Originally Posted by
jiffy117
Alloy, I have watched a few videos of casting with sand and sodium silicate and cured with CO2. Usually they make
cores this way as they are much stronger than green sand. I don't believe it is re-usable after casting though, is it? I have heard auto aluminum is much better as its a higher grade. I have a set of aluminum rims, only trick is to get it into workable pieces. Glad my flame is usable, was my first burn after some modifications. Thinking of building a second burner using forced air (blow dryer..). Maybe I'm just a pyro and wont even get to the casting part! ha Anyways, I'll be sure to follow you, and I know who to bug if I run into issues
Silica sand blended with sodium silicate cured with Co2 is most commonly used to make cores but may also be used for general casting. For the backyard
foundry the sand used would be written off as a consumable.
Here is an article on how the larger foundry's reclaim chemically bonded sand for reuse,
Considerations for Reclaiming Chemically Bonded Sand | Feature content from Foundrymag
Auto aluminium was my preference,
Aluminium used in the manufacture of outboard engines contains copper to hinder corrosion.
Deltalloy is used to manufacture items that require resistance to abrasion, for example automotive transmissions, AC and power steering pumps and misc hydraulic and water pumps.
If you were going to cast a lapping plate to make your own vibratory flat lap your best choice would be to use Deltalloy.
It makes me ill when I hear of someone using extruded aluminium or beer and pop cans for castings, if and when you get serious about your hobby be sure to invest in proper crucibles as those homemade iron jobs will contaminate.the metal being melted.
If you were refining gold and silver you would not use a crucible previously used to melt silver to do the final melt of your gold and expect to get a .995 button.
Bookmarks