Aluminum casting

>>950764
Google myfordboy or mrpete222 (or tubalcain). Both do a pretty good job casting aluminum. Myfordboy does more mould prep, but he doesn't talk, and makes it look WAY too easy. Dude goes from nothing to a rammed up mould in like, 5 minutes it seems.

Thanks bro

Don't have a pic, but I used the lost foam/wax/plastic method to cast a model engine block once. Basically the process is this:

>make a flammable/meltable version of what you want. I 3D printed mine in PLA.
>attach sprues
>seat in the center of a mold
>make 50/50 mix of Plaster of Paris and play sand
>mix in just enough water to make it flow easily
>pour into mould
>let set
>clean up the area around the sprues so metal will flow into them more readily
>heat forge built in separate project
>leave mold in forge for an hour or so with airblast
>turn air off, leave mold in the forge overnight
>tadaa, cavity of what you want
>pour in molten aluminum
>break open mold

That's the idea. Google "lost PLA casting". Beyond that, it's mostly trial and error to figure out the best way to design and orient the part, sprues, vents, etc. Keep in mind you should fill from the highest point and have a place for the air to go. Gaps smaller than ~1 or 2mm are going to be hard for the aluminum to flow into. If it's a complex part, your best option is to cast a rough shape and machine the rest.

>>950764
Grant Thompson has some videos about it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH-PaNugz9w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSoWxG30rb0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHD10DjxM1g

>>950819
Did the engine work?

>>950764
If you can cast in a shielding gas such as Argon, it would make it a lot stronger.

>>950995
Nah, the casting came out too shitty to do much with and the time and energy put into it wasn't worth trying again to me.

I wonder if anyone experienced can help me or give tips.I am planning to make a tiny casting device.

I would heat up a small (2-3 cm diameter, 5cm deep) crucible with an induction heater. In vacuum. The crucible would have a hole at the bottom connected to the mold. This hole would be closed somehow and opened when i reach casting temperature. When i open the hole, i would pressurize the crucible to force the molten aluminium in the mold.

Ideas and tips are welcomed.

>>950764
First I would ask why one wants to use aluminum at all.
Cast aluminum ends up pretty soft unless it is heat-treated again afterwards. There's lots of machine parts made from cast aluminum but VERY few consumer products are made from it, that don't have any other processes applied to it....

You can't even cast decent junk/cosplay jewelry from aluminum, it won't stay shiny if you polish it and it will leave gray dust where it rubs your skin or clothes. It's THAT soft.

If you want to cast something pretty or you want to cast low-stress mechanical parts, you are a lot better off using pewter.
It costs more but it was made specifically to cast well: it melts at a much lower temperature, it solidifies harder, and it catches details much better.

>>951152
>I would heat up a small (2-3 cm diameter, 5cm deep) crucible with an induction heater. ,,,, When i open the hole, i would pressurize the crucible to force the molten aluminium in the mold.
>Ideas and tips are welcomed.
why bother with a vacuum at all, if you're just gonna contaminate the molten metal with a gas anyway?
if you wanted to try to limit dross, you could just enclose the whole thing in a chamber and purge it with nitrogen while working. "Sealing" the chamber air-tight isn't worth it tho IMO, nitrogen isn't really expensive.

>>951186
>why bother with a vacuum
So the melt wont oxidize. Plus there wont be air stuck in the mold and it will give some extra force during the casting.

>contaminate the molten metal with a gas
how?

>sealing
it wouldnt be that difficult i feel

What do you think about the hole in the crucible, and the opening, closing of the hole? Im more worried about that.

>>951224
>it wouldnt be that difficult i feel

Your feelings are irrelivant to how the process works, and it sounds like you're overcomplicating the matter for zero gains. Why don't you go reasearch the topic a little bit before coming at whatever project you have in mind with some obscenely convoluted methods?

>>950820
Thanks for sharing.

