/Metallurgy/ - Casting, Forging, Metallurgy, Metals, and Machining #11: Real Money Edition

[Anonymous No.2687703]

Previous Edition: >>2615694

Question of the Thread: Is Silver or Gold better?

[Anonymous No.2687711]

>>2687703
I want to mint my own coins. Silver with anti-Federal Reserve slogans.

[Anonymous No.2687712]

What are some good resources for starting your own casting set up?

Pic related.

[Anonymous No.2687805]

>>2687712
Unironically, Youtube videos. You can pick and choose which setup from retard third world paki to German autistic Rhenium refiner you want and copy them.

[Anonymous No.2687809]

>>2687805
Want to do lost pla casting at some point, want to tinker w/ aluminum parts for my 3d printer.
Would they be usable, as long as everything in regards to material shrinkage is accounted for, with minimal modification?

[Anonymous No.2687829]

>>2687809
Yes, but shrinkage calculations are kinda hard and you do need to get good at gate and riser placement. Better to make oversize with plentiful gating and finalize with some basic hand filing and reaming for final dimensions. Basically be prepared to design the molds with a lot of safety waste until you get good.

[Anonymous No.2688405]

304 stainless plate with a nickel electroplate for oceanic use, should i bother to nickel it (i have a bath i made for funsies a while ago) or leave it bare? its on the deck of a boat so it will see occasional but minimal direct exposure to saltwater, but obviously will be in constant contact with the salty air. it is not at all a critical piece to the boat or passengers, but i would still like it to not rust.

[Anonymous No.2688408]

>>2687829
I didn't know there were calculations for it, but that's not surprising. I'm fine with waste material, I have a junkyard nearby that gets loads of over hardened scrap cast aluminum parts in from a big manufacturer nearby, so I can source material for mostly cheap.

[Anonymous No.2688572]

>>2688405
If the part is really critical or costly then a good nickel plating is possibly worth it. If it needs to look good for that yacht trip you take LA kids on, then likewise.

But if you're just running fish tours for Oklahoma boomers, they won't mind a little corrosion.

[Anonymous No.2688600]

>>2688572
it is neither, it is just a cupholder plate thing I'm making for dear old dad for Christmas for his boat. the original one is made from acrylic and gets broken all the time because the dipshit who designed the boat put it literally an inch from the step to get from the deck to the bow, so it gets stepped on and snapped at least once a season. so being a gift I definitely don't want it to corrode, Plus I think the off silver color nickel makes is pretty snazzy. but I was just curious if for some reason nickel or nickel over stainless is prone to corrosion in oceanic conditions.
also I'm making an under support thing to go under the cup holder to prevent it from bending when stepped on but that'll just be out of plastic so I'm obviously I'm not too concerned about rust for that.

[Anonymous No.2688664]

>>2687703
Does CO2 corrode tungsten electrodes?

>>2687712
picrel

[Anonymous No.2688670]

>>2687703
>Inhaling toxic shit all day for kicks
Enjoy the cancers

[Anonymous No.2688839]

>>2688600
In that case, clean the FUCK out of the stainless and go low and slow on the electroplating to avoid bubbles.

>>2688664
At high temps it may form WOx and carbon soot... I am not sure of the energy differential but there is a reason lightbulbs were evacuated and not filled with as simple of a gas as CO2 - otherwise they'd have used it?

[Anonymous No.2689151]

>>2688839
I followed a guide that actually uses a surfactant to keep the bubbles from sticking to the parts and it actually works really well even with 12v@5a

[Anonymous No.2689476]

Is induction heating the most energy/cost efficient way to melt cast iron?

[Anonymous No.2689703]

Another little piece that I made, this one took me about 4 hours to make and I sold it for $75. I'm self-taught so I'm pretty proud of it

[Anonymous No.2689819]

>>2689476
If you time it for like 3am and get off-hour pricing, yes. For the average after-work hobbyist, nope, that's still various energy dense oils. (At least until crude oil starts peaking over $100 a barrel)

>>2689703
Very nice, a better supported loop. But you need to learn to make overlapped and welded loops! Do you use a water torc or something else?

[Anonymous No.2690473]

How do I grow gold crystals?

[Anonymous No.2690881]

>>2689819
>For the average after-work hobbyist, nope, that's still various energy dense oils.
So a waste oil burner then? Cool. Just for my understanding though, would you happen to know how much cast iron a person could realistically cast with a 240 volt induction coil?

[Anonymous No.2690991]

>>2690881
Y'know... I thought about this while on the clock at work so consider this a professional opinion.

Pakis could cast entire rows of pump housings with Paki voltage. They just build the pits into the ground to hold the heat well and use resonant abomination circuits from surplus transformers stolen from the Soviet anti-air missile radar arrays. The lack of real heating induction hardware (the amps, the frequency control, the water cooling) is made up for by shear retardation and poverty.

So I'd say... No more than one medium pump housing or three paper weights, but have good insulation because you won't get much superheat, and your hardware won't be cooled very well and is probably a microwave transformer.

[Anonymous No.2692173]

>>2690473
That's natural dendritic gold. If you had a gold eutectic alloy melted where the gold solidifies first on a chilled 24K starter you might be able to grow dendrites but I'm not sure.

[Anonymous No.2693179]

>>2692173
Low melting point metals let you pour away the liquid as the dendrites solidify.

[Anonymous No.2693652]

>>2687703
Any tips on making casting sand? Ultra-poorfag getting into casting. Also any links on making a wood burning foundry for brass and other 2000°+ alloys.

[Anonymous No.2693669]

>>2693652
>Also any links on making a wood burning foundry for brass and other 2000°+ alloys.
i tried and shit doesnt work
wood is best case 10% moisture, every time you add fuel those 10% will vaporise and cool your foundry.

[Anonymous No.2693680]

>>2693652
>>2693669
Just turn the wood into charcoal first, it's very easy to make, you just need a metal barrel and a lid

[Anonymous No.2693689]

>>2693669
>>2693680
Don't even need full charcoalification. Well heated wood loses most low efficiency combustables and water before the burn off completes. The conductivity of the wood itself is poor for direct heating but the combustion gas is quite hot.

>>2693652
Let's see if I remember... It's like 2% coal dust, 3% bentonite clay, remainder well-rounded sand? So get beach or river sand, a sack of bentonite, and some charcoal dust. Add just enough moisture to where it packs together but breaks into fine particles.

[Anonymous No.2693697]

>>2693680
but anon asked about wood fueled, charcoal is of course a no brainier, especially due to its insulating properties

[Anonymous No.2694426]

SEM videos of metal deformation. Amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXbiEopDJ_g

[Anonymous No.2695217]

>>2687703
Sorry if this is not thread-related, but does anyone here have experience with electroplating/alloy formation?
I want to recreate the dark surface finish of a certain old snap fastener that broke and don't want to buy some spray can I might never touch again.
I was thinking along the lines of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2yZNOOdsnE except with a dark look, think along the lines of gun black.

[Anonymous No.2695290]

>>2695217
gun black is achieved by boiling steel in salt at 200-300 degrees
you can do that in your barbeque

[Anonymous No.2695291]

>>2695290
Specific salts? I've read up on some procedures that use nitrate and nitrite salts in alkaline solutions.
I should have mentioned, the only snap fasteners I can get ahold of here have a stainless steel top.

[Anonymous No.2695294]

>>2695291
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluing_(steel)

[Anonymous No.2695485]

>>2695217
Yeah, that's a deep blueing, probably salt based.

>>2695291
Stainless...? Well... I recommend a high quality black laquer or powder coat in that case.

[Anonymous No.2695604]

>>2695290
Temp is very important, having worked with guys who did blueing on the regular. If you get the temp wrong parts come out dark shit smear brown instead of that nice blue-black.

