/diy/ - Do It Yourself

hat my foundry covered all winter with a mortar tub. had a look last week and fucking mice nested in the fiber blanket layer, tore it all out into the burn chamber.
its unironically ogre and i didnt test my 40kw syphon nozzle once

I'm not one of the nuts who cares about pushing garbage off of page 10, but I am autistic enough to wonder why you didn't continue in the thread you were already blogging in.

>>2785927
I considered it, then I drank a few beers and made an aluminum ashtray, so here we are.

>>2785931
your gate design is trash by the way
you have a step down from the gate to the part bottom which is not bueno, especially for aluminum.
locate the gate deeper than the cavity so it has to completely fill up before it can even fill the mold cavity, that gets rid of a lot of velocity. professional foundrys even use ceramic filter between gate and cavity. easiet way to achive that is put both gate and part at the split line, and have the funnel and ashtray both in the cope, casting it upside down so to speak

>>2785935
>and have the funnel and ashtray both in the cope
fucked that one up, the funnel is in the cope obviously but the gate in the drag

>>2785935
>your gate design is trash by the way
>I did a pretty bad job
Yeah when I first put the pattern in the flask I realized how fucking stupid that was, but it made it easy to fit into this shallow flask. I just rammed another, gonna go fire it up and pour one.

Oh no, the sprue collapsed as I went to pour. So I just poured through the fat feeder in the middle. Got the job done, but noticeably worse than the first one, way more porosity on the surface and plenty of sand stuck here and there. So instead of the file and sanding sponge, I just hit it with the bench grinder, wasn't going to try polishing the turd.

Just how difficult would it be to make a silicone wafer using eBay parts and stuff from the hardware store?

>>2785999
Easy as fuck. You can just squirt some silicone onto a flat surface and smooth it out, wait for it to set, there's your silicone wafer.

>>2785935
I decided to see how "big" I could go despite my shallow flask, while still filling entirely from the bottom. Shitloads more that could be done of course, but this was a fun and simple attempt. It's on the printer now, I'll cast it tomorrow morning. I don't know why I'm still making ashtrays.

man just wants to cast
doesn't care what
just cast
cast
CAST
CAST
CAST
is it possible to do something like the nasa chainmail you can 3d print or is that too defined?
i've always wanted to do shit like this (yeah no excuses)

>>2786020
>is it possible to do something like the nasa chainmail
Absolutely, but challenging. A resin printer and investment casting, maybe vacuum casting. It'd be some work to sprue it well and have it work, but yeah I think that could be done.

>>2786007
careful anon. small flask might work for low density shit like aluminium, but if you ever move on to heavier stuff then you need a heavy and weighted flask, otherwise the weight of the liquid metal will push the sand up. bottom feeding is definitely the way to go, just make sure you calculated the gate cross section to match the funnel and feeder

>>2786007
I said fuck it and made it a double. Went pretty good. A little small, feels like a hotel ashtray. Time to build a bigger flask.

>>2785924
You are the guy burning motor oil with a leaf blower right? I think your project is neat and part of me says that I should try it but another part of me says 3rd degree burns

>>2786342
Do it. Leather gloves, leather boots, leather spats, leather apron, respirator. It's a riot, highly recommended.

>>2786347
>Leather gloves, leather boots, leather spats, leather apron,
You joined a fetish club...

>>2786399
It's hot, sweaty, fumes and gases abound, you handle everything with special tools, you are guaranteed to get dirty, fuck-ups can cause collateral damage, and you deeply regret the mistake of touching something with an ungloved hand. I can see the similarities.

Figured I should do a sand rammer, that's what the internet people do. I've been using an ice-cream scoop, just felt natural.

I've never felt more prepared to pound sand.

>>2786342
Here you go buddy, I burned myself today. I brushed up against my iron stirring rod after using it to mix salt into the aluminum when everything was about 1300°-1350°F. It just brushed away a layer of skin, doesn't even feel like a burn. Hurts less than a bee sting. Pepsi for scale.

>>2786658
>pink dildo

The weather was terrible yesterday, worse today, no casting with 20mph+ winds and 50mph gusts. Hopefully nice enough tomorrow to try new pattern, this one should be fun.

I love burning oil.

