn't planning to make
structural parts out of it or anything, but is there anything I can do with
the stuff other than sell it to the recycler for pennies on the pound?

Seems like it has to be formed at pressure and temperature to be of much
use.
I've never tried it, but it's supposed to be a fairly good casting
material. Why don't you just give it a try?

BTW, the T6 temper has nothing to do with it. Long before you reach
melting temperature, the temper is gone and it's indistinguishable
from annealed 6061.

* For a pure 6061 casting to be reasonably machinable it needs to be
chilled as soon as it comes out of the mold and then aged for a while or
it's gummy and smears . Aluminum that was cast originally will machine
easier right out of the mold but also is harder on (HSS) tooling .

* --

* Snag

Right, but Bob mentioned T6 a couple of times, and I wanted to be sure
that he knew that had nothing to do with 6061's castability.

--
Ed Huntress

On Thursday, August 31, 2017 at 7:04:40 PM UTC-4, Bob La Londe wrote:
I 've been saving all my 6061-T6 scraps for ages. I was planning to do some
casting with it, but now that I am getting close I find that 6061 - T6 is
reported to be not very good for casting.
Seems like it has to be formed at pressure and temperature to be of much

My local scrap yard is very friendly. If I had a bunch of scrap 6061 I would ask about swapping it for an equal weight of aluminium castings. Your local scrap yard may not be as nice, but it would not hurt to ask.

Dan

On 9/1/2017 2:54 AM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 20:59:45 -0500, Terry Coombs
wrote:

On 8/31/2017 8:37 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 16:04:36 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I 've been saving all my 6061-T6 scraps for ages. I was planning to do some
casting with it, but now that I am getting close I find that 6061 - T6 is
reported to be not very good for casting. I wasn't planning to make
structural parts out of it or anything, but is there anything I can do with
the stuff other than sell it to the recycler for pennies on the pound?

Seems like it has to be formed at pressure and temperature to be of much
use.
I've never tried it, but it's supposed to be a fairly good casting
material. Why don't you just give it a try?

BTW, the T6 temper has nothing to do with it. Long before you reach
melting temperature, the temper is gone and it's indistinguishable
from annealed 6061.

Â* For a pure 6061 casting to be reasonably machinable it needs to be
chilled as soon as it comes out of the mold and then aged for a while or
it's gummy and smears . Aluminum that was cast originally will machine
easier right out of the mold but also is harder on (HSS) tooling .

Â* --

Â* Snag
Right, but Bob mentioned T6 a couple of times, and I wanted to be sure
that he knew that had nothing to do with 6061's castability.

Â* The chill and aging both contribute to the hardness of the ingot .
Can't get it back to T6 without special treatment , but maybe T4 or T5 ...

Â* __

Â* Snag

"Terry Coombs" wrote in message news
On 9/1/2017 2:54 AM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 20:59:45 -0500, Terry Coombs
wrote:

On 8/31/2017 8:37 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 16:04:36 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I 've been saving all my 6061-T6 scraps for ages. I was planning to do
some
casting with it, but now that I am getting close I find that 6061 - T6
is
reported to be not very good for casting. I wasn't planning to make
structural parts out of it or anything, but is there anything I can do
with
the stuff other than sell it to the recycler for pennies on the pound?

Seems like it has to be formed at pressure and temperature to be of
much
use.
I've never tried it, but it's supposed to be a fairly good casting
material. Why don't you just give it a try?

BTW, the T6 temper has nothing to do with it. Long before you reach
melting temperature, the temper is gone and it's indistinguishable
from annealed 6061.

For a pure 6061 casting to be reasonably machinable it needs to be
chilled as soon as it comes out of the mold and then aged for a while or
it's gummy and smears . Aluminum that was cast originally will machine
easier right out of the mold but also is harder on (HSS) tooling .

--

Snag
Right, but Bob mentioned T6 a couple of times, and I wanted to be sure
that he knew that had nothing to do with 6061's castability.

The chill and aging both contribute to the hardness of the ingot .
Can't get it back to T6 without special treatment , but maybe T4 or T5 ...
*********
Seems going from liquid to solid quickly results in smaller grain size.
Might have to do some experiments then with cooling speed using water, super
quench, and circulated refrigerated super quench. I have very little HSS
tooling other than drill bits and a few hand ground lathe bits. Just about
all of my mills are carbide, and I tend to reach for carbide insert tools on
the lathe except for nasty cuts where the slightly better flex of HSS might
survive better.

Have to make molds from low carbon steel or they might shatter. That could
get interesting. LOL.