[Anonymous No.2695882]

>>2695485
>Stainless...?
At least that's what the lady at the shop said. I shouldn't have put that much trust into her word.
Also, I just did a stupid and bought them, turns out they have bronze or brass parts already stuck to them, seems like I'm stuck with some kind of electroplating where I can mask the other parts.

[Anonymous No.2695935]

>>2695882
Oh, those might just be Nickel plated brass... I don't think they make genuine stainless snaps for fabric stores unless you buy special or from a military sewing shop.

[Anonymous No.2696987]

Bumping for martensite.

[Anonymous No.2697824]

Anyone know what the leaf springs of electrical relays are made out of? I'm building a teletype keyboard, and I'm taking some inspiration from the Enigma machine for the keyswitches.

[Anonymous No.2697894]

>>2697824
The switch arm type relays are usually a silicon bronze strip with little cheap steel springs behind them if needed. A contact pad of something like silver(cadmium oxide) for high current or gold plated copper for simple analogue signals. Look up C661 silicon bronze or similar. You usually need full-hard sheet or need to be willing to cold roll your own strips. You can use hardened cartridge braass if desperate, Full-Hard Strip, for small electronics it should be fine. And just use pen springs for backing springs.

For Fuck Huge high amp relays with steel backer springs the springs can just be typical medium/high carbon, but need to be a little more expensive than the pen springs. The conductor can just be electrical copper bus bars. But you really need contact buttons. Silver/Oxide type.

[Anonymous No.2697917]

>>2687703
>just picked up a cheap used heat treat oven
>found some cheap D2 tool steel

best way to avoid warping after heat treat? steel will be milled prior to heat treat. i'm going to use a program i find online because they seem fairly standard, and i've heard about stainless steel foil wrapping

[Anonymous No.2697962]

>>2697917
>cheap D2 tool steel

Does your oven reach the necessary temperature? D2 requires something in the range of 1010 to 1080 °C (or whatever that is in freedom units).Consider that symmetric parts warp less then asymmetric ones. A thin plate with a flat bevel will probably contract more on it´s thicker side. Don´t use oil to cool it, it´s an air hardening steel, fast flowing gas would be good. If you don´t have inert gas or vacuum for the hardening process itself, use foil. I don´t have experience with foils though. Consider the temper: because of retained austenite, the steel will probably contract if you don´t temper higher then 500°C.

Thats the stuff on the top of my head. Can you post your setup and the parts you want to harden?

t. Material Engineer working in heat treatment

[Anonymous No.2698813]

>>2697917
Heat slow and even, quench slow and even, temper slow and even. (as possible)

Foils help for decarb.

[Anonymous No.2699001]

Does anyone here have a waste oil foundry? I can't seem to get a self sustaining flame on mine. I've tried looking for blockages and changing the fuel but nothing seems to work. Pic related is my design.

[Anonymous No.2699005]

>>2699001
What about the exhaust? Gonna stink like hell.

[Anonymous No.2699012]

>>2699005
It's not that bad.

[Anonymous No.2699068]

>>2699001
Preheated? Or at least is the oil tube super hot from the propane? Probably have to preheat or your inputs cool the vaporization tube too much. Gotta get oil HOT.

[Anonymous No.2699150]

>>2699068
The oil tube is definitely hot from the propane.

[Anonymous No.2700131]

>>2699150
Are you blowing compressed air faster than the flame front can reverse propagate?

[Anonymous No.2701107]

Bumping for fundamentals of metallurgy.

[Anonymous No.2701797]

>>2699001
did you try adding a few % of gasoline?
i did a fair bit of research on these burners and have plenty experience with blowtorches.
The best oil burners all inject through a red glowing burn chamber of whatever shape, perhabs add a smaller stainless steel tube that you get red hot with the propane before switching over, or throw a couple pieces of wood in your foundry

[Anonymous No.2702772]

>>2701797
Having the already hot oil hit a hot surface of much surface area and roughness before mixing in the air stream can ensure only vaporized and pre-oxidized oil enters the free combustion mix. This can give inprovements over hot-liquid injection.

[Anonymous No.2703574]

>want to get into 3D printed lost wax casting
>live in an apartment where they don't even want us to own candles
Now what?

[Anonymous No.2703685]

>>2703574
Ignore the rules. Those rules are for minimizing their fire insurance on paper. Just make sure you exhaust out a heat-safe exhaust and not plastic dryer pipe.

[Anonymous No.2703960]

>>2703685
Is there a recommend setup for indoor aluminum casting? Am I going to accidentally kms my are self?

[Anonymous No.2704130]

>>2703960
Propane, paint can furnace, small crucibles. Use a really big window box fan + an open second window or door for exhaust or if you have a deck door on a top floor then do it half outside with a chair hiding you or some shit. Only pour into your mold on a firesafe metal containing surface (Large steel baking sheet) outside or by the large box fan. All the other stuff is 100% indoor safe.

[Anonymous No.2704831]

Some garnet and silver earrings I made this morning

[Anonymous No.2705387]

>>2704831
Are you the poster of the earlier silver? If so, you've improved.

[Anonymous No.2705393]

>>2703960
Indoors in what structure? Seems dumb TBQH. I'd mount or place everything on a steel wheeled cart to easily move in and out.

[Anonymous No.2705733]

>>2703574
>>2703960
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1VmIYheuU4&t=1859s

[Anonymous No.2705736]

I have been gathering seaside scrap and i would like some advice on wrought iron and steel.I have picked up a fair bit and worked wrought iron.Problem is that the grain structure and wood like texture in wrought iron im seeing on items i wouldnt have thought were wrought like a big beam and some sort of grate.Is it possible errosion is making similar grain structures on steel to make them look like wrought iron?

another issue is spark testing, i came across old ww2 tank armour yet the spark test is showing a spark similar to iron yet i know from research on tank steel that it was high quality steel.Is it possible the sea has removed the carbon content making everything plain iron?

[Anonymous No.2705740]

>>2704831
>I made

very nice, but could you elaborate on the "i made" part. What did you start with, any pics? Not trying to tear you down, just curious. they look great.

[Anonymous No.2705782]

>>2705736
Any formed steel or cast steel will have a structure that can be etched away to reveal over time. A normal motor shaft does the same thing if left in nitric acid long enough.

As for the spark test... It ain't exactly a quantitative analysis. Everything is relative so if the sparks suck but the shape is correct to be tank armor then maybe it is tank armor

[Anonymous No.2705788]

How is grey cast iron produced? is melting steel and adding up powdered charcoal enough or do you have to add ferrosilicon? I heard its a delicate operation that must be done fast because otherwise the effect fades and the ferrosilicon does nothing except bulk up the cast iron with silicon

[Anonymous No.2705800]

>>2705782
but i can see cast iron items and mild steel rusting in the sea and they dont rust the same way. They form pitting as they rust. this wood grain structure has been what ive told to look for. Should i try working it? see if this grain is actually structral and not merely etched?

As for the tank armour it is tank armour as its from a tank buried in the sand.I would of expected a better result after removing the rust and testing the full slab.

[Anonymous No.2705864]

hi guys! how would i recreate something like picrel? i am trying to make a fountain with a laser cut design to house lighting inside. That said i don’t want to use flimsy materials since im putting it outside and it doesn’t appear like anything larger than 2 feet exists for sale. I’m thinking laser cut sheet metal, then slip rolled into 2-4 plates that weld into a drum?

[Anonymous No.2705917]

>>2705788
Silicon isn't necessary but lowers melting point and increases fluidity of the melt which is key to casting irons. Carbon added to steel may volatilize so most prefer to add it via other more chemically stable sources. More critical is getting flake graphite which is trickier but shitty graphitic cast iron is good enough for decorations.

