I'm a fabricator and like to make machinery. The foundry equipment can be done much more simply......don't let that stop you. Larger castings requirer large equipment and the price of admission goes up rapidly as far as effort goes. Small castings that will fit in a 5 gallon bucket are much easier to manage with all aspects of the process. It's true that the castings will never be better than the patterns but working foam is something you can learn and can be done with hand and woodworking tools. It was recent that I started CNC'ing patterns. I have videos on other pattern methods and have made some very complex patterns with those methods. You'll want to get some experience casting simple parts before you pour metal on a pattern in which you've invested hours, but one of the primary themes of my videos is it can be done by the hobbyst in there home shop environment. Best, Kelly

The skies the limit when you can rapidly and accurately make patterns. Best, Kelly

What CNC router system do you use?

@@kennethlang5669 I don't have one yet. I finally got the chance to order a longmill and I just finished week one of the estimated 4 week lead time. I shaped my xtruded foam with band saws and routers.

@@kennethlang5669 MillRight MegaVee XL

Hobby casting is huge in Australia!

Thanks RotarySMP. Wish I had your CNC and mchining skills. The owner to-be likes it so far but is actually getting a complete turnkey system from me, so more work to do on that. Watch for the follow up video on the completed system. Best, Kelly

@@kellycoffield533 I am looking forward to that video. Cheers; Mark

I like all engines and motorsport. That powerplant sounds like a beast. Good luck with it. Best, Kelly

First remark would be you must know your alloy or your probably just wasting your time. Not all alloys are heat treatable, and those that are have specific schedules. I use A356. It's not a particularly high strength alloy but a good all around casting alloy. I rarely attempt higher than T5 condition because in the hobby/home environment the strength gains are just not worth the risk of casting damage due to localized melting or warpage. T6 or better requires tight control since you are so close to melt temp and this can be difficult in kilns and crude ovens. Even so, casting distortion is a risk and may require fixturing. T5 on the other hand is done at much lower temps with little to no casting risk, and achieves a high percentage of the improvement in machinability and mechanical properties as T6. Published schedules will vary nut most will be in 450F range for 7-9 hrs. Cool down does not need to be controlled. It can even be done in a household oven if it doesn't cause divorce. I've even seen people use toaster ovens for small castings. When my wife said the membrane panel button for her favorite function no longer worked on her toaster oven, I told her she better get a new one. The old one lives in my shop now 🙂Best, Kelly

I use Alibre Design Pro for CAD and CamBam for CAM. I know a lot more about lost foam casting than I do about CAM and even less so with CAD, but enough to do most of what I need and learn the rest as projects dictate. CamBam is a great value for a CNC hobbyst. Being a casual CAD user, I thought Alibre was comparable to most other paramteric solid modeling software and the being able to own the license without perpetual annual costs was attaractive. On CAM, I design for 2.5D machining where I can and 3D where that won't do. Beyond that, if I did a video on CAD/CAM, by the second minute I'd be telling you more than I know ;-). Best, Kelly

@@kellycoffield533 That perspective was actually what I was talking about. There are plenty of good tutorials on the specific CAD platforms, I was more interested in the learning process. I came from a world of traditional CAD and it has been a journey to make the switch to parametric. I was envisioning a look at the challenges of jumping into it. Many are in the same boat of needing to get some CAD skills to be able to make the things we envision. Seeing your challenges and your approach would be interesting. Thanks.

Grazas

I some instances, having the extra degree of freedom the cable affords you is helpful for precision positioning but at some point I overcome the rolling friction on the crane trolley and that can surprise you like someone bumping your elbow when your pouring them a beer from a pitcher or th eice sloshing in your glass. The pivot point is also lower than ideal on the crucible so small changes in angle can make big changes in the pouring rate, but I wanted a sure grip on that A60 because it's a beast. I just don't use that set up as often. Once you're in practice, it's no biggie. Best, Kelly

Aluminum shrinkage is 1.3%. After your design is complete, just scale your CAD model to 101.3% and you'll have accurately sized castings. Best, Kelly

@@kellycoffield533 thank you very much! Such a simple solution.