On 01/09/17 20:36, Bob La Londe wrote:
"Terry Coombs" wrote in message news
On 9/1/2017 2:54 AM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 20:59:45 -0500, Terry Coombs
wrote:

On 8/31/2017 8:37 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 16:04:36 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I 've been saving all my 6061-T6 scraps for ages. I was planning
to do some
casting with it, but now that I am getting close I find that 6061
- T6 is
reported to be not very good for casting. I wasn't planning to make
structural parts out of it or anything, but is there anything I
can do with
the stuff other than sell it to the recycler for pennies on the
pound?

Seems like it has to be formed at pressure and temperature to be
of much
use.
I've never tried it, but it's supposed to be a fairly good casting
material. Why don't you just give it a try?

BTW, the T6 temper has nothing to do with it. Long before you reach
melting temperature, the temper is gone and it's indistinguishable
from annealed 6061.

For a pure 6061 casting to be reasonably machinable it needs to be
chilled as soon as it comes out of the mold and then aged for a
while or
it's gummy and smears . Aluminum that was cast originally will machine
easier right out of the mold but also is harder on (HSS) tooling .

--

Snag
Right, but Bob mentioned T6 a couple of times, and I wanted to be sure
that he knew that had nothing to do with 6061's castability.

The chill and aging both contribute to the hardness of the ingot .
Can't get it back to T6 without special treatment , but maybe T4 or T5
...
*********
Seems going from liquid to solid quickly results in smaller grain
size. Might have to do some experiments then with cooling speed using
water, super quench, and circulated refrigerated super quench. I have
very little HSS tooling other than drill bits and a few hand ground
lathe bits. Just about all of my mills are carbide, and I tend to
reach for carbide insert tools on the lathe except for nasty cuts
where the slightly better flex of HSS might survive better.

Have to make molds from low carbon steel or they might shatter. That
could get interesting. LOL.




A mate works in engine design and development and he has mentioned
before that things like cylinder heads are carefully cast so IIRC the
main cooling is at the cylinder head face which results in the most
beneficial dendrite formation resulting in the highest material
properties and as it is critical they also use virgin alloys for those
products to ensure the proper metallurgy. Maybe not an issue in your case.

"David Billington" wrote in message news
On 01/09/17 20:36, Bob La Londe wrote:
"Terry Coombs" wrote in message news
On 9/1/2017 2:54 AM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 20:59:45 -0500, Terry Coombs
wrote:

On 8/31/2017 8:37 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 16:04:36 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I 've been saving all my 6061-T6 scraps for ages. I was planning to
do some
casting with it, but now that I am getting close I find that 6061 - T6
is
reported to be not very good for casting. I wasn't planning to make
structural parts out of it or anything, but is there anything I can do
with
the stuff other than sell it to the recycler for pennies on the pound?

Seems like it has to be formed at pressure and temperature to be of
much
use.
I've never tried it, but it's supposed to be a fairly good casting
material. Why don't you just give it a try?

BTW, the T6 temper has nothing to do with it. Long before you reach
melting temperature, the temper is gone and it's indistinguishable
from annealed 6061.

For a pure 6061 casting to be reasonably machinable it needs to be
chilled as soon as it comes out of the mold and then aged for a while or
it's gummy and smears . Aluminum that was cast originally will machine
easier right out of the mold but also is harder on (HSS) tooling .

--

Snag
Right, but Bob mentioned T6 a couple of times, and I wanted to be sure
that he knew that had nothing to do with 6061's castability.

The chill and aging both contribute to the hardness of the ingot .
Can't get it back to T6 without special treatment , but maybe T4 or T5 ...
*********
Seems going from liquid to solid quickly results in smaller grain size.
Might have to do some experiments then with cooling speed using water,
super quench, and circulated refrigerated super quench. I have very
little HSS tooling other than drill bits and a few hand ground lathe bits.
Just about all of my mills are carbide, and I tend to reach for carbide
insert tools on the lathe except for nasty cuts where the slightly better
flex of HSS might survive better.

Have to make molds from low carbon steel or they might shatter. That could
get interesting. LOL.




A mate works in engine design and development and he has mentioned
before that things like cylinder heads are carefully cast so IIRC the
main cooling is at the cylinder head face which results in the most
beneficial dendrite formation resulting in the highest material
properties and as it is critical they also use virgin alloys for those
products to ensure the proper metallurgy. Maybe not an issue in your case.

That's interesting to know. It might also be so the face holds shape and
continues to draw metal from the rear as it shrinks and cools.
Hemispherical heads are cool, but I suspect not such much for a piston.
LOL. Yeah, not super important for what I currently plan to do, but who
knows what I might try in the future. I never thought I'd be working in
machining when my wife gave me that little toy 7x10 lathe for Christmas 2005
either. Figured I'd die as a communication contractor up in somebody's
attic with the wire I was pulling clamped in my teeth in a knock down drag
out fight trying to fend off giant mutant rats with a pair of pliers and a
razor knife. LOL.

Use Flux for Al. Keep Oxygen out of the hot metal. It will become
a sponge of tiny holes.