>>2705800
Ah, well, sea water probably would pit normal steels instead of etching... But perhaps sea currents do odd things like you said some times? But wood grain corrosion is good evidence for wrought irons.

As for the armor, it is always possible it was a shit production tank with garbage steel. More likely than you think!

>>2705864
Look up "Lamination Steel". Motor lam steel is kinda special but it can be found and ordered even in smaller 4x4' batches.

[Anonymous No.2705925]

>>2705387
Thanks
>>2705740
I cut out and textured the sheet silver to make the flower, I soldered a small jump ring to the top, sweat soldered the bezel cup on and worked the bezel over the stone

I made a new set before I went to work, carnelian this time

[Anonymous No.2706070]

>>2705917
>Carbon added to steel may volatilize so most prefer to add it via other more chemically stable sources. More critical is getting flake graphite which is trickier but shitty graphitic cast iron is good enough for decorations.
Im interested in getting that graphite, how do you make sure you get the graphite?
What chemical stable sources of carbon? Are you telling me dropping charcoal into molten steel doesnt just dissolve?

[Anonymous No.2706241]

>>2706070
Temperature control - good control of super heat and chill rate. Silicon and Strontium for inoculation. Mostly Silicon - hence the FerroSilicon mentioned earlier. Strontium is for fancy people.

Iron Carbide is the top-level carbon additive for well automated systems because fine coke and graphite offer their own problems, but you can literally throw coal dust into a melt for carbon. Probably how third-worlders do it.

[Anonymous No.2706306]

>>2706241
>chill rate
Is this just about white cast iron? Ok fast cooling causes the formation of iron carbide
>>2706241
>Probably how third-worlders do it.
Does it work? If the carbon isnt as graphite flakes, how is it present then? As iron carbide? Nodules?

[Anonymous No.2706472]

>>2706306
Yeah, fast cooling does make white cast iron. But for good quality cast iron the slight variations in slower cooling rate makes the difference between good flake graphite, bad flake graphite, and horrible graphite morphologies.

Third worlders will make cast iron by throwing coal dust and silicon-rich motor laminations into scrap steel. It is gray cast iron but dirty with bad flake morphology.

[Anonymous No.2706941]

>>2687711
I wanted to do something similar. Casting might be a better option because pressing seems like a lot of setup.

[Sieg heil !NP2jUmGKeo No.2707005]

>>2687809
Cast aluminum is chink tier garbage just machine it out of billet

They don’t have to be fancy just fucking use a drill press

Most 3d printer parts are just blocks with holes in them for stepper motors to bolt to

[Anonymous No.2708168]

>>2707005
Cast aluminum only has bad rep because of shitty alloys and chink mass production. Billet is only economical for retard crazy parts, low run parts, or simple borehole jobs. Castings save MATERIAL and TIME, which are MONEY.

[Anonymous No.2708192]

asked this in EMT but it's probably better here:

metallurgy noob here, but interested in historical standards

i have a greenfield tap and die kit with wrenches from probably 1930-1950. i skated a file across the locking/adjustment knob on the die wrench, surprised it was that hard.
was everything case-hardened or high carbon steel back then? i imagine it wasn't some special alloy like 4140 or 1144, or even 52100. maybe everything was just 1060 and up back then??

if so, where can i get high carbon steel? i can find 1045 reliably, but anything above (1060, 1084, 1095) i can't find unless we go all the way up to is tool steel (d2/o1, but even these are harder to source than lower carbon) or bearing steel like 52100
any ideas? i'm wanting to turn a new knob for it and just interested in what the original would be made from

i have also heard that before 1980 or so, 1095 wasn't the top dog of high-carbon non-alloy steels, that you could regularly get carbon steels up to 1.4% carbon. why not anymore?
pic rel

[Anonymous No.2708323]

>>2708192
They oil quenched EVERYTHING back in the day. Even medium carbon steels oil quench well. Could probably oil quench 1020 if you have courage and a really light oil. Leaves a nice corrosion resistent polymerized oil layer within the surface oxide. Oil quench ALL your steels like your ancestors!

Low alloy steels are so much better these days that high-high plain carbon steels are pointless. Too hard to work, quench, and have awful performance and even lower hardness than a suitable high carbon alloy steel. You even answered your question: 52100, king of hard steels. Perfect mix of carbides and martensite and mass produced in high quality to the point of cheapness.

[Anonymous No.2708343]

>>2708323
ah, the oil quench (or just a particular oil left on after production), or even just longer time for skin oils to react with the metal, might explain the peculiar smell and feel of most older hard steels. i want to believe it's not just my grubby fingers though.
i have some cheap 52100 bearing steel on order. but were GTD and other manufacturers silly enough to use tool steel on tap wrenches and other non-essentials, or do you really think they just used 1045-1060 everywhere even where non-essential? i might try oil quenching some 1045 to see what it turns out like

[Anonymous No.2708357]

>>2708343
The US industrial base was an amazing behemoth. Especially post-war you had so much surplus steel and machinery experience. They could be using research-grade naval steels meant for breech blocks of main guns for all we know.

But... Most likely just a carbon steel with high quality workmanship and careful heat treatment from very experienced men.

[Anonymous No.2708449]

>>2708357
gotcha, thanks anon. i'll give 1045 a go in the heat treat oven

and try to do the things i truly give a shit about in 1045 or higher, just to feel that meme connection with dead men

[Anonymous No.2708740]

Anyone here into enameling on metal? Dunno if this is outside the scope of this thread but I didn't see a more relevant one and didn't want to create a new one if there's no interest.
I'm planning on creating a champleve piece once my fine silver order comes in the mail. Picrel not my work (I wish), but it has the same technique.
Since it's pure silver I'm going to go with the saw and solder method rather than the salt etching one but I'm wary about the solder spilling everywhere when I fire the enamel. I do plan on using eutectic solder but I cannot find a straight answer for what its melting point is, some are saying 1460F and others are saying 1560F; I usually fire my enamels to 1475F. Probably gonna make a test piece in copper just to experiment with how far I can go.

[Anonymous No.2708746]

>>2708740
If it isn't a very precise eutectic it will ride up and down the sidewalls in quite a range and make a slushy instead of a liquid. If you can give me the metal ratios I can get you a proper estimate.

[Anonymous No.2709926]

>>2687711
I had a chance to buy a 100 year old coining press for a ridiculously low price when I bought my lathe, mill, and grinder from a die-maker. Unfortunately I simply didn't have the space for it but one of my bigger regrets. That and the sinker EDM that wouldn't fit in the garage either.
>>2687809
If it's a functional part (as opposed to a paperweight) you'll invariably need some amount of final machining. For example for a wheel you'll need to drill a hole or bore for a shaft or bearing. Really no getting away from it.
>>2690881
I wouldn't even think about it unless you can pull >100 amps. From the wall that is, the current through the coil will be much higher than that.
>>2697917
Try to minimize temperature differences. For example, for a long narrow part try to stand it up vertically rather than lay it down flat during heating and cooling to minimize differences. And as low of a cooling rate as the steel / required hardness allows you to get away with.
>>2703960
I would strongly advise against unless you live in a hipster loft with concrete floors and brick walls. Pewter casting would be a much better and safer place to start.
>>2705788
Usually you start with pig iron rather than take all the carbon away to add it back in again. Starting with cast iron scrap will likely save you a lot of grief unless you would gain satisfaction from the process.

[Anonymous No.2711189]

>>2709926
Whattya machine?

[Anonymous No.2711194]

>>2704831
Opchan sama?

[Anonymous No.2711370]

Forging some handles for my brother (gate handles, no pics yet, will post when they're finished) from some railroad spikes. I fucking love railroad spikes. Some spic stole most of mine but I have a few left. I'm planning on making myself some tongs from a pair of spikes. I don't expect them to last super long but I want them at least for a while.