It's all about the cam. Always is. No performance cam I would run on any induction system would run well at low rpm. You're kidding yourself if you think IR can't run strong on a street engine. I've tuned and driven many. Don't need 12" more of runner length. The intake valve to carb booster runner length is already longer than the shortest runner on an conventional open plenum 4brl intake. Vacuum is another matter, especially on an IR system. If I had vacuum accessories,I agree, I'd run a pump and plenum. Told this fella the same. He'll have to learn that himself. Best, Kelly

Well, these days I use a CAD function which in my software is call lofting. I define a cross section at the starting position, ending position, and a centerline for it to follow. The loft function morphs one cross section to the other along the centerline. Then there is a function called shell which creates another surface at a commanded wall thickness....in my case .25". Then I import that CAD model into CAM software to create gcode that my CNC router can use to cut the shape. I used to use a manual pattern guided router process, but the CAD process is far superior in every way. The CAD/CAM learning curve can be steep depending upon your backgrond but once I succeeded in lost foam casting a manifold, I was enthusiastically motivated to learn so I could make better parts. Best, Kelly

My small furnace is 8kw. It's essentially a kiln purpose built for melting metal in crucibles of a certain size. It can melt 10lb of aluminum from a cold start in 30 minutes. I pay 8 cents US per kw-hr, so about 32 cents. The furnace in this video is larger and was built to be natural gas fired, but I made and use an 8kw electric insert for it for melting and heat treating. About 4x that for this project so $1.28 (and 4x melt time)......inexpensive and I don't have to mess with fuel or fuel strage, and it produces an excellent furnace atmosphere for melting aluminum. Not as fast a some fuel fired furnaces but I turn it on, mold the part, and do other things until it's ready to pour....fast enough for me. Best, Kelly

I increase the scale by 1.3% with the click of a button. that's .013in/in, .013mm/mm, etc. Best, Kelly

@@kellycoffield533 excellent, thank you!

Yes, molten Aluminum slowly dissolves steel, and steel is soluble in aluminum. It's not a useful alloying metal with aluminum, in most cases it's consdered a tramp metal, and above small amounts has undesirable affects on mechanical properties. Iron seems to do slightly better but probably only because it develpops an oxide layer that is only slightly more resistant. Stainless Steel is no better and in some cases may be worse. Foundries use ladle liners and refractory washes on metal contact tools to prevent contamination of the melt and prolong the life of the tool. Best, Kelly

He talks about that coating, in detail, in one of his other videos titled, "Refractory Coatings for Lost Foam Casting Patterns" Anyways, Kelly, brilliant as always. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, if you search my channel there is a video dedicated to the subject of coatings. And yes, in lost foam, the pattern is simply placed in unbound sand and then vibrated as the flask is filled to compact the sand to a psuedo-bound state. Then the molten metal evaporates the pattern as it is poured. The gas from the evaporated pattern escapes through the coating into the mold media (dry sand)......no intermediate burn out step is required. The full process is shown and discussed in many of my other casting videos. I built all of my own equipment. Best, Kelly

@@kellycoffield533 Thank you for the detailed reply! I found your coating video after I wrote my comment. Your videos are an inspiration and I did my first copper ingot pour yesterday because of them.

Discussed in this video. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iph4a7h5mLrJkYE.html If you sub to my channel there are other vids that may be helpful. The ones from the last 2-3 years are best. Best, Kelly

I'm really more into 335 series Ford engines. The Inline Carbs were developed for racing programs associated with that engine platform. They were just a novelty that I started with 35 years ago and collected and traded for over the years and then when eBay came along the collectors drove the prices up and they have become quite sought after and valuable. I like motorsport, building engines and interesting inductions systems. People seek me out to build working systems for them. It's fun! Visit my website www.Inlinecarb.com I haven't done much with the site for 10-15 years. I'd rather spend my time building induction systems than websites. Best, Kelly

@@kellycoffield533 what's a 335 series?

@@kennethlang5669 A Ford engine family known for their high flow canted valve heads such as Boss 302/351 and Cleveland performance engines. Best, Kelly

It regulates the rate at which vaporized foam escapes to the surrounding mold and improves the surface finish of the casting. Best, Kelly