Thanks for the video. I like it when people dare to experiment and show both their successes and failures.

Met you at MRRF last year and have been watching your videos since then. Glad to see you are making it back again.

Matt's math, lol luv it. Another sweet video thanks for sharing. God bless

Another great video! Can't wait to see you at MRRF again this year brother!

You definitely should take the castings to MRRF. Examples, even of failures, can always help others who are interested in the process. Thanks Matt!

Well done, thanks for posting

Be aware that "mortar mix" contains sand, portland, and lime. The lime has poor heat resistance and is probably the cause of most of your cracking. To avoid that lime you would want to purchase a "sand mix" in the store which will contain just portland and sand.

Pretty cool. That sure is a long processthough having to wait for printing to complete, prep, firing process, fingers crossed for finished product.

Looking forward to seeing you at MRRF again.

Matt, Loved meeting you day at Day 2 of MRRF

best to leave wrapped up for 72 hrs to complete 80% of hydration strength, when freshly poured use a palm sander on side of mold to raise bubbles to surface

Great video! Plaster of Paris here in the uk is SO expensive, you are lucky Matt! I’ve still to my small hoard as I’m so worried I’ll waste it ( and waiting until the opportunity arises). Interesting about the cement, it hadn’t occurred to me that it’d be awful to remove after. The benchy turned out great too.

Something that may help is keeping your mold as warm as you can. That way the metal won't start cooling the moment it hits. (sort of ha ha) or look in to using a vacuum to pill the metal down in to the mold. Either way, your mold still look great. thank you for these videos!

Enjoyed the video, thanks for sharing your experience. A small piece of unsolicited advice: you would get better resolution if you vibrated the wet plaster/mortar. I set mine on my running table saw for 10 seconds or so just after the plaster is poured.

Great content brother

I think your pour runners and vents need to be bigger around...the aluminum looks like it might be cooling too fast before it fills up the mold properly...it is filling, but not rushing in in a thick flow Either way...that is such an AWESOME pour man..looks like that might be the medium to go with even though cleanup is a bit harder Great Job...keep em coming!

I really like the Benchy.

If you make your molds in sections of 5-10" (or so) steel cylinders (cut big sewer pipes and sand bottoms smooth), then cut a 4" hole in the top of a pressure cooker, tap it and add fittings to make a vacuum chamber, drop a thick ring of silicone mat so the pipe seals itself to the lid, crank up a cheap vac pump, then it will pull the metal into more detail. Also I would add silica fume to your investment for more detail. OH, and paint a few coats of investment on your wax/pla model first to, then you don't get bubble defects

is there an advantage to burning the plastic prior to pouring? just lt the molten metal burn the plastic?

you can reclaim your plaster... After casting, Bake the water out of it, at around at least 330 and break it up with a hammer and screen it. The powder can used just like plaster. I mix fresh plaster 50/50 with fine sand makes it shrink less and crack less. I don't know about mortar. I have to use a metal tube to hold the plaster when I use wax shapes due to the wax expanding causing inner cracks in the mold as you melt it out. (Truck muffler pipe works great) Ill have to check the expansion of pla as it heats to see how bad it is. Try a nice LONG Pour tube to pressurize the cast for all that detail to come out.

I know it was years ago, but have you tried just dipping the part in plaster, and using sand to support it when pouring??