[Anonymous No.2711561]

>>2711370
Do they make a lot of scale while forging? I always assumed they oxidized too quick and were usually too pre rusted to shit to have any heft for working.

[Anonymous No.2711597]

>>2711561
There’s a good bit but nothing too terrible. There’s also a lot of material so a good quality spike can go far.

[Anonymous No.2711619]

>>2711561
the original surface quality matters very little once you get something to glowing hot and hammer on it for a while, as long as it's not completely rotted away even a thick layer of rust just falls off as soon as you whack it. It'll leave a texture if you hammer directly on it so it might be a good idea to brush off any big flakes first but if you don't care you don't need to.
Scale is more about the fire than the steel anyway in my experience. Fancier alloys are supposed to scale up less but if you're getting enough scale forming that it's a problem it's usually a sign you're supplying too much air or not working in the right part of the fire or overheating the piece or whatever. Even a nasty chunk of rebar looks like any other bit of steel after it changes shape enough.

[Anonymous No.2712058]

>>2711189
Got everything set up about a year ago
Semi-automatic crossbow
Random stuff for around the house, workshop, and land
Cleaning up castings
Parts for my custom reflux still
Work stuff when I don't feel like arguing with the machinist
Been working on a big project recently that is a lot of machining and is why I haven't been posting much lately (I posted a lot of stuff about aluminum casting in the past). Hoping to get a patent out of it so can't say exactly what (It's a new metal processing apparatus). Tapped over a hundred threads this weekend lol.

[Anonymous No.2712138]

>>2712058
Oh, the crossbow guy! Good luck with the metal processing patent, that field was tapped out in the 90's so hopefully you have a good innovation or niche application.

[Anonymous No.2713111]

I have inherited about 300 lbs worth of those old Weider style cast iron weight plates. (pic related) However, all of my home gym stuff is Olympic in diameter.

I was thinking of 3D printing models of the plates I want, making molds of them in sand, melting down the plates, and pouring the metal in. Is this feasible? Does anyone here have experience with similar projects?

[Anonymous No.2713455]

>>2713111
Quite ambitious but still rather simple - if you need larger weight plates it may be cost effective since those are so pricey. But don't go making tons of Olympic-scale 2lbers or you're spending more in time and fuel than it is worth.

You can do open-air casting with a carefully made cement core for good final diameter. No need for complex molds or complex 3D printing if you can just use an existing plate to form the pool in the sand. Melting large enough batches of cast iron to make larger plates is your hardest issue since you'd need a proper lined crucible and lots of oil and propane.

There is a way to do a large melt in a brick pool lined with refractory but that's the kinda shit they did to make huge ass castings in the 19th c.

[Anonymous No.2713659]

>for wet materials

[Anonymous No.2713661]

>>2713111
You'd probably have more luck cobbling together an adapter if the holes are too large or drilling a larger hole if the holes are too small. I keep getting ads for cheap Chinesium magdrills, I imagine they'd probably get you through drilling a dozen of those or whatever. $200 but you'll burn more than that (almost literally) trying to recast.

[Anonymous No.2714404]

Can I reduce stainless slag into ferrochrome using aluminum electrodes? What would be the best vessel to use for that? What's a good mold to caste the electrodes in?

[Anonymous No.2714468]

>>2714404
Holy shit, a real metallurgy question. How much slag do you have? What type of furnace did it come from?

A lot of slag is just so much mineral and so little metal it isn't worth it.

[Anonymous No.2714615]

I will have finished my CNC machinist classes by the end of 2024, what am I in for?

[Anonymous No.2714657]

>>2714615
Getting outbid by foreign job shops and fighting for a dwindling pool of domestic jobs. But that's your boss' problem (who will demand you work federal minimum wage for 80 hours a week until a real slot opens up {protip, it never will, they'll start dwindling your hours if you ask for more pay}).

Or if you can... Find a US Defense contractor that needs security clearances because most machinsists are drug addled alcoholic wife beaters and can't pass.

[Anonymous No.2714769]

>>2714468
>Holy shit, a real metallurgy question
Yeah, I was the OP of the first edition.
>How much slag do you have?
Eventually enough to fill a decent size crucible, I also want to use said crucible to melt down soda cans into electrodes for said reduction.
>What type of furnace did it come from?
It didn't, I was stick welding with rutile flux. Currently welding a foundry/turbine engine to melt the cans and generate electricity for the arc furnace (see pic >>2688664). Maybe I'm crazy, but I want to try to weld stainless with said aluminum or aluminum-coated electrodes as well.

[Anonymous No.2714779]

>>2714769
God speed, you crazy bastard. You should make a Youtube channel for this stuff.

[Anonymous No.2714821]

Anyone know that ceramic slurry you can use to just dip 3d prints so it creates a nice shell so you can use it as a nice mold of the print?

[Anonymous No.2714842]

Anyone know any good free sample deals a 3d resin company sent me a few wax castable rings with a huge burnout time but I think they are done for. Gotta get free shit

[Anonymous No.2714925]

>>2714779
>You should make a Youtube channel
I have one. I'm just too autistic to make a decent video.
https://youtu.be/U3M46pBRUxE
I've considered streaming, but the connection in my garage is shit.

[Anonymous No.2715618]

>>2714821
Remasol JusDip. Need your own silica sand or chips for building up the structure, though.

>>2714842
Steal some!

>>2714925
Nah, you'll do fine. Go watch Hypserspace Pirate vids for examples of how to make quality autism vids.

[Anonymous No.2715656]

>>2714404
>What's a good mold to cast the aluminum electrodes in?
So I bought a wax sprue mold made of stainless steel to cast the electrodes. Hopefully, the thermal contraction will be enough to unstick them.

>>2715618
>"Go watch Hypserspace Pirate"
>voice
>builds a radial compressor
>uses a multitool to tighten hose clamps
This guy is literally me.

[Anonymous No.2715765]

>>2715763
Good answer, or naw?

[Anonymous No.2715916]

>>2715765
The correct answer is, "You do not need aluminum welded to a galv pole. Rethink your design requirements until the material difference is gone or until bolts and glue will work."

But yes, given enough hatred in their heart a man can eventually bridge the metallurgical gap between aluminum sheeting and steel tubing with horrible braze piles.

[Anonymous No.2716030]

I just finished upgrading my $200 chinesium turntable. I knew that 18" face plate they were throwing out would come in handy for something. Parts I need to make will have 24" diameter but I'll figure something out to keep the overhang from flopping.

[Anonymous No.2716032]

>>2714657
Yep, that's manufacturing for you. Machining is really more of a hobby these days.

[Anonymous No.2716724]

>>2715618
>Remasol JusDip
Thanks anon, been really wanting to get into casting, seems better than the lost-pla method.

[Anonymous No.2716757]

>>2716724
Besides not using plaster, how does that differ from lost PLA?

[Anonymous No.2716782]

>>2716757
It doesn't...? I mean most people use wax but you CAN burnout a cast like that with a PLA core.

[Anonymous No.2717116]

>>2716782
Pretty much

>>2716757
Just looking at options currently, trying to go the cheapest/easiest option with what I have around. I just knew they had that dipping shit, which is well beyond my price range so the alternative is like you said.

[Anonymous No.2718023]

A new ring to bump the thread

[Anonymous No.2718461]

>>2718023
You also need to form the flower petals instead of just flat. Engraving + Form will take you to the next level.

[Anonymous No.2719647]

Quaterny Phase Diagram!?!? Glad I am into metals and not glasses.

[Anonymous No.2719960]

>>2687703
How can I make Nordic gold? I’m gonna cast a Glock frame and try to make a Nordic gold frame for my Glock. I’m not replacing the firing mechanism and barrel, just want the frame

[Anonymous No.2720132]

>>2719960
You'll want to just cast a rather oversized billet and use an endmill to finalize it. Casting complex parts takes some skill. Just make a 2x tall rectangle and cut off the top of the rectangle. The bottom will be good metal.