>>951448
>implying i did not do research
classic diy

>>951224
>So the melt wont oxidize. Plus there wont be air stuck in the mold and it will give some extra force during the casting.
well,,,, purging with nitrogen in an enclosed space would reduce the oxygen-caused problems. and building such an enclosure would be a lot easier and cheaper than building a chamber the same size that can withstand a vacuum.

casting in a vacuum might be ideal, but,,,,,,,,,, the whole point of using a vacuum would be that there was NO gas present to cause bubbles in the cast.... if you squirt nitrogen in there, then the nitrogen would cause bubbles in the metal just like normal air would.....?

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>>951224
Pressurizing the crucible seems counter-productive if you want to avoid cavities. your mould should be set up so that the aluminium rises, pushing out the air, without swirling , the more violent the cast, the worse the air inclusions will be. Not sure what you want exra force for either.

>>951145
Castings never come out good you have to drill it out afterwards.

>>951152
What's wrong with Induction under an Inert gas then just simply pouring into an Investment mould which is under a vacuum?

You won't have bubbles if you create a proper spruing system and have it under vacuum.

Not sure if this is illegal but chuck some steel Ng and things to make it heavy and then take it down to cash for scrap or whatever your metal joint is

>>951492
If you've researched, why do you think pressurizing the cast will be needed?
What are you making, or are you going to be vague and secretive about your project like typical wannabe DIY'ers?

Have you even tried casting anything to begin with? If not, you likely don't have the experience needed to understand how stupid your idea is, and definitely don't know if you're not just overcomplicating the process.

>>951568
You're a monster, sir.

>>951568
Gee i wonder what diy has to say about something i have in mind:
>what are you making
>stop it
>wont work
>typical wannabe DIY'er

i have learned my lesson

>>951673
Hey man, thanks for sharing your project with us so that we could spitball some ideas to help you make it better.
It would have been so much more difficult to work with you if you had just come in with a very specific yet intangible scheme and refused to elaborate on it.

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>>951186
>it will leave gray dust where it rubs your skin or clothes. It's THAT soft.
Damn, that's pretty fucking disappointing. I knew aluminum was soft, but not that bad. I wanted to make some shit from aluminum.

>>951657
Not a monster. Constant casting and smithing threads proves MOTHAFUCKAS ARE TOO LAZY TO INTERNET.

Is /diy/ now /spoonfeed/?

Best place for casting is in an eco-friendly solar powered shipping container tiny house bunker submarine quadcopter.

>>951793
Especially when people are fucking Secret Squirrel about their goals, we're forced to guess how best to help them--like this dumbfuck that wants to pressure cast his aluminum.
If you outline your project and how you plan to go about it, you'll probably get some good discussion going and methods of improving the results will come up naturally. If you come at this board with nothing but a half cocked plan asking how to melt aluminum under a vacuum, release the molten material and then pressurize, with no prior experience in any of the multiple skills needed to do so, and no info on what the point of even doing it is, you're likely to end up with liquid hot aluminum exploding in your face.
I'm not responding to the guy's posts for his safety, though. I legitimately want to give some advice. Knowing his skills and what results he's looking for would help.
However, he's being a faggot and won't get anywhere with the information he's provided.

Odds are he just thinks he has come up with some revolutionary concept, with no intention of putting it into action. Good for him to try and think outside the box, but odds are also likely there's many reasons we *don't* already have such complicated rigs in use on the DIY level--and that includes issues that range from being an inefficient waste of time for comparable results to other methods, out of the realm of DIY, or flat out dangerous.
Without more details, we can't help him. It's easiest to just assume he's stupid because, y'know, he probably is.

>>951794
on the moon

stupid nigs on here don't even know what diecast is.

legit one of the oldest forms of 'modern' casting.

OP. its simple, if you've ever done any sort of plastic casting. It works the same way. get a steel rod, with a steel face on it, that fits inside a steel tube. HELL if your doing induction, just use the steel tube to metal your lower melting point metal. [just remember steel expands 1 thou for every 100 degree F.] when your stuff is liquid, SLAM down on the other end of the rod, and have a channel that runs underneath you open up into your mold. BAM diecast. don't burn yourself.

