It is difficult to say specifically what is causing your casting defects. However, I can speak in generalities. First, it is important to know which alloy that you are using. The most common casting alloy is A356 and is the main alloy for aluminum wheels. It is a high Silicon (6.5% to 7.5%) content alloy. It is slightly hypoeutectic so porosity during solidification is minimized. If you are pouring a lower Si content or Zn content alloy the castings will not be as good. Cylinder heads may have Zn added for strength and higher temperature strength. Castings such as the alternator and starter motor castings may be low Si and are likely pressure die cast. I haven't seen how thick your casting is at the beginning of the video, and this may be part of the problem. Some of the defects that you showed on the casting look similar to freeze outs and cold shuts. If your casting is relatively thin you may need to preheat your mold or increase the superheat on your melt; or, both. Thin castings are difficult to do in sand castings because the metal will cool before the mold is filled. If this is the case, then just a slight adjustment is needed. Depending on the scrap that you start with, you can adjust your melt. For example, if you are using aluminum cans as your raw material, this is a poor choice for a casting alloy but you can handle that. Aluminum cans are usually made from 3104 which has almost no Si but is alloyed with Mn and Mg. To use aluminum cans, make your melt, refine and cast into ingots. After the ingots have cooled, weigh them. Then when you go to remelt, add about 7% by weight Si. You will then have a good casting alloy. The small amounts of Mn and Mg won't have much effect. hth. PS: @5:15 the results look like shrinkage during solidification. Again, it depends on what your starting alloy is. It is definitely a lack of fluidity and possibly cold shuts. PPS: On the 200 kilos of scrap that you have, don't throw it out straight away. Make some ingots and have them tested for composition. Once you know the composition, you can possibly adjust your chemistry. Another good scrap source for you would be extrusions which are a 6000 series and would only require some additional Si to make it a good casting alloy.
@lauriemattila593614 күн бұрын
At what temperature is the cast iron ready to pour
@luckygen100113 күн бұрын
1400C
@lauriemattila593612 күн бұрын
Thanks l have spent time trying to find heat measuring thermistor or similar to measure temp . Any ideas thanks
@luckygen100112 күн бұрын
@@lauriemattila5936 When the surface of the molten iron is very shiny or reflective it is hot enough to pour.
@adamwebster978415 күн бұрын
Castme a snare drum shell!
@sven-erikviira187219 күн бұрын
At 14:18 I was thinkink "what an interesting pink slag on top of the sprue". Then I was thinking "why would there be a layer of slag there". I guess it is just still glowing metal?
@luckygen100119 күн бұрын
Yes that is what it is.
@a-k-jun-119 күн бұрын
I'm glad you have video of this facility. I'm over in the USA and still admire those casting facilities.
@jdmccorful22 күн бұрын
Brought back lots of memories when I was in the field for Inductotherm. Thanks, enjoyed.
@luckygen100121 күн бұрын
Did you repair the furnace power supply? They used to use SCRs, did they change over to IGBTs?
@jdmccorful21 күн бұрын
@luckygen1001 Yes and no we used "hockypucks".
@shortaybrown22 күн бұрын
What a great film, thank you for posting it. These boys seemed a bit cavalier about safety, like no glasses and no gloves. Although they really knew what were they were doing, do you think if that was done today they’d have more protective clothing, and more safety regulations? Thanks1
@luckygen100122 күн бұрын
Yes they should have a lot more protective clothing
@glennmoreland645722 күн бұрын
Who got to decide that a trade wasn't needed anymore....... and that youngsters were to be indoctrinated instead...? ☹️😡☹️🇬🇧
@luckygen100122 күн бұрын
Some very wise people high up in Government made that decision.
@bobweiram632122 күн бұрын
Who needs the trades when ya got KZfaq? 😂
@luckygen100122 күн бұрын
The one problem with that is you have to sift through a lot rubble to find the gems.
@bobweiram632121 күн бұрын
@@luckygen1001 That's what this channel is for. It's just the wheat and no chaff.
@luckygen100121 күн бұрын
@@bobweiram6321 Thanks.