It is 9 parts copper, 1/2 part zinc and aluminum, and a touch of tin. The best source is copper pipe/wire, American zinc pennies, Aluminum Soda can pull tabs, and for Tin just find some lead free solder.

Note that you need to reach Copper's melting temp to make it.

A better idea is to get a standard 80% kit, finish it, and electroplate via Cu/Ni/Au to get a REAL gold plating.

[Anonymous No.2720240]

>>2720132
I have the actual gun and I’m just gonna sand cast the frame and leave the actual mechanical bits alone. Also I don’t have gold or wanna buy it, I’m wanna see if making the frame metal will reduce recoil and make it look cool.
Idk any metallurgy terms btw so I would like the instructions in simple terms.

[Anonymous No.2720245]

>>2720240
I don't think he could've made it any simpler.

[Anonymous No.2720259]

>>2720245
Idk what a billet or endmill is

[Anonymous No.2720298]

>>2687703
Found a comment on YT regarding rust-proofing carbon steel with concrete:
>I worked at a submarine base in the middle east, during its construction we did lots of tests on steel/concrete combinations to see which would last the longest as we were dealing with saltwater. We found the best method for support beams was concrete filled steel tubes that we left in direct contact with the salt water. We didn't paint the steel just left it as is. The concrete inside the steel reacted with the saltwater on the outside and created a sort of barrier that prevented any rust at all. For the 10 years I worked there we saw little to no surface rust form on the steel and no loss to the structure.
Legit?

>>2720259
Billet is the material stock you start with. An endmill is a tool used for cutting on a mill.

[Anonymous No.2720708]

>>2720298
Ty

[Anonymous No.2720786]

>>2720298
Partially submerged steel with a high pH concrete core exposed to a saline, oxygen poor environment... Maybe? The steel may have favored an adherent surface oxide. Either that or the steel was corroding from the inside instead of the outside due to weird chemical potentials I am too lazy to think up.

>>2720259
Good luck retard-chan! Don't let your glawknade blow you up. >>>/k/

[Anonymous No.2721939]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szBiPDIokDE

Pls do not the rebar

[Anonymous No.2722727]

Hey guys, I'm sick of this shitty 8,000 BTU propane torch for heating sheet metal at a reasonable pace/reasonable coverage and was wondering what a good upgrade would be? Hypothetically speaking, let's say I want to heat 14 gauge mild steel 2 inches across for around 1,800*F, how many BTU's would I need?

The massive weed burners don't look too bad, throw out a large flame and I can get one that's 100,000 BTU's but maybe there is a better solution?

[Anonymous No.2722929]

>>2722727
Well... Can you not get a MAP torch? Those fuckers work.

Otherwise you may consider an O2/Propane setup. It's one step below an acetylene torch and many plumbing supplies stock O2 cannisters.

[Anonymous No.2723315]

>>2722929
Those seem interesting, I'm assuming normal oxy/acetylene tips will work on the main torch?

[Anonymous No.2723438]

>>2723315
Yup, theoretically there are "ideal" nozzles for each gas but this ain't rocket science, acetylene hardware will work fine.

[Anonymous No.2723701]

I want to be able to make cast iron wood stoves, partially as a hobby and maybe for extra side money. I imagine I would obviously need a crucible, to melt down the iron, and then a mold to pour the molten metal into which would ultimately make the iron stove. Am I correct here? Could any anons provide some insight on where I could get started with my research here? YouTube has surprisingly little on this but maybe I just don't know what to search

[Anonymous No.2723702]

>>2723701
>maybe for extra side money

Unless you come up with some kind of super desirable design, it's unlikely that you will undercut a manufacturer.

[Anonymous No.2723720]

>>2723701
>>2723702
Not necessarily trying to get rich. Just a side thing I could do.

I imagine it would be something like this:
>create proto type of the stove with wood
>use wood prototype to create molds in sand
>then melt iron, pour, let cool
>assemble any secondary parts (sliding the door into the hinges)
Is this feasible?

[Anonymous No.2723745]

>>2723701
>>2723720
iron casting at home is doable but not trivial, it's a much much bigger deal than aluminum or whatever relatively low melting point materials
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAq7iVmNJkQ has some really good videos of it, no stoves but you're looking at a similar process.
start out by making some small aluminum knickknacks first to get a feel for the process and then decide whether you want to spend 5-10 times that much money and risk scaling up to big iron casts

[Anonymous No.2723856]

>>2723745
Pretty much this.

[Anonymous No.2723901]

>>2723702
Even if you do come up with a super desirable design (>>2688664), actually finding customers who want to buy is tough.
https://youtu.be/ocDli45faiw?t=81

[Anonymous No.2725257]

ayy, didn't notice there was a metallurgy general

I want to do some brass casting into plaster mold.
I got a decent oven but I don't have a crucible, tongs or any other tools.

Can I make a plaster mold and then melt the metal directly inside it? So no crucible or pouring, metal just filling mold as it melts.

Opening the oven door will trip the building fire alarm so ideally I would like to place the mold with metal inside, first an hour @300C and then slowly ramp it to brass melting temp and down, all without opening the door inbetween.

Should I add borax or any other additives?

[Anonymous No.2725285]

>>2725257
High-temp Investment molding is a thing and a slow melt wouldn't oxidize too quickly to clog the mold if you had some flux, but can your plaster handle those temps long enough without failure? You might need a more robust investment silica mold. So a test run with just a plaster bowl thing with brass shavings in it and let that melt and report back the quality of theetal and if the plaster survived.

[Anonymous No.2725293]

>>2687712
are these good books

[Anonymous No.2726368]

>>2725293
The lathe book is okay. He recommends aluminum for the casting, but I'm probably going to use steel, make it bigger, and modify other parts of the design to accommodate for modern manufacturing techniques like lost PLA. I can't remember if long pieces can be passed through the headstock, but that's another functionality I'd like to add. Regarding the rest of the books, I'm not going to bother. You can modify a lathe to work as a horizontal mill anyhow.

[Anonymous No.2726459]

>>2726368
i saw some of that makerscience guys videos on it i thought the pulleys and gears would be casted too if not the shaft and threaded rod
also you need a big ass steel plate for the bed
ultimately its mostly the body thats casted yourself which can even be made in wood

[Anonymous No.2726512]

>>2714779
I've got a more detailed description if you're interested
fr[3]nsch[4]n[d0t]org/ctw/res/4601[d0t]html

[Anonymous No.2727037]

please for the love of god help me

1095 is killing me violently
i've tried peanut oil and plain tap water for quenching after a soak of anywhere from 7 to 25 minutes at 1475-1500 in a heat treat oven (vulcan ney 3-550). after either quench, my test coupons don't shatter and an old school nicholson round file bites into the edges and even a bit on the flat faces.

pic rel, left side got no quench (held in tongs), right side got quenched in both peanut oil first and then a second attempt in water. you can see the file marks. neither shattered when thrown at the ground, i'm guessing the hardness isn't even close to 60 rockwell

[Anonymous No.2727068]

>>2727037
i have also tried having the pieces rest directly on the oven floor and having them rest on a sacrificial block of 1045 steel
nothing is giving me that 66 rockwell brittle sweetness and i am desperate. i am trying to make a knife for my father as a christmas gift, my bad choosing 1095 clearly but trying to make it work here

[Anonymous No.2727083]

>>2727037
>>2727068
Get a large quantity tin, melt it up to it's melting point which is around 450 degrees and then quench your knife in it

I know it sounds retarded, but the liquid tin doesn't make a steam jacket around the knife and it instantly conducts all the heat out of the knife, the best part is that you don't need to temper the knife because the tin already does it

Also, here is a pin I made

[Anonymous No.2727094]

>>2727083
very interesting, but i doubt i can get the 20 pounds or however much of tin i need in time before going home for christmas..
i mean, peanut oil also shouldn't have a steam jacket right? and people often say water quenching almost guarantees cracks because of its very fast quench time, yet mine didn't even get hard nevermind crack
is this an indication that usaknifemaker sold me some mystery meat labeled as 1095?

