Aluminum Casting

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This is my first attempt at casting aluminum.  Thought I would give "lost foam" casting a try. 11/21/04

To the left you can see the blanks I made out of white styrofoam.  I cut the foam with a knife and glues them together with hot melt glue.  I made two of each just in case one did not turn out during casting.  The castings will be a hand wheel and bearing block for a rotary table I designed.

Here are two of the foam blanks placed in coffee cans and covered with sand with only the riser breaking the surface.  The muffin pan is there to make igots if there is any molten aluminum left after the pour.  I placed everything in sand to help contain any spillage.

Close up of the liquified metal and hot coals.  I used Bar-B-Q brickets for the fuel and an old vacuum cleaner for the blower.  I found on the first melt that I had too much air and the charcoal was not getting very hot.  After I cut back on the air, the furnace got much hotter and flames shot out the top.  I plan to cut the air back a little more on the next firing to see if I am still using to much air.

Once the aluminum looked to be good and hot by the color of the crucible, I skimmed off the top to remove the dross and  got ready to pour.

Here was the pour!  The crucible cooled down very quickly and lost its orange color during the pour.

Here are the two good castings.  I tried to pour all four pieces, but only one of each turned out good.  Good thing I made two of each.  I think I need to get the metal hotter by further reducing the air flow. You can see more castings on my Rotary Table page.

1/2/09 This is my first zinc alloy casting.  It is actually two castings.  An adaptor plate and a lathe knob poured together from lost foam.

Here is a casting I made for a blower fan.