How to Make Homemade Petrobond Clay for Casting

Рет қаралды 23,704

3 жыл бұрын

I am so tired of seeing high price tags for casting clay that I can't justify purchasing. For about $10, I decided I would try to make my own.
After a few issues with making the actual casting box, I finally get to put my molding sand to the test. What I end up making knocks one of my long time goals off my list!
Today's video is a culmination of everything I have learned since I started using my Devil Forge 6 months ago.
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Music:
Music provided by HearWeGo
Artist: Liam Thomas
Title: No Time
Listen on KZfaq: • Liam Thomas - No Time
Music provided by HearWeGo (goo.gl/nDS3zR)
Artist: Nomyn
Title: Astral
Listen on KZfaq: • Nomyn - Astral
Music provided by HearWeGo (goo.gl/nDS3zR)
Artist: Ptr.
Title: Sacred Land
Listen on KZfaq: • Ptr. - Sacred Land
Music provided by HearWeGo (goo.gl/nDS3zR)
Artist: Nomyn
Title: Moonlight
Listen on KZfaq: • Nomyn - Moonlight
Outro:
Song: 失望した
Artist: Eva
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVTsD...
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And as always,
Please Like and Subscribe. This hobby is not free for me. Propane, crucibles, rigidizer and other consumable resources are going to cost me a bit each month. Please help me out so I can keep providing videos.
Also, check me out on Patreon
Patreon: / bad_idea_metals

Пікірлер: 54

@Neptunus68 3 жыл бұрын

My beloved Sir! you need to screen your sand to very fine, and also screen play sand to very fine sand, use some bentonit clay in that mix. for the details use baby powder or fine screened ash to brush the details that your gonna cast!

@tonygagey 11 ай бұрын

I would highly recommend myfordboy! His series on home casting is outstanding!

@mishushat 6 ай бұрын

That was an interesting journey!🌟

@Metalstacker 3 жыл бұрын

Wow that was quiet the learning experience! Good to see you made your own sand and moulding box. Maybe your mixture of petrobond is not spot on yet? You could add some quarter inch ridges on the inside of the box, that way the sand will stick better. Great project and good results on the copper ball ✌🏻✌🏻

@badideametals 3 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks!! I am going to try some changes with the sand mixture. I wondered if the sand was not oiled enough causing it not to be so much like clay... or was there too much oil causing it to be too heavy... I will also be making other boxes too to see if I can improve results there too.

@conorharford5117 3 жыл бұрын

Fair play. good to see the petrobond working out. cant wait to do it myself . I have the devil forge just need to make up some tongs and get going

@badideametals 3 жыл бұрын

This was a fun thing making my own sand... I recently bought real petrobond and I am honestly not sure I will use my homemade stuff again ... check out my videos from February/March from this year to see the difference...

@en2oh Ай бұрын

You might consider adding a bentone component to this(as in the real product

@roberthoward467 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for showing a decent petrobond video. I have been having trouble with my bentonite/sand and for what I am doing casually this seems like a easy alternative

@badideametals 3 жыл бұрын

It works as a course grain and general mold... I have had more luck with the real petronond though... it is expensive, but the clarity is worth the price to me

@court2379 2 жыл бұрын

@@badideametals Try to find a local foundry supply. Much of the cost is shipping, and they order it by the truck load so it is much less. Last quoted it, it was $70US for 50lbs.

@badideametals 2 жыл бұрын

@@court2379 thanks :) I will have to see what is around me.

@lenny108 7 ай бұрын

13:35 It is always important to have eye protection glasses when doing such work

@tomrich1502 3 жыл бұрын

Your first set of boxes could be used just pre drill and use drywall screws I used the same type of wood no problem as long as you pre drill also you need alignment pins or wedges to keep things aligned

@robertsunderland9196 Жыл бұрын

Best sand casting video yet... looks like i better build a stronger box first,.

@nocturnusbostok2636 3 жыл бұрын

Part of your problem may be the sand. Petrobond is more than just oil and sand, there is a clay in it as well. The formula I've seen is 100lbs fine sand, 5lbs bentone (not bentonite), 2lbs of oil, 1oz of alcohol. The oil and sand would bind together a bit but I think your mold falling out is due to the missing clay. At roughly $2/lb real petrobond isn't cheap, homemade is quite a bit cheaper. I haven't attempted a sand cast with copper but I hear it is more difficult than aluminum, so well done on the ball.

@badideametals 3 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks :) ... I have had more troubles off camera with this clay. Especially now that my outside temperatures have dropped to just about freezing. I would expect any oil based products would also react differently at high and low temperatures... this experiment will likely show more failed attempts then legitimate petrobond. I was hopeful, but I think reality is finally catching up. Once the oil is burned out, I may not recharge this material... but I will have to wait for warmer weather for such decisions. Thank you so much for commenting!