[Anonymous No.2727129]

>>2727094
Do a spark test

[Anonymous No.2727132]

>>2727129
Also make sure you're above the recrystallization temperature, otherwise a quench won't do shit.

[Anonymous No.2727153]

>>2727037

How confident are you in your oven? It sounds like either it's not getting hot enough, which would be fairly obvious, or it's not hardenable steel.
I've only used 1095 a couple times and in much less precise settings but getting it hot and dunking it in oil worked well enough for me. Never measured the hardness but it would skate a cheap file unless you really leaned on it, obviously different from unhardened, though it would bite if you tried to make it. If you haven't got a soft piece to compare maybe anneal a bit.
Try heating a piece to roughly the right color ignoring the thermostat, quenching in water and then grinding on it to look for big flowering sparks that indicate carbon, and try snapping it in half in a vise instead of throwing it at the floor to see how it breaks.

Also if you've already got a knife that you want to harden and have been failing on it make sure you're doing several normalizing cycles between attempts or you can build up stress in the metal and wreck the grain structure.

[Anonymous No.2727165]

>>2727153
Do those oxide colors work for welding stainless?

[Anonymous No.2727168]

>>2687703
Gonna be doing some forging on a friend's knife next I'm able. He's asking for an Arkansas Toothpick which is gonna be a pain. First thing though is to make some woodworking tools. Gonna carve a channel in a handle rather than do a burn in or a full tang. Gonna be a fun project I think!

[Anonymous No.2727171]

>>2727165
I think in welding oxidation color is more about how well shielded it was, the molten puddle is well above any of those temperatures after all, but I'm not much of a welder

[Anonymous No.2727200]

>>2727153
i'm not sure about the oven, i got it used. but the heats (first at 1475, then later 1500-1600 as i started giving up on the oven) all were orange, well above cherry red. i tested at about 1500 and it was non-magnetic, though idk how fast it fell in the grip of the tongs
the file part is interesting though: you can still get it to bite untempered 1095 just by leaning in? i've been leaning into it (not to the point of spraining anything, but just a bit like you would for a stubborn corner on mild steel) as well as i thought that was normal for a skate test

[Anonymous No.2727279]

>>2727200
Are you decarbing your steel?

Heating it in stainless foil with cast iron chips? Flushing with Argon? Or just open air?

[Anonymous No.2727291]

>>2727279
open air but then a quick second on the belt sander to get to bare metal, hoping that the hard skin of this shallow-hardening steel is deeper than what i remove

[Anonymous No.2727457]

>>2727291
My only other theory would be that you somehow formed (or got) the steel with all the carbon coalesced into stable carbides via multiple subcritical or intercritical anneals. Gives wear resistent and hard steel but can make getting that 66+ martensite impossible. Getting that to redissolve into the iron takes more heat and time but it sounds like you did that already. Only test I can think of is to MAP a chunk of that bitch until it glows like a fucker and water quench to prove you can get 66+.

Time to buy a 300x+ microscope and learn metallography!

[Anonymous No.2727473]

>muh ceramic wool fiber
why can't you line the inside of a bucket furnace with cement or lime?
can you use lpg to burn the furnace

[Anonymous No.2727477]

>>2727457
i even did that when i was suspecting the oven, though perhaps not hot enough and didn't test it with more than peanut oil (other tests were water/brine). i literally went through every variable and tested, though admittedly sometimes changing more than one variable per test.

i got some parks #50 in the mail yesterday and just gonna hope that will solve all my problems. i think if i ever make a knife again, i will not touch 1095 with a 10 foot pole. this was just to see how it is, and as a gift for dad. i even stamped the family name into the spine with some old school roman/serifed stamps, and i'm using 1920's walnut out of an ancient desk i took apart for a handle, + some brass loveless bolts

[Anonymous No.2727504]

I have about 12 kilograms of broken karbide endmills and inserts, also about 5 kgs of HSS broken endmills and drills, given to me for free.
Is there anything useful i can do with it?

[Anonymous No.2727889]

>>2727477
holy shit the solution really was just to buy parks #50, the $80 oil. it fucking worked easy as piss. file skates way more than with any other quench media i tried. did the knife now and i'm onto final grinding, rust bluing, and handle construction

[Anonymous No.2727897]

>>2727889
1095 is not an easy steel to harden, you have to get it from 1400 to 900 in less than a second otherwise you get lesser results
There are a bunch of variables to quenching but chances are that your quench medium wasn't up to snuff. Peanut oil doesn't cool as fast as canola can and water is iffy if you don't know what you're doing, especially if it's plain water that creates a steam jacket

Are you using the same piece of steel for all this quenching?

[Anonymous No.2727920]

>>2727897
i had 3 test coupons, one of which saw normalization, but all of which went through peanut oil then water then brine. one test coupon also got the park's #50 and became proper hard but did not shatter when thrown. the final knife only got park's #50, no normalization

the solution really seems to be just spend the money, at least for this batch of 1095. i could tell the quench speed of parks 50 made the difference

[Anonymous No.2728101]

Can i get any advice with casting metal with a charcoal forge? I tried experimenting casting copper with my old hairdryer forge after i burnt some steel i was working.

so far ive not had much luck, the heat doesnt seem consistent on the crucible leading to only some of the copper melting.But the biggest problem has been the charcoal itself.It completely obstructs any observations on if its liquid and when i pour i get a load of charcoal dumped into the mold before any liquid metal.

should i just stick to my gas powered one for casting?

[Anonymous No.2728166]

>>2727504
Grind into lathe insert tools. Or learn to make brazed carbide tipped tools from the formed stubs.

>>2727889
What the fuck is wrong with your peanut oil, lol. At least it worked out!

>>2728101
Copper is a hard metal to melt. Consider a very alloyed variety with a lower MP. A lot of metal melting done in antiquity required powder mixes of the ores and fuel and didn't remelt solid copper - the chemical driving force of ore + heat + reducing atmosphere got them a molten pool they could cool and beat or get into a sword mold. The solid metal would melt out a liquid high in impurities and leave a sponge of mostly solid Cu.

That being said, for the charcoal issue, get a crucible lid mah niggah.

[Anonymous No.2728472]

>>2728166
>didn't remelt solid copper
You are absolutely right I should get a lid however this is competely wrong.The standard was casting copper during the copper age and bronze age.We know this from moten copper slag junk and air holes in copper objects that showed they were cast.

[Anonymous No.2728479]

>>2728472
Yeah, but from remelted ingots or pools from ore smelting? Ingots were for hot work, only ore was cast.

[Anonymous No.2728742]

>>2728166
it was the $35 5-gallon jug peanut oil at sam's club, avoid i guess. plus 1095 from usaknifemaker, if this helps any anons.

[Anonymous No.2729023]

>>2728101
>completely obstructs any observations on if its liquid
you take a green but dry twig and stick it in the crucible, if its molten you can feel the steam bubbles.
might contaminate the copper with H

[Anonymous No.2729450]

A little ornament I made

[Anonymous No.2729721]

>>2729023
The problem is it all gets dumped into the mold when i pour.Its just not a consistent heat either.It seems to only heat one half the crucible.I usually fill the forge to the brim with charcoal and refill as its burnt down and wait for a yellow to white heat.Should i leave it for 40 minutes without refilling? or refill over that 40 minutes?

