Scrap aluminum to address plate

I've had a CarveWright carving machine for years that I've made many carved signs etc. I've always wanted to carve something and then cast the resulting carve. I finally found the time to do it and will try to illustrate the process for those who might be interested.
I started with carving the address plate in HDF (high density fiberboard).
I next place the carve face up in the bottom of the casting flask and pack with casting sand.
I then flip the flask over and apply the top part of the two part casting flask. Chalk line powder is added to keep the top half from sticking to the bottom half. Sand is then added and packed in the top half.

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A pouring hole (the sprue) is added to the top half as well as 2 vent holes. The top half is lifted and the carving removed leaving a hollow imprint in the sand. The top half is put back in place.
For this trial run I choose to melt some aluminum scrap and poured into the mold. I then waited about 10 long minutes and then separated the two halves to reveal the casting.

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I then cut off the excess metal from the sprue and the vent holes, did a bit of sanding, then painting, and then finally sanding the paint off the high spots. I am pleased with the font I used as it gives the vintage look that I was after.

I hoped you enjoyed this thread. Jim

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Looks good!

Wow! Super cool!

That's pretty much the same technique we used when I worked in an aluminum foundry as a summer job. Good job.

Nice work !

Very cool. How would a brass or copper pour compare to the aluminum pour? Could the same technique be used? Would there be a significant difference in difficulty? Probably have to heath the metal hotter.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. It means a lot coming from fellow scrappers.

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Originally Posted by t00nces2

Very cool. How would a brass or copper pour compare to the aluminum pour? Could the same technique be used? Would there be a significant difference in difficulty? Probably have to heath the metal hotter.

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That's a very good question. I tried this very same plate in brass (actually 6 times) and keep tweaking my technique but I keep getting a void in the plate. I have cast some brass stars with success and yes you do have to get it hotter. It likes to start to set before the mold is filled if the mold is to big. I have only melted copper one time and poured a star but it was incomplete because I had to remove more dross (impurities) than I had planned for.

I say very high quality work on this one. I hope you can continue to share your efforts here on the forum.

73, Mike

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Originally Posted by miked

I say very high quality work on this one. I hope you can continue to share your efforts here on the forum.

73, Mike

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Thanks Mike. As long as there is interest I will continue to share my efforts. Truth is I am really enjoying this casting stuff.

Yesterday I designed and carved some decorative washers. First I carved 2 and cast them. That gave me 4. I used those 4 to cast 4 more resulting in 8. I then used 6 of those to cast six more as that is the most I could fit in my flask. I posted a picture of the six freshly cast and you will see that they filled up the flask. Lastly I show a picture of how I used them on the loft I built in my shop.

Now for full disclosure I did sand them with a flap sanding wheel on my angle grinder and then hit them slightly with a wire wheel in the drill. I also had to clean up the inner hole with a 3/8" drill bit.

Can you tell I am enjoying myself? haha

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Enjoying my shop. Hard to believe that the Loft plaque was a couple of aluminum air compressor pistons earlier that morning. :)

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Address plates usually have the name of the street where the object is located and the building number. But this is necessary not only for navigation. And also to emphasize the status of the institution. Especially if we are talking about design pointers that are made to order. You can, of course, make a sign with your own hands, but a specialized platform will make it much better thanks to the latest generation technologies. That's why you should seek help from https://baliandboo.com/collections/house-signs.

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Originally Posted by denyshutt

Address plates usually have the name of the street where the object is located and the building number.

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I live in the country so we don't have streets. ;)

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Originally Posted by t00nces2

Very cool. How would a brass or copper pour compare to the aluminum pour? Could the same technique be used? Would there be a significant difference in difficulty? Probably have to heath the metal hotter.

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Copper not so nice, yellow and red brass are great.

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Originally Posted by RustyDollars

I then cut off the excess metal from the sprue and the vent holes, did a bit of sanding, then painting, and then finally sanding the paint off the high spots. I am pleased with the font I used as it gives the vintage look that I was after.

I hoped you enjoyed this thread. Jim

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If the sand your using is Petrobond, you don't need vents, only for green sand.

Always try to place the good side down in the mold any junk than makes it into the pour will be on the backside of the completed object where its easily cleaned off.