Made more flasks, almost. The new ones don't have guides/pins or anything. Tomorrow I'm going to cast some, obviously. Made a Canadian ashtray for some fag I know who fucking loves maples leaves, turned out kind of shit but it'll get the job done. The grips panels turned out excellent, including the little undercut on the left hand grip. Doing whole patterns as plates is just so fucking nice, so much more convenient than dealing with loose patterns. Insert pattern, pound the drag, pound the cope, done, love it. Tomorrow, one pattern to cast, then back to melting more cans. I've thousands to get through.

This fascinates me but I’m far too afraid of getting burned to do it myself. Thanks for sharing OP.

Aw shit, here we go again.

>>2788590
One bucket down, one to go.

>>2788591
1 dozen wittle ingots, each around 180-220g.

>>2788596
Pretty shit, but 100% usable. I like 'em.

>>2788598
This makes me happy though. I still have a shit load of cans to get through, probably another 8 buckets worth. Will I get another 48 ingots? Guess we'll see~

>>2788601
based ingot autist

>>2788601
nice ingots

how many times can you smelt aluminum before it becomes shit?
or does it just shrink in quantity each time?

>>2789001
As long as it's not contaminated by some other metals it's easy to scrape off the dross.

>>2786399
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uOBveFKdGs

>>2789001
You lose a little bit every time, some gets scraped out with other impurities, some is lost to oxidation, but there is no limit to how many times you can melt it. It doesn't denature or degrade.

Today, I made a little pot, around 12oz/350ml.

>>2789093
It didn't go well. Tomorrow I'll smash it with a hammer and re-melt it.

>>2788601
What can these be used for? Easier storage of materials for future projects or something else?

>>2789165
Just that. Melting cans is inconvenient as fuck, it takes a lot of time and a lot of dross scooping. So I do a lot in a big batch and make ingots, then I can use those as material for other projects. Everything I've posted in this thread was cast from ingots which were made from melting cans. There are people who actually like melting scrap and whatnot just to make ingots and collect them, that alone is a their whole hobby. The ingots really have no other value, scrap metal recyclers don't like mystery bricks, it's aluminum so they're very lightweight, and being mixed alloy from cans they're quite soft and weak, you could stick one in a vise and and tear it in half with a hammer.

>>2789095
did you forget to vent

>>2789165
brain see ingot happy chemical

>>2789172
Why don't you get better alloy like scrap car parts? Any auto salvage yard would sell broken parts they're scrapping anyway.

>>2789284
I already have a pile of aluminum bits and bobs like intake manifolds and control arms. I've been doing this for less than two weeks, I wasn't going to start with the good stuff. The cans are free, my fuel is free, and I enjoy the process, so melting down shitloads of cans for little projects is fun. I'll save the better alloys for when I'm making shit that actually matters and actually has to be good, but this is perfect for making trinkets, gifts, and simple tools.

>>2789310
>but this is perfect for making trinkets, gifts, and simple tools
thats where youre wrong, can alloy is made for cold forming and not casting.
you are cucking yourself clinching to those and since a pour is a lot of prep work and success by far not guaranteed it is idiotic to refuse to use a proper casting alloy

>>2789316
>thats where youre wrong
You're mistaken. I've already been happily and successfully using it for trinkets, gifts, and simple tools. Post your castings or enjoy your larp.

>>2789327
now go fuck yourself
>>2785925 but im done for now with the hobby
>and successfully >>2789095 why you think that happend

>>2789333
Wow, that looks almost as nice as some of my castings.

>>2789334
those ridges are 0.1mm layer lines from the pattern

I love it when things fit perfectly the first time. These grips were done at a thicc 0.24mm so the layers are extremely obvious. Knocked it down with a file and 60 grit to give it a consistent and smooth texture, feels great in the hand.

Jannies: It's obviously a plastic toy, not a gun, don't have an aneurysm.

>>2789344
Why is yours so porous? Is that a feature of the casting alloys you prefer?
jk I'm just giving you shit nigga. Post more castings, that's what the thread is for and apparently you're the only other person on /diy/ who isn't afraid of "hot" things. (Apparently 1200F is hot to some people) I'd genuinely love to see more of what you've made.