[Anonymous No.2729726]

>>2729721
sounds like your blower is cooling one side of the crucible wall.
that other anon didnt made fun of you claiming its hard to melt copper, it really is fucking hard in a not proper foundry.
If one batch of coal (i assume a couple shovels) lasts you 40 minutes, i dont think you run nearly enough air. And you need a foundry lid with the right dimension vent hole, else you probably waste a ton of heat and valuable CO gas
>The problem is it all gets dumped into the mold when i pour.
the coal? then youre poring wrong, chunks can be scooped off and a poring basing is your friend

[Anonymous No.2729740]

>>2729726
I know its hard thats why im using copper.Copper high melting point is a strong test for casting.If it casts that everything else apart from iron is straightforward.Ive used my gas forge for many years casting.This is a makeshift hairdryer forge im testing.

[Anonymous No.2729743]

>>2728479
Depends on the time and place.Copper age copper was smelted from ore.Ireland and wales had early bronze age copper mining that was casting it on site from ore.Cyprus copper at the same time was being traded and shipped in large animal rug shaped ingots.

[Anonymous No.2730092]

what happens if you run out of metal in the middle of a pouring
can you pour metal into a moulding in two batches

[Anonymous No.2730148]

>>2730092
no
it immediately forms an oxide layer and the next batch doesnt fuse

[Anonymous No.2730572]

>>2730092
>>2730148

No can do, as Mr. Anon has answered. However, if it is a decorative part which will be painted and the gating isn't fucked you can cast the second half and just bondo it together later.

There are some creative uses of this concept I did see for doing different layers of metal which, because they were casted in the same open mold, made a easily unified decorative sculpture of distinct copper alloy colors.

[Anonymous No.2730743]

>>2730572
>>2730148
i'd assume the molten metal atleast causes the metal that comes in contact with it to partially melt and fuse with it just like when you pour melted butter on a bar of butter it'll melt it a bit
whats the problem with oxide layer i'm sure when you stick the ingots in the crucible they still have an oxide layer yet they melt
anyway how do you determine the volume of metal you'll be needing meticulously calculate the volume of the template and then go over it in crucible size?

[Anonymous No.2731242]

>>2730743
I use by weight.The crucibles i use are measured by weight 2kg 3kg etc.generally i dont do a pour unless i filled it to mostly full.

[Anonymous No.2731246]

>>2730743
The oxides are lighter than the metal and rise to the top

[Anonymous No.2731458]

>>2687711
>>2687703
I want to turn melted cans into 7075.
What do

[Anonymous No.2731505]

>>2727083
You can't kill the messiah.

[Anonymous No.2731541]

>>2731458
Cans have too much trash. They turn to oxidized garbage only good for decorative jobs. But, get an industrial shredder and do a low temp burn off and soak and rinse tumble before throwing them in to melt.

[Anonymous No.2731700]

>>2731541
I believe you

What happens if if melt them several times over and scrape crap off the top, or something?

I don't into metallurgy, sorry for asking probably dumb questions

[Anonymous No.2732070]

An emerald ring I just finished for a Christmas gift

[Anonymous No.2732331]

>>2731700
You lose a lot of metal and waste so much fuel it becomes literally cheaper to buy bar stock...

But if you do it for fun, go ahead. It is a gpod pass time.

>>2732070
Twisted wire? Very nice, friend.

[Anonymous No.2732511]

A ruby tiara just in time for Christmas. The large ruby is labgrown but the 5mm ones are natural

[Anonymous No.2732625]

>>2732511
Hey man, good improvement on your petal technique and form since the last ones.

Have you considered an electroplating (maybe Cu-Ag) before doing a tarnish contrast? Plating can even out some of the perceived roughness and give a more polished look without having to polish. You can even wirebrush or scotchbrite it for a more controlled matte appearance.

[Anonymous No.2733694]

brazing is it worth it for medium load carrying things

[Anonymous No.2733775]

>>2733694
In some situations a proper braze is stronger than the base metals, is always stronger than a solder, and sometimes better than a weld.

[Anonymous No.2734379]

Is it feasible to cast thin walled tubing?

[Anonymous No.2734490]

>>2734379
Of course. But it requires specific gating, mold preheats, high fluidity alloy, melt superheats, and maybe even vacuum casting.

[Anonymous No.2734504]

>>2734490
>expensive shit that doesn't apply to stainless steel
REEEEE I HATE WELDING SHEET METAL!

[Anonymous No.2735193]

Is there a book on identifying metals and different grades and alloys?

[Anonymous No.2735198]

>>2735193
https://www.asminternational.org/database/asm-handbooks-online/

Find copies on library of genesis.

[Anonymous No.2735654]

why is there a separate machinist thread

[Anonymous No.2735656]

>working with metal things take forever to do whereas with wood you can dish something out in 2 hours - woodgears
how do you cope

[Anonymous No.2735660]

>ejaculate a fresh load into the aluminum (6061) you're smelting
What happens to the quality, will it get stronger?

[Anonymous No.2735829]

>>2735656
Wood is nature's metal and is well respected.

>>2735660
Ancient metallurgical rituals, my man. You did use the JO crystal, right?

[Anonymous No.2736384]

I want to make stuff like bike mods or bike trailers, so I'm in need to make some steel pipes hold together.
I have absolute zero knowledge about welding.
I want to learn how to do it, what would be the easiest way to learn it? Cost is a factor, but I don't want to spend my money on something useless to me.
I was thinking about .... welding with coated electrodes? (or at least I think that it is called like that, see picrel)
If that is not the right way, tell me what is please,
but if it is the right way, then I would be obliged for some hardware recommendations (welder, electrodes, masks etc.) and knowledge resources for a beginner.

[Anonymous No.2736445]

>>2736384
Shielded Metal Arc Welding. You doing Steel or Aluminum? If just steel you can get any cheapo 240V stick welder to practice. Get the cheapest mask and procure small hand tools. Welding tubes is stupid easy if you have the jigs and hole saws but those cost the most. Square tubes are easier with just a bandsaw or reciprocating saw.

[Anonymous No.2736624]

>>2736445
thanks for the reply, anon.
>You doing Steel or Aluminum?
Steel for a starters, Alu after I feel confident with steel, but not earlier than a year from now
>Get the cheapest mask.
Will the cheapest one protect my eyesight just as good as the better, more expensive one? If yes I'd rather buy better one, it's not like it's going to break or wear off that fast, right? If I would for some reason stop doing welds I'd just sell it as used.
>If just steel you can get any cheapo 240V stick welder to practice.
Wonderful, I was hoping to save some muni on this part, also I'll start with square pipes, following your advice.
Once again, thanks anon.

[Anonymous No.2736625]

>>2736624
I'm a retarded brainded fat ass.
It was supposed to be "If not, then I'd rather buy better one(...)" when it comes to mask.

[Anonymous No.2736648]

>>2735829
not for machinery

[Anonymous No.2737570]

>>2736648
Says who?

>>2736624
Cheap masks are usually BETTER because they're dark as fuck all the time. Middling masks you can manually set really low by mistake. Expensive ones are best of both worlds and sometimes even automatic.

[Anonymous No.2737590]

>>2737570
wood furniture on a gun as example of machinery is like saying a broom is machinery

go back to /k/

[Anonymous No.2738548]

>>2737590
Wood and metal are the ideal fusion of nature and man, fool.

[Anonymous No.2738567]

>>2735654
B/c jacking off to new tools is not metallurgy.
>>2735656
Back to your dildo-making thread.
>>2738548
I like the idea of using wood for electric tools. Most of the shit made from wood is faggot-tier.

[Anonymous No.2739008]

what happens if you use regular cement as refractory material
what happens if you use lime

[Anonymous No.2739064]

A little box I've been working on for Valentine's day

[Anonymous No.2739072]

>>2739008
boom

[Anonymous No.2739213]

>>2739064
all that red splatter represents the gore and the blood of a heart being ripped out

[Anonymous No.2739347]

>>2739008
It turns to dust. Some things become glass but cements and limes revert to powder.