@williamlefave405822 күн бұрын
Thank you for sharing. I wish this school was still around, I would have never left.
@awldune22 күн бұрын
Interesting to see the lack of PPE in a school setting.
@luckygen100122 күн бұрын
It would not happen now.
@azafreak22 күн бұрын
Wow. If this existed when I was at school only a few years later my trajectory would have been a lot different. Bummer
@user-xyuser66622 күн бұрын
Да, это печально.
@timelessengineering22 күн бұрын
Tafe Qld at Acaica Ridge in Brisbane is home to pretty much all the nation's casting and moulding apprentices they also run evening classes for hobbyists, where they will help you cast all the model and project parts you want pouring aluminium, bronze, cast iron and SG.
@luckygen100122 күн бұрын
I had a look at their courses and they have one that goes for one month for the hobbist. $445. Thanks for sharing that.
@Techne8222 күн бұрын
And they throw sand in our eyes with slogans like “build back better” and “green revolution”
@olfoundryman841822 күн бұрын
Bill, Thanks for putting this up. I made castings in the RMIT foundry that the one you show here replaced - a long time ago - 1965 in fact during my metallurgy study years. Tobho is right it - is incredibly sad to see such facilities vanish but then all of us old-timers age going sooner or later to that great foundry in the sky. I make no comment about some of the less than scientific techniques shown....Martin
@VladekR22 күн бұрын
I wonder which bit you refering
@olfoundryman841822 күн бұрын
@@VladekR There were quite a few bits but the stupidly high sprue extension and the awkward way it was poured at around 3.00 will do for a start.... Martin
@luckygen100122 күн бұрын
I knew that tall spue extension would not escape your notice. I did have two come out to my place after it closed and watching them ram up a mold they had not learned much at R.M.I.T.
@AmalgmousProxy21 күн бұрын
@@olfoundryman8418 I was just thinking to myself, "That sprue is rather tall." I wonder why they did that... Hope you are doing well.
@olfoundryman841820 күн бұрын
@@AmalgmousProxy, Still alive but not doing as well as I would like. Why did they use that ridiculously high sprue? Good question, possible answers; - 1 stupidity - 2 exaggeratedly copying a certain UK foundry, you know, the one who grovels on the floor and does strange weird almost perverse things with his box dowel pins (the mind fair boggles!) really this boils down to stupidity. 3 - Ignorance, now ignorance is not stupidly, unless of course it results in a belief that after 5 minutes in a foundry one knows better than those who have spent a lifetime there, The so called Dunning Kruger effect, so again, yes, stupidity. 4 - a belief that such a high sprue would increase mould pressure during the pour and so decrease the risk of a misrun - unfortunately the pressure will not increase until the sprue is full and this won’t be until the end of the pour by which time the misruns will likely have already occurred, so again, stupidity 5 - a desire to produce the roughest possible finish on the casting, yep, stupidity again. 6 - a desire to produce as lightweight a casting as possible by incorporating as much trapped air in it as possible, Hmm, stupidity again. So, my conclusion as to why the high sprue - stupidity. Take their box of matches away and ban them from any foundry…. Martin
@DDB16822 күн бұрын
Really interesting. I remember that hobby course, but I was never able to do it (waiting lists). I still think there'd be interest if somewhere or someone ran a course like that. Any idea what happens today in regards to training? I would guess there'd still be some foundries and foundryman needed.
@olfoundryman841822 күн бұрын
DDB, I had thought of running a short free session or two for a small number of people but sadly age has caught up to me and I doubt that I could now do it.... Martin
@luckygen100122 күн бұрын
There used to be hobby machining classes near where I live years ago but all have disappeared.
@gerrypentland917622 күн бұрын
I used to go to RMIT on Saturday Mornings, mostly in the non ferrous section. I can remember Jim Willetts was a patient and knowledgeable teacher. I took my camera in and have a few photos , a very enjoyable time. If you were a good student, and wanted to come back the next year, Jim made sure you Failed, and had to come back and try again next year. If you pissed Jim off, you passed, and were never seen again....
