Making a foundry core is not brain surgery. Provided you have the materials, the safety equipment and the know-how, it can be done in a garden shed. It's awesome what can be produced using a blowtorch, a bag of sand and hot metal. It can be a relaxing and productive pastime for the DIY enthusiast who has plenty of time and no deadlines to meet or targets to worry about. There is time to melt down and re-pour your mistakes until you are happy with the result.
If you have a small business casting metal, you don't have time for do-overs. If your foundry guy moves on to greener pastures, it can take a while to find someone with the same skill set and knowledge base. It's time to think about outsourcing your cores.
Almost 75% of all metal castings are performed using sand. There are a number of different methods for sand casting. Each approach has its own advantages. These methods include isocure, warm box, shell and air set no-bake.
When the desired outcome is a thin-walled core, it has to be strong enough to hold up to the molten metal without breaking down or eroding. For this, the warm box process is employed. Furan, a simple aromatic hydrocarbon, is mixed with the sand as a fixative. The catalyst in this process is heat. However, the boiling point of furan is uncomfortably close to room temperature; this makes it both flammable and volatile. A very good reason to outsource this work to a company that is used to handling it. Once cast, the cores are heated until the outside of the core is hard. Inside, cooling continues to cool.
Some times you want a mold that you can use to fabricate objects out of a non-ferrous materials, like fiberglass, styrofoam, plastic, and so on. This is where the air set no bake process comes in handy. This involved mixing sand and plastic together and packing it around a positive. Not only does this process give you the versatility you need, it can produce castings anywhere from 40 to 225 pounds in weight.
The isocure method is the way to go for speed and economy when making large cores. Here, the sand is mixed with a polyurethane resin. An amine or other catalyst is injected to the box and then purged with superhot air.
When you are looking for a fine-grained finish, the shell process is the method of choice. Heat the casting box and pour in pre-treated sand. Apply heat to the outside to get a hard, thin shell. A side benefit of this approach is the sand on the interior remains uncured and can be reused.
Sand casting for foundry core production has been around since around 3,500 B. C.; that's way before even Moses walked the Earth. The reason it has stood the test of time is because of its reliability and versatility. Back in Moses' time, things were different and metal smiths had no problem melting down their mistakes. Over the years, the process has evolved in many different directions. It has always been a dangerous process. For many reasons, businesses today often outsource their foundry work.
If you have a small business casting metal, you don't have time for do-overs. If your foundry guy moves on to greener pastures, it can take a while to find someone with the same skill set and knowledge base. It's time to think about outsourcing your cores.
Almost 75% of all metal castings are performed using sand. There are a number of different methods for sand casting. Each approach has its own advantages. These methods include isocure, warm box, shell and air set no-bake.
When the desired outcome is a thin-walled core, it has to be strong enough to hold up to the molten metal without breaking down or eroding. For this, the warm box process is employed. Furan, a simple aromatic hydrocarbon, is mixed with the sand as a fixative. The catalyst in this process is heat. However, the boiling point of furan is uncomfortably close to room temperature; this makes it both flammable and volatile. A very good reason to outsource this work to a company that is used to handling it. Once cast, the cores are heated until the outside of the core is hard. Inside, cooling continues to cool.
Some times you want a mold that you can use to fabricate objects out of a non-ferrous materials, like fiberglass, styrofoam, plastic, and so on. This is where the air set no bake process comes in handy. This involved mixing sand and plastic together and packing it around a positive. Not only does this process give you the versatility you need, it can produce castings anywhere from 40 to 225 pounds in weight.
The isocure method is the way to go for speed and economy when making large cores. Here, the sand is mixed with a polyurethane resin. An amine or other catalyst is injected to the box and then purged with superhot air.
When you are looking for a fine-grained finish, the shell process is the method of choice. Heat the casting box and pour in pre-treated sand. Apply heat to the outside to get a hard, thin shell. A side benefit of this approach is the sand on the interior remains uncured and can be reused.
Sand casting for foundry core production has been around since around 3,500 B. C.; that's way before even Moses walked the Earth. The reason it has stood the test of time is because of its reliability and versatility. Back in Moses' time, things were different and metal smiths had no problem melting down their mistakes. Over the years, the process has evolved in many different directions. It has always been a dangerous process. For many reasons, businesses today often outsource their foundry work.
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