Float Al Flux over the pour and in the pour bucket as well.

Be sure to use the correct flux.

Martin

On 8/31/2017 10:30 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
"Terry Coombs"Â* wrote in message news
On 8/31/2017 8:37 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2017 16:04:36 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

I 've been saving all my 6061-T6 scraps for ages.Â* I was planning to
do some
casting with it, but now that I am getting close I find that 6061 -
T6 is
reported to be not very good for casting.Â* I wasn't planning to make
structural parts out of it or anything, but is there anything I can
do with
the stuff other than sell it to the recycler for pennies on the pound?

Seems like it has to be formed at pressure and temperature to be of much
use.
I've never tried it, but it's supposed to be a fairly good casting
material.Â* Why don't you just give it a try?

BTW, the T6 temper has nothing to do with it. Long before you reach
melting temperature, the temper is gone and it's indistinguishable
from annealed 6061.

Â* For a pure 6061 casting to be reasonably machinable it needs to be
chilled as soon as it comes out of the mold and then aged for a while or
it's gummy and smears . Aluminum that was cast originally will machine
easier right out of the mold but also is harder on (HSS) tooling .

**************

Terry,

I was thinking of pouring thick (1-2") bars and rough round stock for
machining for non critical parts.Â* The one video I found that claimed to
be casting stock like that from 6061 (thick bars) for machining was
cooling a steel mold in a kiddy pool filled with water with an anvil in
it for additional heat sinking.Â* Seemed like as soon as it was hard
enough to not run out of the mold it went into the pool and boiled off
water for a while. I wonder if a super quench solution would cool it
down faster, and if it would be a good idea. They had half a dozen
bricks cast that you could see at the end of their video, and they
looked decent.

Another technique I've read about with fair test results in 6061 seems
to be doing something similar.Â* Its called ablation molding where they
use a sand mold (or other easily dissolved away mold, and start jetting
it away with water when its right at the cusp of going from liquid to
solid.

Yeah, Ed.

I was aware the T6 was a designation of its hardening process.

On 9/1/2017 11:31 PM, Martin Eastburn wrote:
Use Flux for Al.Â*Â* Keep Oxygen out of the hot metal.Â* It will become
a sponge of tiny holes.

Float Al Flux over the pour and in the pour bucket as well.

Be sure to use the correct flux.

Martin


Â* Martin , have you actually cast any aluminum ? I use sodium
hypochlorite in the melt just before casting to degas the HYDROGEN in
the melt . The H2 comes from water vapor coming from the LPG flame I use
to melt it . Depending on how much crud is in my feed stock I may also
flux for other stuff , but not always . I never float a flux on the melt
while pouring . Brass , though is a different matter . I do float a
cover of ground glass to prevent oxidation and monitor the temp closely
to prevent vaporizing the zinc out of the melt .

Â* --

Â* Snag

Yes I did. Depends on the water in the air - to much and more hydrogen
is brought in as it gets hot.

On 9/2/2017 1:50 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
On 9/1/2017 11:31 PM, Martin Eastburn wrote:
Use Flux for Al.Â*Â* Keep Oxygen out of the hot metal.Â* It will become
a sponge of tiny holes.

Float Al Flux over the pour and in the pour bucket as well.

Be sure to use the correct flux.

Martin


Â* Martin , have you actually cast any aluminum ? I use sodium
hypochlorite in the melt just before casting to degas the HYDROGEN in
the melt . The H2 comes from water vapor coming from the LPG flame I use
to melt it . Depending on how much crud is in my feed stock I may also
flux for other stuff , but not always . I never float a flux on the melt
while pouring . Brass , though is a different matter . I do float a
cover of ground glass to prevent oxidation and monitor the temp closely
to prevent vaporizing the zinc out of the melt .

Â* --

Â* Snag

So you are saying I should cast on a cold January or in June and July before
the humidity moves in for summer.



"Martin Eastburn" wrote in message ...

Yes I did. Depends on the water in the air - to much and more hydrogen
is brought in as it gets hot.

On 9/2/2017 1:50 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
On 9/1/2017 11:31 PM, Martin Eastburn wrote:
Use Flux for Al. Keep Oxygen out of the hot metal. It will become
a sponge of tiny holes.

Float Al Flux over the pour and in the pour bucket as well.

Be sure to use the correct flux.

Martin


Martin , have you actually cast any aluminum ? I use sodium
hypochlorite in the melt just before casting to degas the HYDROGEN in the
melt . The H2 comes from water vapor coming from the LPG flame I use to
melt it . Depending on how much crud is in my feed stock I may also flux
for other stuff , but not always . I never float a flux on the melt while
pouring . Brass , though is a different matter . I do float a cover of
ground glass to prevent oxidation and monitor the temp closely to prevent
vaporizing the zinc out of the melt .

--

Snag