Quote:
Originally Posted by George
Hi All
Last year we needed 2” x 7” dia. aluminum material for wheels
We had lots of scrap from robots over the years and I have an electric kiln,
I had not done any casting with aluminum for years, (like others I learned foundry at high school) with no green sand we used plaster for a mold (after it was baked to remove the moisture) it worked well enough to get us the billet material at a reasonable cost.
It was a great experience in Up-Cycling and I have hopes that we can explore more options this year,
To that goal I have invested in a set of foundry tools and built a molding bench.
I should say “made” a set of tools and a bench as most of the tooling was outrageously priced for as simple as it is.
I went with petro-bond sand instead of mixing my own “home brew” a little more expensive but better results too.
Altogether total cost was about $400.00 including the kiln + time and brain power
I have found many books on the subject on amazon
If there is an interest I will list materials resources and supplies as I did with 15c machine shop.
Have Fun
Geo.
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Did you need to adjust the alloy for better casting properties? (I assume you started with mostly wrought Al-Mg-Si alloys like 6061.)
Did you attempt any heat treatment afterward? (If so, what was the process, and how did it go?)