>>2789345
>Why is yours so porous?
because the part is like 5 cm long? most of those pores are the diameter of a pin needle
here is me scavenging the material. the entire rim was turned into "ingots" (angle iron pour)
hottest i ever went was 2200f because i wanted to make something certain, never was interested in aluminium, that was just the proof of concept so to say. Then mice ate my foundry over the winter.
There are anons here with far more and greater achievements, i failed midway. will revisit once i have a new shop where i can make a permanent setup

>>2789359
>because the part is like 5 cm long?
Nigga I was just joking, I've got no criticism for the only other anon to share a casting.
Aluminum is all I'm really interested in, but I have a few dozen pounds of junk brass, and even more of bronze, so eventually I'll bite the bullet. Probably just turn the brass into a handful of large drifts, I wouldn't mind a 3/4" - 2" set of foot long drifts. Don't hesitate to share when you get back to it, anon.

>>2789361
right is what happens if you dont check temps
left is what happens when you ram up your mold with a print and still warm sand...

>>2789367
Oh damn, seeing the surface left from the overheated pattern is interesting. I've only ever seen it on actual prints before so seeing it reproduced in metal like that is a little surreal.

>>2789368
also bent like a banana

>>2789172
Interesting. Thanks anon.

>>2786667
ah yes, I was unfamiliar with the typical size of a human arm so the pepsi can was very helpful

>>2789327
I'm not >>2789316 but switching from wrought alloys to casting alloys will may a night and day difference. But I don't disagree with learning what you are doing with cheap scrap first. I pay about $3/lb for automotive scrap.

In truth it's been quite a few months since I've cast anything though so some of the old /metallurgy/ lurkers will probably recognize the picture, been busy playing with the Bridgeport mostly lately.

>>2790220
Here's a newer one I don't think I've posted before.

>>2790220
I've enjoyed your posts before, I remember Basil's, but not the Madonna.

A couple ingots and couple sprues going in for the initial melt. This thing really gets hot in a hurry. Nice and sloppy, I never want to stop pouring.

Here's a bonus, a little fire and noise going from fuel off and sputtering to full tilt and back down again. Turn up your speakers, hear the joy.
>>>/wsg/5524187

>>2790942
ingots ingots ingots ingots ingots

>>2790947
As for the casting, I'll share when they've been cleaned up. Fun stuff.

Forgot the gore update. This would probably be healing faster if I hadn't used the wrong bandage and ripped off most of the scab, oops. Ingot for reference.

>>2790947
>a fortune in graphite molds
yikes anon, the professional hillbillies use angle iron pans
the one i used wasn't even that fancy, just a piece with one side welded shut and placed at a slight angle. millscale and rust acts as anti stick

>>2791164
>a fortune
>$38
yikes anon, I can't imagine being so poor

Hey anons, is there a good place to order tongs from? Everything I've seen is Chinesium.

I'm looking specificially for tongs to safely lift a crucible and a pair with some sort of retainer for safer pouring.

>>2791654
>Everything I've seen is Chinesium.
That's why I made my own. They're shit, yet somehow still cheaper, more robust, and safer than the import crap.

>>2785972
Are these air hockey paddles? I really don't know what I'm looking at.

>>2789996
That's an arm?

>>2791795
Ashtrays.

>>2791796
If you want it to be.

Fucking weather god dammit. I have 3 patterns ready and I want to melt. It's supposed to rain continuously today, and possibly more tomorrow. Guess I'll stay in and crush cans.

Nice day, shame I didn't have more time, only did one pour.

I really love this part, splitting the mold is very satisfying.

Bonus Youtube ice block meme:
>>>/wsg/5530216

Fresh cast compared to 2 minutes with a file and a sanding sponge.

I'm a pewtercel do I get to post here

How do I get a smooth finish on casts in silicone?
I know it's possible because some parts of my casts look pristine but other parts have a rough sandy finish
is it a temperature thing?

>>2793087
I've never cast pewter. Pictures, nigga, pictures.

Pick up a spin caster and cast like a real nigga

>>2793413
?????

>>2791796
it's his weenis

>>2785931
why the fuck are you posting here. no one cares about your fucking blog posting boomer ass.