@coylkoupourbinbarger2941 8 ай бұрын

this clay somehow no longer exists, its almost as if it never existed, not sure what happened but there is absolutely no place to purchase it in any quantity, finally managed to determine that its useful because it absorbs petroleum, however other clays that do the same thing cost more than just buying petrobond which is guaranteed to work much better than any diy alternative

@court2379 2 жыл бұрын

Few things. Add some pins and holes to your cope and drag. You don't want them shifting as you pull the off, and you usually need to put them back together after separating them. Put a rib of wood or something around the middle of the cope and drag. It will give the sand something to hold onto and be unlikely to slide out. Make a lock of some kind for your tongs. If that had slipped out it would have broken your crucible and thrown hot metal all over. Wear long pants and tall boots. Get a drop of splashed molten metal in your shoe and you will learn. Welders boots are the best as the tongue cover the laces so melt falls off, instead of in. Cast over dirt. Concrete it will splash more if you spill and can trap moisture under the metal and cause it to explode all over the place. Wear a face shield. I am guessing that adding some finer material like clay to your mix will help it hold together. It may make it harder for gases to escape though, so start with 10% and slowly go toward 20.

@badideametals 2 жыл бұрын

Ya, this was an early setup. I have a better rig now. More stable... And that is brilliant... I will need to put a rib in the box. I don't know how many times I dropped the sand as id did not have enough to hold onto ... I will make some changes. Thank you for your help :)

@court2379 2 жыл бұрын

@@badideametals The rib is for the inside to give the sand something to hold onto and not shift, but one on the outside for you is good too. 😁

@pocatefo1 2 жыл бұрын

Super interesante tu video. Has ganando un nuevo suscriptor 👏

@badideametals 2 жыл бұрын

Gracias amigo :) ( yo hablo Portuguese, … Espanhol está similar, no?)

@markuscamenzind5510 8 ай бұрын

you picked one of the hardest shapes to do your first cast. unless you get it perfectly half and half you run the risk of breaking one side.

@badideametals 8 ай бұрын

Ya, that was a challenge. I have learned so much since. I may be doing a video soon of more casting.

@appatula Жыл бұрын

Thread cutting oil recommendation is likely for its high temp cooling application.

@juhavuorinen3945 Ай бұрын

Allways use screws if you have it

@joemalinak7410 2 жыл бұрын

The sanding for smooth surfaces works but it looked like a lot of effort. I wonder if using a sand blaster would be an easier way to go?

@badideametals 2 жыл бұрын

It could :) I don’t have a sand blaster. But I could try that.

@tobhomott 2 жыл бұрын

Just came across your channel in my feed via this video. I see that you already bought some petrobond some time after posting this, so you probably already know that this mixture lacks the binder that makes real petrobond work so well. That binder is an organoclay, a type of chemically modified bentonite that absorbs oil instead of water. The lack of availability of organoclays in small quantities is really the only barrier that prevents hobbyists from being able to make their own high quality oil bonded molding sand. If you have contacts in oil drilling or paint manufacturing who can sneak you a bag of the stuff, it would definitely be worth looking up the recipe for K-bond sand and revisiting this! Any brand of organoclay should work.

@badideametals 2 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks !! I will try it again someday.

@derrickdankwah2657 Жыл бұрын

wow

@en2oh Ай бұрын

You need to invest in a muller 😉

@danishproducts9010 2 жыл бұрын

Not bad work dear.

@tomayrscotland6890 Жыл бұрын

you have to use a wooden block to compress it into a hard form? But you will know that by now. you can also use sugar molasses as the indians do in india.

@badideametals Жыл бұрын

Oooo sugar molasses :) that sounds sticky

@LBCAndrew Жыл бұрын

you need around 10-15% bentonite clay, finely ground.

@lenny108 7 ай бұрын

Nicely done! There are many videos suggesting that casting clay should be mixed with water. This is certainly wrong because the hot metal immediately turns the water into steam and the the whole explodes.

@badideametals 7 ай бұрын

That sounds very dangerous indeed.

@sdunca4864 2 ай бұрын

Please research greensand or at least understand the general history of casting before commenting...

@philandrawis6232 6 ай бұрын

using oil is not good because it burns and you also need to add clay to your mix as the bonding element and use water instead oil - oil is no good to do this

@badideametals 6 ай бұрын

Water is actually dangerous. Metal at 1700 F and above will turn the moisture directly into steam which can cause an explosive situation. It will cause hot metal to propel quickly away as the steam expands and escapes from the clay and sand. You are correct, the sand I have in this video is lacking the bonding clay. But the oil is actually what I wanted for this mix. Oil does not evaporate and expand at the temperatures we will be melting copper and aluminum at. Also, oil will burn off, instead of evaporate out. That is an expected behavior of the clay. This cutting oil is used to repair and recondition the sand for future use. I am open to how other people do things. I have seen first hand a few close calls with hot metal and expanding steam to know that water and a melting forge should not be too close… and that I need to keep my molds (graphite as well as sand) need to be as dry as possible.

@nesabrdza6548 6 ай бұрын

When did you start cutting 16.32, I saw that you are a total amateur without any experience :( Never, ever hold a metal cutting machine with only one hand if you don't want to injure yourself... Always put the metal in the clamp, otherwise it can jump and hurt you...

@badideametals 6 ай бұрын

All true. I do secure things most of the time… but not always. I have been working with different power tools such as grinders and saws where I have gotten too relaxed. 30 years of mistakes have formed some bad habits. I worked with an engineer as a teenager, and for a general contractor for industrial and commercial building and construction for a time. I learned some bad habits and practices for sure.