OT Anybody ever done any aluminum casting

[greg g]

Toying with the idea of trying to sand cast some head light trim pieces for my Studebaker project. I have one of the pieces and it appears they are no different right or left. SO I though I might try to melt up some aluminum beverage cans, and try my hand at making some new ones. Probably need a case of cans for a pour but the family produces that many about twice a week, and the roadsides might also contribute to the pile. Any success??? I have these thoughts probably as a result of inhaling lead fumes when making fishing sinkers as a youth.

[Tony WestOZ]

Greg,

In a past life I worked in several foundries (nearly 20 years ago now) and to me there is nothing better than making your own castings.

However, (and I don’t mean to put a dampener on your enthusiasm) be prepared for a lot of work and a lot of early failures. Making lead sinkers is child’s play compared to casting Aluminum.

I don’t know what size town (or city) you live in but I would first look at getting someone else to cast them up for you. (At this point I won’t go into the sand and chemicals you need plus the furnace to melt to 500 deg C.)

Making the pattern is the most expensive part of the whole process and this is something you could do to cut your cost right down. Remember metal shrinks when its cast so a pattern has to be made oversize compared to the original casting. (From memory about 3/8 per linier foot)

Stay from ally cans you will need thousands of them to do even a small job, and it’s the wrong grade aluminum for what you need. It does not cast very well.

As I said I don’t mean to put a dampener on it but it is a lot of work.

If you want any advice let me know I am more than glad to help.

Tony

WestOZ

[Merle Coggins]

I had thoughts about doing that to make some Fluid Drive emblems. I only have one good one, and this type seems to be impossible to locate. I did some internet surfing and found several amature casting sites. Some were very detailed, and I realized that there was no way I'd be able to do it. I also found a forum like this one full of these amature metal casters. I thought about contacting them to se if someone would be willing to make some up for me, but I didn't follow through with it. Maybe I will someday.

Merle

[Don G 1947]

Greg,

About a year or so ago (maybe longer) Auto Restorer Magazine did a multiple part series on casting aluminiun. The guy who wrote the article was an experienced caster and went through the entire process starting with making a model of the part. I think pack copies of that magazine are available from Bow Tie Publications (or some such name)

Good luck!

Don

[Bob_Koch]

I think I have those past issues of Auto Restorer. Greg if needed I can dig them out and send them to you. I always like new challenges myself. I say go for it - and keep us up to date.

[Guest Dave Claussen]

We cast aluminum on a limited basis where I work and, as Tony pointed out, there are a number of issues that would be difficult to overcome. Getting enough heat is probably the single biggest problem. Our foundry uses an electric furnace that can heat stainless steel or manganese bronze to over 2500 degrees. Aluminum has a lower melting point, but it's still hotter than you could reach with say a propane flame or even Mapp gas, not to mention you'd need several Mapp gas canisters just for one melt. And last time I bought one of the canisters, it wasn't real cheap. If you could find some scrap aluminum at a metal recycling center, the issue of the correct alloy of aluminum would be solved. There are dozens of different aluminum alloys available today. Many cylinder heads and wheels are cast from aluminum these days. Not sure if that would be the correct alloy, but aluminum cans are almost for sure not the stuff you want.

I would most definetly do a lot more research before attempting such a project. On the up side, if you could pull it off, you might be opening up a whole new business (ad)venture. The world might beat a path to your door! Heck, the guy potrayed in the movie "World's Fastest Indian" was shown casting his own pistons, and that was supposedly based on a true story.

[Thunder II]

Check this link. http://backyardmetalcasting.com/index.html I've never tried it myself, but it was highly recommended.

[Guest Dave Claussen]

Cool website! Makes it all sound very possible. I'm intrigued now. I guess on a smaller scale, there's some ways to get around the "issues" that larger scale operations would have. Thanks for the link, Thunder.

[Thunder II]

You bet Dave. Let us know how it works out...