>>2793532
>HE DOESN'T MELT

>>2793508
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-I0l5Rh0wg

I like these a lot, I'm very happy with them and will be making many more. Chinese Airshit gun for /diy/

Oh boy is it time to melt? Fuck no, it's been raining for a week, but I'm going to do it anyway like a retard.

Mulling sand is fucking exhausting. I wish these cunts on Craigslist would stop asking full price for Harbor Freight cement mixers. "It takes 5 hours to assemble one of these so I'm saving you a lot of time!"
Soon though. For now, I do it entirely by hand in a couple of buckets with a mesh strainer and a spray bottle. It's only ~50lbs saturated, it's not a lot, yet.

>>2789361
The split-head style mallet which takes pucks (whatever material you like, mine are UHMW, copper, rawhide, and lead) is so useful I have several.

https://www.thorhammer.com/product-category/hammers/split-head-hammers/

You could cast the clamp halves from brass and some inserts for a very nice non-marring custom hammer (if you miss a strike the clamp portion won't do more damage than your insert).

That was a close one, emptied the whole crucible.

Be glad you can't smell this, I absolutely hate the smell when removing a casting from the sand. I think it's the wood getting steamed, not sure. This casting turned out great, dirty but aside from that I'm totally happy with it. Gotta clean it up and decide if I want to make any changes before I cast another one. It'll be a nice little aluminum flask for casting small junk.

As an aside, I finally took some measurements and did some math. The Amazon peristaltic pump tops out at 385oz or ~3.01 gallons per hour, putting peak output in the neighborhood of 345,000-385,000 BTU/hr. At the setting I've been using to melt Aluminum, it's pushing 172oz (~1.34gallons) per hour, so around 154,000-170,000 BTU/hr. I was worried about getting enough heat out of this thing originally, but it looks like it could handle a furnace with almost twice the volume, or heating a 9001 square foot warehouse.

>>2795534
This is a very fun idea and it's definitely going on the list.

Love what you do!
I always been interested into melting silver coin and sell the ingots.
I can get 1$ silver coin for around 5$ containing 90% silver and weight at 26grm, so potentially around 24gr of silver into each of them(i let you check the price of 1gr of silver),
should i quit my current job and start melting silver coins instead? If yes where do i start in my new journey?

>>2788601
nice ingots

>>2795730
Jokes aside, fuck no. Bring down a silver ingot you've made yourself and see how much the silver and gold recyclers will give you. I'll save you the trouble: it'll be around $5 if they're willing to take it at all.

Anybody ever cast titanium with success? I have just dabbled with Bronze a couple of times.

Titanium seems to be bretty complicated.

It is just that I can get titanium medical implants that are otherwise thrown away and it just seems like a big waste.

>>2797006
As I understand it, casting Titanium is a lot like casting Stainless, it's really not worth pursuing at a DIY level. The temperatures involved are extreme, and the material itself is unstable and highly reactive at those temperatures. The difference between a 2200F furnace and a 3200F furnace is massive. Commercially, it's melted in an arc-furnace under full vacuum when it's cast. At home, I think the most you could hope for is melting a teeny crucible under full argon shielding with MAPP gas, and even then I'd be fairly nervous to do so, it'd be very easy for it to turn into a smoke show.

Good day, but very long, and still not enough sunlight to do everything I wanted. Finally got my hands on a cement mixer, big fat 3-and-a-half cubic foot Harbor Freight import piece of shit. Good god it is loud and obnoxious, the neighbors are going to fucking hate this thing. It has no problem tossing around 100lbs+, the size is great, it's easy to move, I'm happy with it.
So to get started I'm making better greensand, I'm graduating from the shitty 20 mesh (840 micron) kitchen sieve to an 80 mesh (177 micron) sifter, and no surprise it's a hell of a difference. I'm glad I get my sand for free because the yield through this finer screen is piss-poor. For comparison, commercial greensand is typically 240-120 mesh (60-125 microns).
I'm starting with 20lbs, and a pound each of sodium bentonite and calcium bentonite. I need some heavy balls to toss in the cement mixer, I'm looking for some cheap used shotput and/or bowling balls. Maybe I'll try casting some solid 5lb aluminum balls? For now I'll just toss a box of ingots in there, that'll be good enough for the time being. Tomorrow should be fun!

