100model
Well-Known Member
RotarySMP is a very talented person he not only cast aluminium but cast iron as well. Have a look at his video melting and pouring cast iron.
Piston guy casts iron as well.
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He does a very decent job of casting gray iron.
I watched one of his earlier videos, and he was castings a lathe backplate, and it required several pours to get a usable one.
I think he is still in the learning curve.
He does mention in one of his videos that he can't find small quantities of ferrosilicon for sale where he lives, so he is aware of the need for that additive in thin cast iron castings.
I wondered why he was not using it.
Looks like he is using greensand, and seems to get an acceptable finish with it.
I designed a pouring shank with crucible retainer, but it was a bad design, and I had a full #10 crucible of iron flip out of the shank and spill on my driveway.
I redesigned my pouring shank with a new retainer, and it works very well, and will not let the crucible fall out no matter what you do with it.
I like the siphon nozzle style oil burner, as compared to his drip-style burner, because propane preheat is not required.
My burner is pretty much full on instantly; no preheat; no propane required.
In his comment section, he states "pouring iron is much more difficult than pouring aluminum".
I would tend to disagree with that.
Pouring iron is not much more difficult than pouring aluminum..............IF....................your burner is designed and tuned exactly, and if you know how to handle the slag that forms on top of iron.
The burner needs to operate with a reducing flame to minimize slag.
And you really need ferrosilicon if you do much iron pouring.
Pouring iron is a great deal hotter than pouring aluminum, and I think the difficulty that he refers to is due to the extreme heat that an iron melt produces, in the form of IR energy.
I use a heat shield on my pouring shank, and without that, pouring iron is very difficult.
A heat shield on your skimmer handle is also a very good idea.
And shaded goggles are required to prevent eye damage from the IR.
And he mentions online "there is so much conflicting expert experience", and I definitely agree with that.
That is one of the biggest obstacles to making successful; ie: listening to the wrong "expert".
Everyone on ytube is a casting expert, but the only ones I pay attention to are 100model (luckygen), and olfoundryman.
Even then I don't agree with everything these two folks do.
It is a shame that the folks casting gray iron are flung across the far parts of the world.
At least we have videos to observe and compare techinques.
.
I watched one of his earlier videos, and he was castings a lathe backplate, and it required several pours to get a usable one.
I think he is still in the learning curve.
He does mention in one of his videos that he can't find small quantities of ferrosilicon for sale where he lives, so he is aware of the need for that additive in thin cast iron castings.
I wondered why he was not using it.
Looks like he is using greensand, and seems to get an acceptable finish with it.
I designed a pouring shank with crucible retainer, but it was a bad design, and I had a full #10 crucible of iron flip out of the shank and spill on my driveway.
I redesigned my pouring shank with a new retainer, and it works very well, and will not let the crucible fall out no matter what you do with it.
I like the siphon nozzle style oil burner, as compared to his drip-style burner, because propane preheat is not required.
My burner is pretty much full on instantly; no preheat; no propane required.
In his comment section, he states "pouring iron is much more difficult than pouring aluminum".
I would tend to disagree with that.
Pouring iron is not much more difficult than pouring aluminum..............IF....................your burner is designed and tuned exactly, and if you know how to handle the slag that forms on top of iron.
The burner needs to operate with a reducing flame to minimize slag.
And you really need ferrosilicon if you do much iron pouring.
Pouring iron is a great deal hotter than pouring aluminum, and I think the difficulty that he refers to is due to the extreme heat that an iron melt produces, in the form of IR energy.
I use a heat shield on my pouring shank, and without that, pouring iron is very difficult.
A heat shield on your skimmer handle is also a very good idea.
And shaded goggles are required to prevent eye damage from the IR.
And he mentions online "there is so much conflicting expert experience", and I definitely agree with that.
That is one of the biggest obstacles to making successful; ie: listening to the wrong "expert".
Everyone on ytube is a casting expert, but the only ones I pay attention to are 100model (luckygen), and olfoundryman.
Even then I don't agree with everything these two folks do.
It is a shame that the folks casting gray iron are flung across the far parts of the world.
At least we have videos to observe and compare techinques.
.
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