>Drops mic does 360 and walks out.

>>951757
>>951186
why do all weebs think they can cast aluminium for some cosplay, its one of the most difficult materials to cast. and its near impossible to polish it aswell

>>952135
fun?

>weld aluminium

no. just no.

I made an aluminum casting back in metal shop in Jr. High. They didn't let us- being shithead jr high kids- pour the molten aluminum, but we got to watch. I also did the final machining and one or more once i got it home.

The aluminum was from a scrap pile, so the casting was porous, but it's held together and I still have it and use it.

>>950820
Very good, very informative.

Love his work

>>952302
TIG. YOURE A RETARD. ENUFF SAID.

>>950820
Thanks for the links.

>>953000
not going to tig weld just cast aluminum

>>951186
the availability and low melting temperature. combined with a relatively reliable metal. there are functioning motion devices that hobbyists have made from backyard poured aluminium, engine models for example

>>952135
Anything that weights more than few ounces could break their bones.

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I'm getting conflicting impressions here. Is casting aluminum parts practical or is it too soft to be useful?

>>954440
Depends on the alloy.

There's a lot of math and engineering behind casting, check out these books, if you REALLY want to make quality pieces with real tolerances, you should also check out Solidworks' Moldworks.

Introduction to Manufacturing Processes - Groover
Manufacturing Processes - Amstead


Read these books' chapters on casting, then you'll determine the method you need, it will be some sort of sand mold, though there's tons of considerations on which kind of sand and what conditions they will be, (humidity, grain size).

Your piece will need some machining afterwards as well.

And again, all of this is only if you really want to make something with low tolerances, if you just want to fuck around with molten metals, disregard.

Enjoy your parkinson's

>>953019
>Aluminum
What the fuck is aluminum...

its spelled Aluminium.

This thread is retarded. Aluminum casting isn't hard. Just weld up a crucible and some crucible-related tools out of steel, dig a hole, put charcoal in it, and melt your shit in the hole. Blow air into the bottom to make it work better. Doesn't need to be white hot, dull red is good. Doesn't matter where you get your aluminum, I've melted old window frames, lawnmower engines, soda cans, etc. It machines fine and you can make it shiny. Worst case you get a few bubbles here and there. Do lost foam casting for ezmode.

I have no idea why /diy/ spends so much time finding reasons not to do things, instead of just doing them.

>>951186
>it will leave gray dust where it rubs your skin or clothes

wtf are you casting, the dross?

>>954740
THIS. SAGE.

>>954726
Britcuck GTFO. Both are recognized correct spellings.

>>954568
It's Alzheimer's, retard.

The ideal way to cast is of course by industrial methods, so study those then consider how to adapt to /diy/. There are endless casting resources on the internet so anyone asking about casting here is obviously too lazy to research. Niggas please

Unless you have machine tools to finish the job, casting is a waste of time for anything other than art. If you want to make useful things, skip casting until you have a home machine shop to finish what you cast.

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>>954924
He probably just forgot

>>954924
It's both actually

>>954568
>>954924
Is there a specific face mask to use for aluminum?

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>>950764
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHD10DjxM1g


i do this like 9 mounths ago...works pretty good, already have like 4 bricks of aluminium. xD..dont know in wath gona use it so.... have them just shinny and nice outside mi house..

>>956915
>advertising at the end
fucking scum

>>954568
Science is not really sure about that, it's not well understood. Maybe, the disease promote the accumulation of Al, maybe it is the opposite. To date, you can work with Al safely, just use proper protective equipment.

It's not like working with boiling mercury or cadmium.

>>951731
Hahhahahagahaha top kek

> he is too stupid to hear the sarcasm

>>954440
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPGZg45dGXA

It depends on the use.