New day, new furnace lid, new sand, new levels of disrespect for molten metal.

Damn this new sand really made a difference. I need to fuck with it a little more, I think it needs more sodium bentonite but we'll see after a few more rounds of mulling. Mostly I just need more, it's going to be fun digging up and sifting half a ton worth of sand just to sift out another ~100lbs of good fine stuff. Maybe I'll just buy some, but I can only purchase as fine as 90 mesh locally and for an unattractive price at that, not very appealing.

New sand on the left, old sand on the right.

>>2797673
Quite the difference. Thanks for sharing anon.

>>2797299
>I need some heavy balls
Well shit, I lucked out, a friend sourced me some actual iron balls from an antique ball mill, 140+ years old. We're figuring out delivery now, but I'm probably looking at 50-100lbs worth of iron at a steal of a price, I'm very excited.

>>2798010
More to come when the weather clears!

>>2797299
Try molasses sand: https://simplifier.neocities.org/casting

>>2798954
I've seen a bit about molasses sand, looks like an interesting and accessible option. There was an old paisan on Youtube who messed around with it some, and recently talked about his molasses sand mix which included calcium bentonite to improve the hot strength. Excluding the sodium bentonite of greensand prevents the balling/clumping, so supposedly this molasses and calcium bentonite sand mixes readily without mulling. I may try some at some point, could be fun.

i enjoyed reading your blog.

It's been raining for almost 24 hours and is supposed to continue for almost another 24 hours. Fuck you nature, I want to melt metal. I'm building up a pile of patterns just waiting on the rain. If I'm lucky I can squeeze in a melt later during the afternoon lull if it manages to clear up enough.

Got a new resin printer, it's been years since the last one died. Resin printers are cool but I don't really enjoy the process. Doing this though I've no excuse, so I picked up a Saturn 3. Seems like all that's changed since I was using a resin printer in the past is that the software is even more cucked than before. Resin slicers leave a lot to be desired and all want to charge you for normal features, it's pretty fucking gay, especially the locking out and diminishing of features that existed previously. I wish PrusaSlicer's resin printing support wasn't such trash, it'd be nice to have a free and opensource option that isn't filled with buttons and features that take you to a pricing page. Between PrusaSlicer and UVTools it really seems like all the pieces are there to build a not-shit resin slicer.

The iron mill balls are a game changer for the cement mixer, I can mull huge amounts of sand very quickly and easily, works a treat. Next I need to make a screen attachment for the face of the mixer so I can use it to help me sift fine sand. I'd like another ~150-200lbs, but that'll take far too long just sifting it by hand.

>>2799091
Glad to hear it, thanks anon.

Barely had enough time to rock out the one before the rain started back up and I had to scramble to put things away. This is the first with a pattern off the new resin printer, and it turned out just fabulous. New drilling rig worked great for the front face, but I fucked up and all the rear holes are off by a millimeter, oops. Weirdly, this is the first set of grips I've cast that distinctly warped due to shrinkage. Very slightly twisted, so slight I just corrected it with my bare hands, tiny adjustment.

Next I'm going to grab a benchtop belt sander to make for easier cleanup, I really dislike using my grinder on this soft and gummy aluminum. Maybe I'll use it as an excuse to grab a buffer at the same time, not sure. I'd prefer it to polishing with a rotary tool, but I've not experience with a benchtop buffer, I don't know that it's really the tool for the job?

So much more shit to cast. Hopefully it's not too wet of a summer.

>>2800546
Wire wheels or even just a steel brush are good for shining up aluminum castings.
If you use a bench grinder for aluminum, just be sure to dress your wheel often. There's a low but non-zero chance if you build up a bunch of aluminum in your wheel and the wheel will explode on you. And more importantly it will take longer to grind.

>>2795580
This is good stuff anon. What pump do you use? And how do you get the furnace hot enough to burn the oil?

>>2800755
I get it going with a little handful of charcoal. I use a propane torch in front of the blower outlet and the charcoal gets fully lit in only a few seconds. When I've got some good hot coals, I slowly start ramping in the fuel and stirring the coals a bit. Takes a couple minutes to get hot enough to turn the fuel up the rest of the way. Quick process, about 5 total minutes to get it going, about 15 minutes total to melt a significant load.

