Quote:
Originally Posted by DonRotolo
Heh. When I went to school, we HAD a foundry in the machine shop. (Of course, that was back in the stone age, so we didn't have metals yet...) Casting metal or plastics is really not difficult and can deliver parts nearly impossible any other way. But, one can design around that if necessary. Go to www.smooth-on.com to see some cool moldmaking and casting supplies |
It is true that casting aluminum or other non-ferrous metals in a small shop does not require a lot of complex and expensive equipment, and can be carried out safely at a hobby level. However it does carry dangers that may not be well understood by the novice and it would be best to carefully consider the risks and consult and seek guidance from someone with experience before taking on any casting project. Such capabilities have been absent from many of our schools for some time and the experience needed to perform them safely may have also disappeared. You would be surprised how many people think it is OK to pour a casting over a concrete floor, and do not realize that trapped water in the concrete will cause it to explode if a spill occurs.
Still, I have often thought that casting has great potential for a small underfunded team. If you do not have access to very much machining capability, casting allows you to undertake the production of complex parts that rival those produced by teams who have access to CNC. Also, the raw materials can often be scavenged for little or no investment. It is true that these days AndyMark does have a solution for almost everything. But many teams cannot afford much more than the basic kit of parts. The ability to cast your own wheel blanks or other parts could be a real boon for some modestly funded teams particularly in smaller towns and rural areas without much local manufacturing or commercial support.
Again metal casting needs to be taken seriously, but I think casting may have been an under utilized manufacturing technique within FIRST. This thread has renewed my consideration of casing, and it will be something our team may want to discuss with our local shop teacher. But I know that I personally do not really have the knowledge or experience to supervise such activities right now, so we will really need to do our homework if we plan to undertake something like this.