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Buy cored PB rather than solid !

I guess that if you live in a place where the real thing is unavailable or hard to get then you will try all the possibilities , genuine Mansfield moulding sand is dug from a quarry not far from me and it is much cheaper than cement...............and it works ! Dan.

There are two types of investment casting namely block mould and ceramic shell. ceramic shell enables the casting of steel and is probably the most common commercial process. Block moulding is plaster based and allows casting up to 1200°C although there are specialist products which can handle...

I have to agree with Goldstar , break a very small tap and you will be unlikely to drill it out . Best solution is to be very careful , I tap hundreds of holes from 10BA down to 12BA , admittedly these are all in brass or gun-metal. I have found that the best method is by hand with the tap held...

John, I would say you are somewhat eccentric rather than crazy , you would be crazy after drinking 87% ethanol. However I presume the rum must be much cheaper in Granada than here in the UK. Spirit fired boilers usually have the spirit burning on wicks or ceramic beds ,gravity fed from a supply...

In reality neither HSS or carbide tooling will temper or anneal even at red heat , or are we still using carbon steel cutting tools ? We are talking model engineering here using model engineering sized machines. Don't make an enjoyable hobby more complicated than it needs to be. Dan.

Norman the mercury is removed by heating , it evaporates leaving the silver behind , this is the basis of fire gilding , the old way of gold plating. However the mercury fumes are very toxic , but here's a link that may help...

Very interesting , how did you chrome plate the liner bore ? what solution ,anode , voltage and current ? Dan.

Hello Dan , Some of your post requires several reads to understand but basically what you are refering to as "molds" are actually called patterns. depending upon the metal that the castings are to be made from the patterns must have an allowance over the finished part dimensions. This allowance...

This is the ideal machine for mass producing small parts. It's a Pultra 1750 with capstan turret and cut-off slide. I collected the basics over a couple of years and built a bench/cabinet. The 3 phase motor is housed in the cabinet and has inverter control. I am looking out for a clutch to...

Has anyone tried to build a miniature Wulf twin ? Villiers had plans for this engine when they were taken over by Norton but the development was dropped in favour of Norton's wankel type engine. The Wulf has stepped pistons , the charge is drawn into the bore of the larger diameter and...

Yes the taps are available in the UK too , but how does that help ? Bill is looking for a source of suitable hexagon head screws . Dan

Are you sure that the screws are UNS 4-36 ? as you will have found out this is by no means a common thread. It would be a crime to fit anything but scale hexagon head screws to your engine and a possible solution might be to re-tap the holes M4. This will be a few thou larger on the screw...

For bigTrev A BCA is a small jig borer with a rotary table , it's the machine on the left of the picture. Dan.

I have bought 2 inverters from Gavin, both have failed after a few months of light use so I would not recommend him. Dan.

Simple is better but unfortunately the drive arrangement for the BCA is not very helpful because the clearance between the spindle and it's housing limits the diameter of the largest pulley to around 3 inches. This is fine for endmilling but is too fast for fly cutting.

You can buy a single to three phase converter which will give speed control , however you do not say what voltage your mains supply is. In the UK mains voltage is around 220 volts so you could run a dual voltage 3 phase motor but not the one that you have (as far as I an aware). I have fitted my...

Nelson my feathers are not really ruffled , there is risk in foundry work but we take what precautions we can to make the risk acceptable. I feel more at risk driving on the motorway (freeway) than pouring a crucible of molten bronze , this is not because of my lack of experience as a driver , I...

Nelson I do not understand the thinking behind your last post , molten metal can be dangerous if not handled with care , so can solid metal if you drop it on your foot. Using metal cutting machines can be dangerous , so can crossing the road. If I wanted I could write a book with the best...

As there appears to be some interest in collecting scrap for melting I thought some of my experience might be helpful. Not all yellow metal is brass , gearbox synchro cones and selector forks are aluminium bronze as are some boat propellers , not very useful for model castings. Aluminium bronze...