The listing for the pump I bought is long dead, but it's just the generic 12v "100ml/min" peristaltic you can find all over Amazon/eBay/Ali in a variety of colors. They're impressive, these cheap little shits can produce over 20PSI, but their flow ratings are fucking nonsense. The pair I bought will happily push ~200ml/min of waste oil, close to 300 with water. Here are some examples of the ones I use:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BB7JXQSR
https://www.ebay.com/itm/256373671485
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806278620257.html
If you want to try it yourself, I say either buy the cheapest one you can, or buy one that's actually rated to flow over 200ml/min. As I understand it I'm a little lucky with the ones I got, these little pumps are apparently not very consistent.

Ah shit, here we go again.

Camera overheated before the furnace started to really warm up, but this at least shows going from cold to burning oil.

I've wondered if I'm keeping my sand too wet, so I left it a little more dry for this mold, regrettably. It broke out pretty badly, and nearly just fell out of the flask when I went to demold the parts later, definitely a little too dry.

Just beginning to warm up a bit, ~25% throttle.

Mmmm that's nice.

That's some nastiness, but nothing a file won't solve in short order. Once the sides are smoothed out I'll jig it up on the drill press and get everything finished out.

I want to cast a titanium ring in my backyard. Something simple, with no intricate patterning or anything. But I understand it's incredibly difficult to get it to melt, let alone get any feedstock. What am I in for?

>>2800976
>What am I in for?
Failure. Ti has a higher mp than iron, you'd either need to build an arc furnace or an induction furnace to reach the required temps

>>2800976
>>2797063

>>2793532
i care

Great videos OP..

Holy fuck I love the belt sander, I'll definitely be using this thing a lot.

>>2801028
>>2801479
Thanks, fellas.

>>2800947
use table salt as flux
i thought it was retarded too, but it turns almost all the slag back into aluminum

>>2801567
I've been using lite salt, a mix of Potassium Chloride and Sodium Chloride. It makes a shocking difference, especially working with dirty cans.

>>2801612
ah, if you're melting cans no wonder there's so much

>>2785924
make him proud son

>>2800940
Nice camera work there anon. Did you make that lid?

>>2801753
(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)

>>2802159
Thanks, anon. Yes I did, 4 firebrick split, beveled, and strapped together. Should be easy to tighten up and keep it together as the firebricks shrink over time. I'm very happy with it, it feels solid and I'm not going to accidentally poke holes through it.

My persistent back problems made for a shit evening, I'm running on zero sleep and a fistful of pills today, so no casting today. I did however get the first set of these lugs on a flask. I like 'em, going to make the next ones a little thicker, and upgrade from 1/4" to 3/8" bolts. Need to make more flasks, soon I'll be doing some larger pours of several molds at once.

Amazing thread, OP. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

>>2803229
Thanks anon, I appreciate it!

Sadly, today went bad. I accidentally'd the mold I prepared, but only after things were hot and ready to pour. So I just had to slap down a couple extra ingot molds and just pour some ingots. Still, some cool footage!

>>2803304
Nope, lost the melt timelapse and the pour video, I don't know what happened but clearly my phone fucked off hard. So I only got these pictures out of the whole thing, shame. Sure glad I don't pay for fuel. I'll try again tomorrow!

>>2789345
Why not pour an oversized ingot then mill these to get a better finish

You’ll still see some porosity because cast aluminum is ducking dog shit

Bumping for update.

>>2785924
any of you ninjas try working with iron? i'd like to try casting iron at some point, wondering what the differences will be. never done aluminum but i don't really have a need for cast aluminum

>>2803879
the temperature iron melts at makes it require actual thought into how you'd go about it
aluminum melts at ~660C and isnt a big issue at all
copper melts at ~1000C
iron melts upwards of 1200C

radiated heat scales with temperature^4 (stefan boltzman law) so at higher temperatures it starts getting insane
blackbody at 660C emits 4.2W / cm^2
at 1000C it's 14.9W / cm^2
at 1300C it's 34.7W / cm^2

the crucible and potential spillage and shit will very quickly add up to thousands of watts which will burn you if you get close for more than a couple seconds

>>2803998
a big mass of yellow glowing metal will give you sunburn, cook your eyes and might ignite pieces of clothing.
i had half my face red for a week when a piece of steel ignited in my makeshift forge, despite keeping my distance

>>2786667
You got lucky then it burned the top layer of skin right off.

