lost foam casting - follow up
 

flux and degasser

Two cheap tips for aluminum casting:

(1) Use canning or rock salt as a flux when melting. It will float on
top of the melt protecting the aluminum and if the charge is salvage
metal it seems to cause the contaminates to separate so these can be
skimmed or sink to the bottom. Learned this from watching an aluminum
salvage operation.

(2) For degasser, fill a piece of =BD inch black iron pipe about 4
inches long with swimming pool chlorine powder. (much cheaper than the
tablets). Use a wad of aluminum foil or brown paper in each end of the
pipe to keep the powder in. Use tongs to plunge the pipe to the bottom
of your crucible and stir it around. Be careful not to breath the
fumes!

If you are getting porosity in your castings, check the pigs/ingots
that you pour when the molds are full. If these are sound most likely
the metal is too hot.

Try painting the bottom and sides of your foam patterns with water
glass (solution of sodium silicate) and let dry. Use plaster or sand
to support the coated foam pattern. I can get very smooth surfaces
this way.

I want to say that the alum foundry I programmed for used potatoes for a
degasser. I do know that they put the potatoes in their melts for something.

wrote in message
ups.com...
flux and degasser

Two cheap tips for aluminum casting:

(1) Use canning or rock salt as a flux when melting. It will float on
top of the melt protecting the aluminum and if the charge is salvage
metal it seems to cause the contaminates to separate so these can be
skimmed or sink to the bottom. Learned this from watching an aluminum
salvage operation.

(2) For degasser, fill a piece of ½ inch black iron pipe about 4
inches long with swimming pool chlorine powder. (much cheaper than the
tablets). Use a wad of aluminum foil or brown paper in each end of the
pipe to keep the powder in. Use tongs to plunge the pipe to the bottom
of your crucible and stir it around. Be careful not to breath the
fumes!

If you are getting porosity in your castings, check the pigs/ingots
that you pour when the molds are full. If these are sound most likely
the metal is too hot.

Try painting the bottom and sides of your foam patterns with water
glass (solution of sodium silicate) and let dry. Use plaster or sand
to support the coated foam pattern. I can get very smooth surfaces
this way.

In article ,
"Tim Williams" wrote:

[...]

Morton Lite Salt (half the sodium of normal salt)

That's officially the funniest thing I've heard of in a long time. I
had to run out to the store just to see some for myself, and sure
enough, there it was--unsalted salt.

--
B.B. --I am not a goat! thegoat4 at airmail dot net
http://web2.airmail.net/thegoat4/

"B.B." u wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Tim Williams" wrote:

[...]

Morton Lite Salt (half the sodium of normal salt)

That's officially the funniest thing I've heard of in a long time. I
had to run out to the store just to see some for myself, and sure
enough, there it was--unsalted salt.

Hey! Whaddabout "low-fat margarine"?

Same schtick, different fork.

--
Jeff R.

Jeff R. wrote:
"B.B." u wrote in
message news:DoNotSpamthegoat4-
...
In article ,
"Tim Williams" wrote:

[...]

Morton Lite Salt (half the sodium of normal salt)

That's officially the funniest thing I've heard of in a long
time. I had to run out to the store just to see some for myself,
and sure enough, there it was--unsalted salt.

Hey! Whaddabout "low-fat margarine"?

Same schtick, different fork.

And 'no fat' sour cream?
I *don't* want to know what's in that.
--
http://www.rupert.net/~solar
Return address supplied by 'spammotel'
http://www.spammotel.com

"Ken Davey" wrote in message
...
Jeff R. wrote:
"B.B." u wrote in
message news:DoNotSpamthegoat4-
...
In article ,
"Tim Williams" wrote:

[...]

Morton Lite Salt (half the sodium of normal salt)

That's officially the funniest thing I've heard of in a long
time. I had to run out to the store just to see some for myself,
and sure enough, there it was--unsalted salt.

Hey! Whaddabout "low-fat margarine"?

Same schtick, different fork.

And 'no fat' sour cream?
I *don't* want to know what's in that.

Ask Gunner. He probably knows how to turn it into home-made C4, for use with
primer caps made out of M&Ms and red pepper.

Ed Huntress

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 21:41:24 -0600, "Ken Davey"
wrote:

Jeff R. wrote:
"B.B." u wrote in
message news:DoNotSpamthegoat4-
...
In article ,
"Tim Williams" wrote:

[...]

Morton Lite Salt (half the sodium of normal salt)

That's officially the funniest thing I've heard of in a long
time. I had to run out to the store just to see some for myself,
and sure enough, there it was--unsalted salt.

Hey! Whaddabout "low-fat margarine"?

Same schtick, different fork.

And 'no fat' sour cream?
I *don't* want to know what's in that.
I spotted that the other day in one of our stores; but the one that
got me was several years ago when I found "margarine flavored butter"
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 22:56:55 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

"Ken Davey" wrote in message
...
Jeff R. wrote:
"B.B." u wrote in
message news:DoNotSpamthegoat4-
...
In article ,
"Tim Williams" wrote:

[...]

Morton Lite Salt (half the sodium of normal salt)

That's officially the funniest thing I've heard of in a long
time. I had to run out to the store just to see some for myself,
and sure enough, there it was--unsalted salt.

Hey! Whaddabout "low-fat margarine"?

Same schtick, different fork. ma

And 'no fat' sour cream?
I *don't* want to know what's in that.

Ask Gunner. He probably knows how to turn it into home-made C4, for use with
primer caps made out of M&Ms and red pepper.

Ed Huntress

Hummm how much lactose or glycerine can you get out of that sort of
fat? The lactose may likely be suseptibal to nitrating (milk sugar)
mannitol haxanitrate. Then there is casein nitrate....

Primers are very hard to make. Most of the simpler compounds require a
bit of mercury or other metals to fulminate.

If you are the nervy type..there is iodine and ammonia....

Gunner

"To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem.
To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized,
merely the domesticated." - Trefor Thomas

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 01:15:04 -0500, Gerald Miller
calmly ranted:

And 'no fat' sour cream?
I *don't* want to know what's in that.
I spotted that the other day in one of our stores; but the one that
got me was several years ago when I found "margarine flavored butter"

I was floored a few years ago when a TV ad for "Oil-free Oil of Olay"
lotion came on. How dey do dat?


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Ken Davey wrote:
Jeff R. wrote:

(snip)

And 'no fat' sour cream?
I *don't* want to know what's in that.

Why? It's perfectly obvious, it's all Soy bean extract. :-)
...lew...