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Post by fauxmaha on Aug 27, 2020 15:32:01 GMT -5
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Post by t-bob on Aug 27, 2020 16:03:24 GMT -5
I just saw that video what is that device? I know what it is the 3D printer that made it.
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Post by Village Idiot on Aug 27, 2020 22:20:24 GMT -5
I’ll be the first person to state that I have no idea what this is, or what it is for.
I’ll also state that it’s been more than interesting to watch how your brain spins over the years. For example, how is that forge going?
Can you give an idiot like me an explanation as to what is going on here? I assume it has nothing to do with binders or genitalia.
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Post by Marty on Aug 27, 2020 23:25:43 GMT -5
I’ll be the first person to state that I have no idea what this is, or what it is for. I’ll also state that it’s been more than interesting to watch how your brain spins over the years. For example, how is that forge going? Can you give an idiot like me an explanation as to what is going on here? I assume it has nothing to do with binders or genitalia. Or boats. |
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Post by fauxmaha on Aug 30, 2020 22:26:02 GMT -5
Can you give an idiot like me an explanation as to what is going on here? This is all related to the foundry (the thing that melts metal). The pieces I want to make have proven to have too much fine detail for any version of sand casting. Even using the special hot rod ultra fine sand ("Petrobond" / "Delft clay") I tried wasn't making it. So the effort now is to move to an investment casting process. This is sometimes called "lost wax" casting. It involves making wax molds of the parts you want to make, attaching wax sprues to give the metal a pathway, embedding all that in a special kind of plaster called "investment", then melting out the wax, leaving a perfect negative of the mold. The negative space is then filled with molten metal and, after it solidifies, the investment is removed, revealing a perfect replica. All that is pretty well understood and is a mature process that's been around for centuries. The process of coating the wax molds with the investment (the plaster) is done in one of two ways. For larger parts, the wax molds are dunked into a vat of liquid investment, then hung to dry. That is repeated over and over until a sufficiently thick shell is formed. For smaller parts, the wax mold is mounted to a stand/lid, then a flask (basically a steel cylinder open on both ends) is placed around it, and investment is poured in until the cylinder is full. This is the standard process used today for custom jewelry. The thing I made in the video is that stand/lid. What I am trying to do is scale up the process used by jewellers and use it to make much larger parts. Their flasks are generally the size of a tin can. The one I made is about 12" tall x 9" in diameter. The reason for using the flask method instead of the repeated dunking method goes back to the need for fine surface detail. Jewellers use either centrifugal or vacuum assist in their casting. Immediately after the molten metal is poured into the mold, a machine either spins it around, or draws a vacuum around the flask. Either way, the idea is to force the metal into all the small areas of the mold. You can't do that with the dunk method. Since my flask is so large, the centrifugal method would be insanely dangerous and the machine to do it would cost a fortune to make. So I built a vacuum chamber. The flask has a large flange around it that seals against the chamber. It also has holes all around it to allow the vacuum to "reach into" the investment, which is porous enough for this to work. I haven't gotten this process to the finish line yet, but so far I haven't ran into any technical issues that couldn't be solved, so fingers crossed. |
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Post by John B on Aug 30, 2020 22:55:32 GMT -5
I forget, did you ever tell us what exactly you're building in there?
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Post by Village Idiot on Aug 30, 2020 22:57:33 GMT -5
I’ve heard of lost wax casting, that makes sense. Similar to a death mask being made by first making a mold of its opposite, Right?
Your explanation of what you’re doing makes sense to me, you’d be a great high school teacher. Plus, it’s interesting.
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Post by coachdoc on Aug 31, 2020 5:18:29 GMT -5
I agree with Todd. Clear and interesting explanation.
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Post by aquaduct on Aug 31, 2020 5:39:31 GMT -5
This still involves the crazy blast furnace in the garage, right?
I love a thriller with, like, a mad scientist. Keep it up!
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Post by fauxmaha on Aug 31, 2020 13:21:45 GMT -5
I forget, did you ever tell us what exactly you're building in there? I think I talked about this a few years ago. Short answer is decorative motorcycle accessories:   |
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Post by robjh22 on Aug 31, 2020 13:25:21 GMT -5
I forget, did you ever tell us what exactly you're building in there? I think I talked about this a few years ago. Short answer is decorative motorcycle accessories: i always wondered where beautiful stuff like this came from. Do you have a website? |
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Post by robjh22 on Aug 31, 2020 13:27:46 GMT -5
"All that is pretty well understood and is a mature process that's been around for centuries."
Cough ... uh .. not by everybody.
I'm totally cowed.
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Post by sidheguitarmichael on Aug 31, 2020 13:48:20 GMT -5
Cool-guy bonus points for using investment casting to depict St Michael slaying the dragon with a falchion, and putting it on something fast. Somewhere, William B Ruger approves.
I’d tell you to avoid burnout before needing to divest from your endeavors, but that would be counter-productive.
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Post by John B on Aug 31, 2020 19:30:51 GMT -5
I forget, did you ever tell us what exactly you're building in there? I think I talked about this a few years ago. Short answer is decorative motorcycle accessories: Ahh. Very cool. I must have missed it. |
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Post by TKennedy on Aug 31, 2020 20:01:36 GMT -5
Did you make those Jeff?
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Post by fauxmaha on Sept 4, 2020 11:37:44 GMT -5
Cool-guy bonus points for using investment casting to depict St Michael slaying the dragon with a falchion, and putting it on something fast. Somewhere, William B Ruger approves. Thought you might appreciate this. I've been digging around for inspiration on St Michael images, and found this one by Miami tattoo artist Javier Antunez. Thought it was absolutely stunning. The convention on these is that St Michael has a very neutral expression on his face. Antunez maintained that, with just a subtle furrowing of the brow. Thought it was brilliant.  The jpg's I posted are just digital renders. Those designs have proven too complex for decent reproduction using sand casting. God willing, I'll have my investment casting setup running by the first of the year. |
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