I think dipping thr parts in a plaster slurry. Snd let it dry. Redip it a few times then place in a buckt or container of dry sand. And if mortar is used, maybe build a small mill like something similar to what is used to mill flour and corn. Only using steel. Start small maybe 8" to 12" diameter, or so then a sheet metal surround wiyh it clamped to the disc. About half the diameter to 3/4 the diameter. Then make a çouple or 3 rollers riding under s bar in a 1.5" shaft coming through the center of the disc, with a tube as tall as the tin surround. Theshafr having sealed bearings in the tube, and an additional rubber seal. The rollers bring at least 2" dia. and just under half the diameter of the disc in length, 8" disc, being between 2.5" & 3" long, using bushings and runner seals to mount so they can roll around the disc like a race track, using an sheet metal scraper attached to an additional cross bar in the shaft, to scrapr the center tube wnd the outer tin wall. A 1/8" piece of angle or flat bar will work. The rollers attached to 3/8"x4" bar, with bracing and gussets. Possibly using either a car coil spring, eith a 2k, lb, hydraulic jack to push on the rollers. Or a 5gallon bucket if concreteto add pressure when rolling, it will work much better with 6" or larger rollers. Use it to crush sand into powder to mix with mortar, unless you want to buy ultra fine sand, possibly like that used in media blasting (sand blasting) and it may not be fine enough. The typical play sand is more cosrse than id want to use. If the mortar mix is coars run it through the mill as well. It should make flour or powdered sugar, baby powder smooth sand, the plate and. Rollers need to be hardened and ground smooth. If nothing else use cold rolled steel, hard face weld it two layers, then grind smooth, with atleast the equal of 220-320 grit sandpaper 400 would be better, use a gear reduction motor with about 15-20 rpm, use a 2" hole in the surround, with s sheet cover filling the hole. Start the mill, add a 1gallon bucket to slowly fill the mill, when the sand/mortar has been rolled about 6x or been running for about 5 minutes, open the drain catch in a bucket , cover the hole add add more until finished, the mortar can. Be mixed with near 50% sand test small amounts , it will get more brittle with more sand, too much to build with. Having it so it just stays together to do a pour, even using it in a bucket of dand to help it stay in one piece. Maybe use 10-20%total mortar. Just enough to hold the sand together, it can probably be crushed again. Add about 20% mortar and use again. I have heard of epoxy resin mixed with sand to make sand cores, the pour burns out the resin leaving a clump of sand that is easy to remove, about the same as water glass. Just an idea, of course a 36" plate with 12" rollers made from 1/2" wall pipe, 1/2" end plates, filled with lead, on 1" shafts. Hard faced and ground. With a 200lb weight attached. Would work better, possibly Hold 50 lb oer run, but small is cheaper. I don't know where you can buy powdered sand,?

Are you using any flow improver?

Great video. Do you think it would help to vacuum the bubbles out before molding?

Love the benchy floating scene. Lol

The investment casting industry uses plaster. However, they use a thin layer to detail the shape, then use successive layers reinforced with silica. Makes a huge difference.

Have you ever tried Investment??? its finer grained and recyclable!! 😉

See you at MRRF dude! -Jim

At 4:28 I am predicting that the aluminum will freeze before the petals fill because the feeders and the pour cup are too small. The small cup won’t have enough mechanical mass to push the aluminum into such tiny feeders nor enough thermal mass to keep it molten ir vice versa.

I watched a video that included using a vacuum pump, maybe you could use that to help with removing air bubbles.

19:37 Oh no, that soundtrack... JUDGEMENT DAY! 😱

Try plaster of paris but use a mixing container that keeps it moving and dip your print then wait then keep dipping and drying the outside then put that into casting sand that you pack

I am glad that your level of perfection and mine aren't the same Hopefully one day you will be on par.

Maybe do half morter and half plaster of paradise

I know I'm late to the show but I like how you show your failures and NOT just your successes. Just found this channel by surfing. In my opinion (which don't mean much) 1) Shouldn't you use a vibrator or a vibrator table after you do a pour ? 2) Even your failures have value. Wouldn't you be able to sell some of those failures to a pet store ? Think fish tank ornaments. 3) I do some casting too. Shouldn't the vents be larger ? I noticed some of the vents you had did not fill to the top and expel air and AL.

When you’re watching some random KZfaqr you just found experiment with investment casting, and he mentions he’s about to take a trip to your hometown. 😮

First! Oooo I've always wanted to say that ;-)

Go to HF and get a cheap sandblaster You can use different media in it. Do not use any sand in your mix.

You still casting?

I see a vodka right there, maybe that was the reason of failure ))

Plaster of Paris mix with clay powder and ground up playsand

paint and seal inside of box

Is that a Kawasaki Nomad in the backround Mr Matt?

Try ceramic slurry and sand.

hey bro if the mortar MIX is working for you then try purchasing just straight super mortar 94# bag cheap and purchase some bags of fine sand, sometimes called sugar sand, the finer the better and mix 4:1 this is way cheaper than the premixed

Awe man!! I wanted to be first! Lol

Maybe it's because I'm watching this while cooking dinner, but perhaps next time to avoid 'oh crap' moments, ladle it in?

That’s why they use mortar for building construction and not plaster Paris. Good effort though.

scrap up that spillage

thats 4 sand and one super

if you vacuum cast it you will be fine

if you removed the cardboard it would cure much faster

vacuum it

Well, my prediction about the rose is mute, because you did something even dumber but the void in the benchy is a an example. It may take more metal, but damn, it’s basic knowledge that small pour cup cannot do their other job, to provide a reservoir of molten metal to fill shrink deficits, and small vents, gates and sprews will prevent the free flow of that reservoir’s contents. Basic stuff, man. I wish I had my own home so I could show how it is done. A little logic would help you a lot, without my years working as a foundry artisan.

Hi good job frend but i have somme commente a boute safety bé carfule frend you must be mâle somme protection for ex dont working behined car if somme tink hapen you dont now