>>2739064
What's your cleaning method going to be? Might be a LOT of hand polishing.

[Anonymous No.2739351]

>>2739213
>>2739347
drill with a small brass dremel brush would clean that up no problem

[Anonymous No.2739360]

>>2739347
I put them in the pickle to dissolve the flux and then first use a sanding sponge and then use some Tripoli on a buff

[Anonymous No.2739623]

This is the finished box

[Anonymous No.2739624]

>>2739623

[Anonymous No.2739632]

>>2739624
Want to learn high temp enameling or laquering? Your craft style looks perfect for contrasting colors like that.

[Anonymous No.2741119]

Are these things worth it?

[Anonymous No.2742216]

>>2741119

Realen stock up their metals collection with only what they purify from fundamental sources like urine and cabbages!

[Anonymous No.2743247]

Why are modern firearms made from such crap metal? Would ask /k/ but they're retarded. Did we forget how to make good metal?

[Anonymous No.2744975]

Bamp

[Anonymous No.2745018]

>>2743247
is that a gp100?

[Anonymous No.2746216]

>>2745018
YEAH, Ruger is shit these days. Chink pot steel.

[Anonymous No.2747136]

A bunch of sterling silver and moonstone jewelry I made

[Anonymous No.2748200]

>>2747136
Beautiful! A very late 1800 aesthetic. Want to try some proper precious metals next?

[Anonymous No.2749142]

Would filling a dry bag full sodium nitrate protect a plated steel key from seawater? I read the that nitrates can be used to form a stable magnetite layer.

[Anonymous No.2749171]

>>2743247
From someone who worked in firearms manufacturing at a "real" company (lol) on the assembly floor, 90% of our parts are made in turkey, then imported. We then had to rush to meet daily quota, while trying to red tag bad parts our leads wanted us to us anyways.
Only things made state-side were the hammer forged barrels and the like, basically anything that was marketing fluff. When I left they were just starting to tinker with automated cnc milled receivers, in house.

[Anonymous No.2750718]

>>2749171
All US manufacturing is like this.

The US even subsidized a huge mill in the US for three years so it is cheaper than China Steel, but the steel is the exact same performance with slightly improved quality control.

[Anonymous No.2751018]

>>2729450

ps somebody send me the pic of the cool kid giving the thumbs

[Anonymous No.2751021]

>>2731541
I thought you were supposed to do ingot runs with cans befiore their intended purpose

no idea about the can chemistry though

[Anonymous No.2751397]

>>2687703
Advice on media to use for lost PLA? The suspendaslurry stuff looks nice, but too much investment rn. Theres also that oil based casting sand that is slightly more affordable, but I'd need to invest in molds and the like. Will be doing rough casts for parts to be processed into functional components.

[Anonymous No.2751398]

>>2751397
I'm no expert but most green sand molds I've seen are just 4 bits of wood screwed together to make a rectangle

[Anonymous No.2751799]

>>2751397
Plaster and sand (experimentation will be required for ratios if superior skin finish is needed) is the most foolproof. You can get away with just some wire support during burnoff in case of cracking and submerge the whole plaster mold in packed sand (or even loose dirt) with a weight on top.

[Anonymous No.2752164]

>>2687711
better yet, since this is a metallurgy thread, forge a mold for printing banknotes, seems more worthwhile

[Anonymous No.2752463]

Can Gyprock casting plaster be used for casting brass or aluminium for the lost PLA method? Can it be used by itself or does it need to be mixed with something?

[Anonymous No.2752850]

>>2752463
Doesn't that stuff have random ass additives and polymer compounds? Although maybe it is just plaster - check the SDS for purity.

You can use it pure but sand can help with ventillation and crack resistence within the mold.

[Anonymous No.2752921]

>>2752850
Yeah the msds says it is 85% calcium sulphate hemihydrate, 15% ingredients determined to be non hazardous.

Would this sand be ok?

[Anonymous No.2753049]

>>2752463
For aluminum I've found the cheapest drywall plaster at the hardware store works best (comes in 50lb bags, 90 minute set time I think). The faster set ones don't work as well - based on the way they smell I assume because of more sulfate.

I use 50% sand 50% plaster. The sand you linked would work fine, but usually "play sand" is finer than the white sand if you find it. A finer sand will let you get better surface finish. You could sieve your sand using window screens.

Important to mix it well - those plaster mixing adapters they sell for drills work well. Just make sure it's a garbage drill.

For melting out the PLA I like to soak at 750F for a couple hours then 850F for about an hour (smaller molds need less time, bigger ones more). The 750F melts the PLA out, the 850F burns anything else left inside.

I haven't tried brass or bronze yet, starting with aluminum is good since mistakes are less expensive. I have a bunch of brass scrap lying around so I'm eager to try, but been busy with a big machining project the past 5 months.

[Anonymous No.2754580]

>>2753049
Quality post, anon. I have had electric furnace parts and bricks in my basement for a year, got distracted by a huge home remodel but should finally have time soon.

[Anonymous No.2754828]

I'm planning on proposing to my girlfriend this year, and wanted to make the ring myself. I have the space and means to do so, more like for general advice. Anybody here ever do something similar? I see the guy putting out rings above, but I can't tell if those are worked silver or cast gold.

[Anonymous No.2754943]

>>2754828
If you want to be able to "legally" tell the truth that you "made" it, they sell ready-to-use ring molds off of jewelery supplies, just gotta melt the gold and buy the right sized gem (diamonds are for poorfags). Gem setting is surprisingly easy, some cheap forming tools, adhesive, and a magnifying loupe is needed.

Otherwise, for a band, buy a coin-grade gold coin (US Eagle) and form that into a ring using a hammer, some forms, and a MAP gas torch for anneals. Then use the gem setting tools to make an inlaid stone.

[Anonymous No.2755254]

>>2754828
You can go to Rio grande and buy silver D-wire, which is great for rings, a premade setting, and even the stone.

If you want gold, I'd suggest calling jewelry repair stores or jewelers and ask if they could tack on like 14cm of 2mmx1.5mm wire and probably the setting too.

You cut the appropriate length of material, file both ends flush, then solder. To solder the setting on merely file a small section of the ring flat and solder it. Some settings the stone will just snap in, in others you need to do some file work.

Practice with silver first, trust me.

[Anonymous No.2755678]

I want to make a wootz. I want to make a katana and for it I want my own metal alloy. good katana starts off with a batch of tamahagane, but I think wootz is a more fun place to start.

My old crucible just died. I got a new one but it's accidentally much smaller. It holds 750 ml, purportedly, so if the density of steel is around 7 ml, that's about 9 pounds, but that's like, really full.

I had tried to melt iron using charcoal once and it didn't work. I'll be attempted to use coal this time, and assuming it works I'd probably start by melting two railroad spikes with borax and crushed glass, then slowly add more spikes until I get about 13 in there. then, or before this, I'll want, like, about, well, a very specific amount of charcoal in there. what do you think is a good amount of charcoal? note: railroad spikes weigh about 3/5ths of a lb, so we're aiming for about 9 pounds of metal. I also want some, like, other alloying elements in there. vanadium-chrome steel alloy wrenches? tungsten bullets? nickels? what are some good things to add to the mix?

[Anonymous No.2756115]

>>2754943
>>2755254
Nah, I'm gonna cast one out of gold. I found some guy on
>reddit
who did the exact same thing i'm doing. he sent me his resources, i'll update you anons when i get started.

[Anonymous No.2756278]

>>2687703
>Machining
Think I'm going to build a cnc as my "graduation project" a few months or more likely years down the line.