Before we went to bed Andy and Sharon’s daughter came around with a freshly baked, still warm tray of cinnamon rolls as he expected a few more guests for the next day to cast and drool over all of his cars, tractors and trucks.
I missed out on photographing many of his various toys, both vintage and Hotrod as we were so busy in the casting and melting Department which is hugely interesting.
If you want to see more about Andy’s various toys and projects, including the cattle, animals and his Auction wins go to his thread here:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=334140
Unfortunately most of the guys did not make it, due to jobs, pet injuries etc.
These were exceptional
Back to casting metals.
Preparing your mould is the most important part of the job.
You build a negative of what you want, in two halves, create channels for the molten metal to run in and fill the cavity, hopefully leaving you with a final product without flaws.
Metals respond very differently to contaminants, temperature and preparation. Some take a lot more heat to get to working temperature etc.
Dennis chose to make an Alu-Bronze trivet for Deb (Debbie)
Once the negative it prepared, it goes into a half mould, gets talcum powder as releasing agent, but you have to brush the excess off to prevent dulling of the casting. It really becomes an art of preparation.
In the mean time the furnace gets fed with metal, to create the pour.
Dennis sifting the green sand over the pattern before compacting it in a three step process, followed by scrapping flat, turning over and removing the negative pattern carefully.
In this process grains of sand can make a difference in outcome.
Every letter gets removed next.
Followed by making the pouring side in a separate box with a pouring channel from the outside and spruces leading in to get an even distribution of metal.
In the mean time, Craig was working in the woodworking and foam area to create some gifts for his family (details later as his is a surprise and his family may be following the thread)
Cutting foam on a hot wire for casting.
Once fully prepped they would be put in the bucket and processed like JOY was done.
While various things happen there are more jobs to do, in order to keep enjoying the hobby.
Here we are using a pneumatic trammel to separate dirt from the casting sand so it can be used again.
Another clever Andy innovation.
The rain continued, as it had all week, but we were semi indoors, so the mosquitos and rain was less of a problem.
Some more of Andys future projects.
Interestingly, rust is not much of a problem on these older vehicles.
Having been in the oil industry, many of Andy’s vehicles came from there too.
You have a very cool place there Andy.Was glad to be able to tag along with Grizz and Craig. One thing i noticed is you not only figured out how to do casting, but you made all the tools to do it with. Really enjoyed the time we got to spend you. I might have even learned a thing or two. Thanks again!
Totally agree with Dennis.
You make so many tools for tasks without even thinking.
I did notice and enjoy that.
Sitting in Philly now, 5 hour layover.
Had pizza, drinks, and actually watched people for a while.
So while we continued to feed the crucible in the furnace, Craig made more foam cutouts.
Andy cut the channels to ensure complete filling of the stars for Alu-Bronze casting, it proves to be less than easy to work with.
Temperature check.
Alu-Bronze pour.
Surface casting.
This was the result of the pour.
Will need to be worked, but remember this metal work hardens, so would prove interesting
I started a new set of stars n steers under Andy’s watchful eye.
Cast iron originals
Placement, talcum powder.
Detail preservation
Sand fill.
Then the back and filling hole and channels get made before casting.
Resulting in this
Happy with a great result, thanks to Andy ensuring it all went smoothly, very smoothly.
With Dennis as part of the production line.
And finally you have all the pieces.
Next job would be to cut them free, then to grind and machine them back to a level where you are happy and polish them up.
VIDEOS OF CASTING.
SAND CASTING.
LOST FOAM CASTING. FOLLOWED BY TWO HAMMER REVEALS.
So now Craig has a set of ally copies of the cast Iron stars and steer head I bought in Arkansas for his place.
I have a few things I would love to make as well, including an old stool hotrodder plaque and another very special trivet for a special lady (not Joy)
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