@camatbattler223322 күн бұрын
Spent many Saturday mornings there with Jim instructing us. It looked like him in the yellow hard hat. Also enjoyed the visits to yours and Robs foundry. How is Rob these days? Cam
@woodruffwoodruff685322 күн бұрын
Was that Wally Gore in the video? I wonder if a fellow Dennis Keenan was in that video, he used to work at rmit, he was a great mentor to me. Shame these skills are gone.
@luckygen100119 күн бұрын
I only met him once in the pattern making dept. but I don't think he was in the video.
@chapiit0822 күн бұрын
TPTB mandated that there's no need for people with real world skills.
@luckygen100122 күн бұрын
What is TPTB?
@chapiit0821 күн бұрын
@@luckygen1001 The powers to be.
@tobhomott22 күн бұрын
What a sad thing to see such a resource disappear. Seems short-sighted to let those skills disappear. Thanks for sharing this
@luckygen100122 күн бұрын
Those students who attended took it for granted until it disappeared.
@mrrberger22 күн бұрын
Spent a couple of semesters in there while studying MechEng. Thanks for a blast from the past.
@hrxy123 күн бұрын
all these good people probably deceased, and woke to replace them?
@bryanst.martin713423 күн бұрын
This should not be allowed to fade to China and the East.
@EricWellings199322 күн бұрын
Couldn’t agree, I work for my family owned foundry in Newcastle NSW and we still use allot of these practices.
@luckygen100122 күн бұрын
@@EricWellings1993 Can I ask what is the name of that foundry?
@ryebis23 күн бұрын
How are we going to maintain those expensive submarines ? I guess we'll have to import everything as we do now.
@putteslaintxtbks516623 күн бұрын
The water in the scap was tame compared with some video I've seen. May be a good practice to preheat befor loading into liquid steel.
@chrisarmstrong819823 күн бұрын
Wollongong TAFE had a similar set-up, with an induction furnace capable of melting cast iron. I believe it has also closed down now.
@luckygen100123 күн бұрын
I was wondering if it was still running. I think it was the last foundry school in Australia.
@luckygen100123 күн бұрын
Just in case some one asks R.M.I.T. stands for royal melbourne institute of Technology. I never attended that course as there was a long waiting list to get in. (it was very popular) Another reason why I did not attend was I had a complete set up so I could pour castings any time I wanted to instead of trying to do too many things in three hours a week. So I would go once a month and watch and see how they did things. The best thing I learnt from there was how to make cast iron from steel. After it closed down many former students had a go to set up their own foundry, most failed because there was a steep learning curve on how to do things which they did not teach there.
@blazunlimited23 күн бұрын
Very cool to see. I can’t find many videos about small foundries. Which I suppose makes sense because of economics of scale.
@luckygen100122 күн бұрын
Try windyhill foundry channel on youtube
@paulsly7793Ай бұрын
Hi Luckygen What pressure do you use to feed your oil
@luckygen1001Ай бұрын
70 kpa.
@paulsly779329 күн бұрын
Thankyou
@johncichecki2831Ай бұрын
I still have the horseshoe I cast in the 9th grade 45 years ago
@frank88sterАй бұрын
Mmm,..maybe just spend us$85 for a cheap china made DC welder? Lol! Ya, you're right, where is the fun in that, hereyou learn to learn how or utterly confuse youself.
@mertavlamaz6708Ай бұрын
Is the air of the vacuum cleaner sufficient for the cupola stove? can you please answer
@luckygen1001Ай бұрын
you need 2-3 for a cupola furnace
@mertavlamaz6708Ай бұрын
@@luckygen1001I just installed a furnace so I'm asking question. What is the size and name of the coal you use?
@luckygen1001Ай бұрын
@@mertavlamaz6708 I use coke and the size is a bit larger than a golf ball.
@mertavlamaz6708Ай бұрын
@@luckygen1001 I built a cupola stove, but I don't know how much coke to put in at first, depending on the diameter of the stove. How much coke did you add when you first lit the stove in your 9" diameter stove?