Prolonged contact would have cooked the skin and flesh beneath and thats what hurts the most.

I've been sick for a couple of days, didn't feel like melting with a fever going. Feeling better, so today I waited for dusk. Enjoy the light show.

>>2804382
I was curious to see how these would shrink with the lack of feeders, but I really didn't expect a single one to take the brunt of it. All still 100% usable, great success. I'll cut them apart and clean them up tomorrow.

>>2804382
You should fix your setup so it's not shooting fire out of the burner port.

>>2804391
That takes effort, enjoying the ambient flames does not.

>>2804383
The shit one pulled in from the sides more than I realized, I'm not sure if I'm going to use it. I need more of these anyway, may not bother with it. Love how quick and easy it is to clean these up on the belt sander.

>>2789219
>did you forget to vent
you're not an imposter are you, anon?

AYO PEEPS, THIS NGGA SUS AF

>>2789093
Throw some lump charcoal (not grill briquettes) in the aluminum pool. It will eat up the oxygen giving you those bubbles and burn away pretty cleanly. Bust up some small engine blocks with a sledge hammer and melt that instead of cans, you'll get a more dense product.

I barely kept up with this pour.

>>2804715
Half pretty, half shitty, won't catch me complaining.

>>2804716
Sorry if I missed it but what are these for?
>>2804715
Great video anon!

>>2804392
Repairing the damage the flames cause to the furnace is more effort than stuffing ceramic wool around the pipe, and imagine all the work you'll have to do when the heat cracks your gas pipe.

>>2804738
Thanks anon, I appreciate it. Those are lugs for flask alignment pins, you can see them in action here: >>2802835
Helps align the two halves of the wooden flask consistently through the process of making the sand molds.

>>2804761
If there's ever any damage or cracked pipes, I'll be sure to share it here.

>>2804763
>If there's ever any damage or cracked pipes, I'll be sure to share it here.
Stop pretending that furnaces are magic and don't need to be maintained, you wouldn't be the first retarded nigger to kill himself by pretending he's too cool for safety.

>>2790220
>>2790224
Can you make robocop?

>>2804794
If you feel like you're in danger of my setup, you best avoid it. What do you think is going to happen? You see a little fire out the side and you think somehow that's going to destroy it? You realize it's filled with fire, right? I've had the insides well past 2000°F. You think the burner is going to crack? Why would it? Better yet, so what if it does? What do you think would happen? I think you've just barely glanced at this, don't have a clue what's going on, and you're crying "safety" because you're a mollycoddled milquetoast anemic child who is terrified of fire and, can't stress this enough, doesn't melt.

I'm not going to stick my head inside the way you're intent on doing, so how do you think this thing will kill me? Don't shy away now little buddy, tell us your fantasies so that you can be appropriately mocked for them.

>>2793532
Meltlet Detected

for a casting such as this how should it be oriented, hollow side down? also feeding from the bottom or top?

>>2805452
Hollow side down, whole part in the cope, filled from the bottom. That's how I'd do it, but I'm a retard so take it with a grain of salt.

is the aluminium of a hdd a good one to try to do some casting for a noob?

>>2806199
I don't know how much work it'd be to strip all the other shit out, but I do know most 3.5" HDDs are in cast aluminum chassis, so I don't see why not.

>>2806201
i have two with everything stripped, so why not?
do i need to strip the paint? is kinda thick, i worry it may be some insulating shit

>>2806202
Hard to say, coatings and paints usually burn off easily, but of course that means they contribute to dross and slag. I looked to see what scrappers say about it, and apparently HDDs are mostly extruded from 6061, few are cast. 6061 is shit for casting and not worth the effort. Much like with soda cans, you can do it, it can be fun to dick around with, but you'll get much better performance from other alloys more suited to casting. Shame, I thought they were mostly die-cast, but it seems that's not the case.

>>2804715
did you scrape off the flux just before pouring? i think have way too little

Oh boy I finally did the thing and made some flasks. Tomorrow should be fun, hope the weather holds up.