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Casting
the Stovebolt topper - Part 1 - page 1
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Welcome
to this 'Stovebolt Special Feature'.
This has been a hobby of mine for 2-3 years and EVERYTHING in the foundry was HAND-MADE from information gathered through litterature and the web... From the sand formulation to the very effective sand muller... -
Let me add that SAFETY is a priority in our foundry. Every image is 'clicable'. Enjoy this pictorial, guys... Whizzerick |
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The artwork Every good piece starts with a good design... From the start, decisions are made based on 'castability',ie: draft, angles, etc... 2 negatives are outputed, each will serve in creating a 1/8 photoetched layer of the pattern. 99% of the art of the foundry is in the pattern... |
The master pattern A rubber mold is pulled from the master pattern. This is necessary ONLY for a 'high' volume job such as this one... |
Making secondary patterns - a Catalyzed resin is poured in the rubber mold. It can be unmolded in 10 minutes. Shore hardness is 90. |
Making secondary patterns - b Secondary patterns are virtual clones of the master pattern... They will be 'tweaked', painted and polished. |
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Preparing the matchplate Patterns on 'furniture grade' russian plywood. A 5/16 thick 'runner' is glued. The runner feed the gates (they will be carved after ramming). |
Patterns on board The finished pattern, after numerous coats of lacquer, wet sanding up to 1000 grit, polishing and waxing... It is virtually IMPOSSIBLE for the sand to adhere to this surface, making unmolding that much easier... |
Making the 'cope and drag' set A box is fabricated out of ash, for strength and to ensure trueness. Locating dowels and 'lifting handles' are added. In the foreground is my home-made, cast aluminum rammer. |
Pattern ready for ramming Drag side: parting dust is applied to the pattern. |
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A most important machine I'm very proud to show you this piece of equipment: my home-built muller. The muller is VERY important. The oil based sand NEEDS a 'mulling' action to become chemically reactive. We used to do it by hand, with a kitchen beater! No more... |
The muller head Everything was fabricated from scratch... The wheels are regulation 25lbs 'bench-press' weights with snowmobile bearing adapted. The lifting mechanism is made from a Honda car jack... |
The muller drive mechanism 1/2 hp motor and 15$ gear reducer from Ebay... The muller head turns at a PERFECT 30rpm. |
Sand distribution I added this little trap to distribute batches of freshly mulled sand. The very fine sand becomes sticky and the details obtainable are incredible... |