@mertavlamaz6708Ай бұрын
Or what was your iron/coke ratio?
@matthias_langАй бұрын
Are the 7-8% bentonite in the greensand mixture measured by weight or by volume? I found mine does not seem to get the desired strength so I added by feel. It ended up being way more. Does anyone have some resources (books, papers, KZfaq channels) where I can find more details about moulding materials? :)
@luckygen1001Ай бұрын
By weight. All sands are not the same so you may have to adjust the amount of bentonite to suit your sand.
@waltersandiford265Ай бұрын
My dad did this in early 60s
@bulbman256Ай бұрын
Thank you for the video, I got one of the tungar bulbs as a gift today and I find this vid on the 10th anniversary of its release date.
@luckygen1001Ай бұрын
Thanks for watching my video and they are very interesting to experiment with.
@WhatIsATurtleАй бұрын
You are awesome
@mertavlamaz6708Ай бұрын
Which did you use sand?
@luckygen1001Ай бұрын
Green sand.
@mertavlamaz6708Ай бұрын
@@luckygen1001 did you use bentonite
@oscarbaez4756Ай бұрын
Ese defecto es por aluminio contaminado ,puede ser antimonio ,zinc u otro metal de aleacion .Quizas con una temperatura mas alta podria mejorar ,pero no es seguro que pase . Para desgasificar el aluminio uso cloro en polvo (el que se usa en las piscinas ) una cucharadita de te por kg de aluminio ,luego una cucharadita de sal comun de mesa ,quitar la escoria y verter en el molde .
@lodgecav490Ай бұрын
Do angle grinder discs leave traces of impurities in the alloy when cutting? Just a thought, maybe plasma cutter or sledge hammer would be better. .🤔
@tinayoga8844Ай бұрын
You didn't mention the rod you were using to stick weld. I think 20 volts would be a little low.
@gafrersАй бұрын
Very interesting
@VladekRАй бұрын
Lucky, if you not going to use all of them we can buy leftovers (for a fair price)
@luckygen1001Ай бұрын
I'll keep you in mind. A lot of people were interested but shipping 180 kgs of battery packs to some distant corner of Australia put everyone of except me because it was only one hours drive to pick them up.
@VladekRАй бұрын
@@luckygen1001 Lucky, thanks. My son lives in Melbourne, so he could pick it up and send them to me (or use some by himself. He is a maker and Electronic Engineer).
@leonmarut7092Ай бұрын
good on ya mate sort of well done
@Angus_McGyverАй бұрын
How are you charging discharging indivedual cells? Are you removing the connector straps? And if so, how are you reconnecting them?
@luckygen1001Ай бұрын
This battery pack has every two cells in parallel so I charged both. No need to disconnect the connector straps because if one cell fails it will drag down the good cell so this is why every pairs of cells need to be tested with a multimeter
@hrxy1Ай бұрын
not sure what I got out of the video, but it was interesting and held my attention all the way thank you
@HM-ProjectsАй бұрын
I wouldn't trust them very much, it's hard to tell the internal electrolyte damage from the idle voltage drain. It's less risky than recycling high C lipoly cells though still need to be cautious.
@luckygen1001Ай бұрын
This is why the load test and the voltage drop test after a month is so important.
@DDB168Ай бұрын
Very interesting. I have one of those old SIP welders. It's been rather average as a welder, but perhaps I can make use of it, like you have. Curious to know more about the ad for the batteries. I thought a 20v drop with the redgum was pretty good actually, I expected more.
@luckygen1001Ай бұрын
Can I ask what a SIP welder is? The ad was on a private forum. Nearly all the battery packs were from cordless vacuum cleaners that are used in schools and offices. Before I did that test I thought the power saw would stall with the red gum but it cut really well for a blunt blade. I should keep cutting firewood and see how long those battery packs last.
@DDB168Ай бұрын
@@luckygen1001 SIP is the brand - it's under the word Migmate.
@luckygen1001Ай бұрын
@@DDB168 That welder in the video was thrown out because the wire feeder stopped working.