Improving your castings by using proper pouring basin and sprue design. My version of the techniques recommended by John Campbell. These are easy to apply and take no more time than incorrect techniques.
Foolishly perhaps😊 I said that I would do a follow up video on the calculation of sprue size and taper if enough people commented that they would like to see such a video. The response has been overwhelming and thus, hoist on my own petard as it were, I will do the video. It will take a little time as here is a bit of preparation work to do and I also have other parts of the Making Box Sides " video series to shoot, edit, and publish. If I fail to answer your comments, which are now becoming so numerous that replying is becoming difficult, please forgive me and take this as your reply....Martin PS. Check this video out ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GwqENPFqPBM.html it gives some insight into what happens when things are not as they should be compared to how much better things are when things are a bit better hopefully further improvements will show even better results..
Well done Martin! Gave us the basic theory, and a damn fine demonstration. I for one would love to see a vid on "doing it by the numbers" (how to calculate ideal sizing)... you NEVER disappoint
You are a masterful teacher as well as foundry-man and metallurgist! I learned the 'can' method initially, before using a pouring basin, and will never go back. My first casting using a pouring basin, while not great, was such a VAST improvement! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience!
The can method is an improper way to add pressure so to speak, but due to the parallel sides you cannot keep it choked (shown in the later half of the video). I think it’s some form of combination between improper riser to prevent shrinkage and a basin to make sure the mold fills all the way up. Two issues alleviated by having good mold design.
👍👍 thanks for the information. I hope your knowledge gets used in trade schools everywhere. I would be instrested in the calculations of the spur taper. Cheers from Melbourne 🇦🇺
Martin, I’d like to see how you calculate the sprue size! I did spot the point where you let the sprue go too low the first time around. Thanks for explaining why the metal speed up during the pour.
Rocking, Yeah, the metal flow is a bit of a trick - initially very fast then quite slow then faster again and finally slows to a stop it takes a little keeping on top of. Calculation video will follow in due course... Martin
Worked 50 yrs as a greensand moulder and never .ever ran a casting straight in like this you need a down sprue and runner into a riser the your Ingatestone into the job this fellas talking bs
Wow... as an experienced foundry guy, my casting tools and methods are based upon much bigger scales and horizontal casting machines. Its not only interesting the proceedure, but the deployment of this video is wonderful. Really seeing the physics here with a great explanation of whys and hows... absolutely great mentorship.
that, I am glad that you liked it. It is particularly (but not only) those involved in the trade that I would like to show this relatively new knowledge to. I am grateful to those who did the research and practical work that led to my discovery of it. In particular the work of Pr. John Campbell has proven to be a real breath of fresh air into the foundry industry. I suggest that you try to get your hands on some of his books and read them - they're real eyeopeners....Martin
I wish all of the more popular youtubers that cast stuff watched these videos and credited you. Such a wealth of information on casting, Martin! Great job as always
Joyce, Nothing really secret here, its all been known about for well over 70 years. The sad thing is that still all too few foundries use these techniques.... Martin
Thoroughly enjoyed this and I do like your basin. Looking forward to your next vid. My basin's are similar in cross section with about 1/4" high x 1/4" long ledge before going into the tapered sprue. My employee has a difficult time holding the size of the basin consistant so I think your method would solve our problem. We will try this on the next molds👍
Windy, Cut the basin with a thin walled tube its easiest and quickest way I have found - spoon cut is hopeless too rounded too slow. Lump of sand should come out with tube - to achieve this any sharpening of tube to be on inside and if necessary dint the edge a little inwards. Make sure your ridge is well radiused at sprue junction have a look at the video I mention in my pinned comment to see what happens if the radius is bad look closely until you see the bubbles its fascinating.... Martin
Jaap, Well, you are not on your own there and if you look at commercial foundries very few of them do it right either! 😱If you do it right you will probably be ahead of 90% of all other foundries.😊.... Martin
Thank you for imparting your years of knowledge. Metal casting is something I've wanted to do for years but it's either time - no money or money - no time. Now I'm retired, money is still an issue but grandson is 8 and takes more interest in 'stuff' although probably not ready to 'play with fire' yet.
crazy, Metal casting is a great hobby to get into. There is a bit of a learning curve but you can do such useful stuff with it. I started (on my own) at age 11 - just fishing sinkers in sand moulds lined with cardboard but it was enough to get me drawn in. Encourage the 8 years old's interest in "stuff" - so much better than in Facebook or whatever. Good luck.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418Thank you for reply. My father was repairing a clutch or throttle cable for motorcycle when I was 8 or 9 (1960's) in the living room in front of fire. (mother was out shopping). He had some very old moulds so made some lead soldiers and a dreadnought from WW-I. I got a history lesson as well
Pirate, Thank you for saying so. I just wish that I was well enough to put out more videos like this. I have a lot more in mind but doing them is for me all but impossible....Martin
Such fine detailed info is missing from too many videos for the sake of brevity. Thanks for taking the time to focus on this info. Invaluable. I'd love to see more on the sprue design criteria.
Thank you for saying so. I think that a decent basin coupled with a correctly sized tapered sprue is absolutely the easiest way to improve castings and it costs nothing....Martin
Thank you for explaining all the rationales behind your pour choices. It's alot easier to learn than watching over and over again and guessing what and why you do what you do. Spru calculation is requested.👍
Sam, I do not see much point in not bothering to explain why I do what I do as it would seem to be only 1/2 the story. Follow up now in planing but it will take a while.... Martin
Tony, Pouring fast enough to keep the sprue full is a bit of an acquired art but if you are ready for just how fast even a small tapered sprue will take metal you will soon get the hang of it. But remember the ridge wants to be at most 10 mm high from the bottom of the basin and a generous radius between the ridge top and the sprue is most necessary. I think that you will like how well it works and just how calmly the metal enters the mould..... Martin
Thanks Martin! Very educational, I watched all your videos through the years and do appreciate them a lot. My plan is to cast something this summer perhaps an intake to my car and this video was perfect preparation. Thanks for all the knowledge and inspiration!
Thanks for explaining every little thing i really like the details and reason for stuff as i know nothing and it seems obvious now but i wouldn't have thought about that or thought it really made that much of a difference.
Terry, I am happy that it has been helpful - now all we have to do is get everyone to adopt this technology and sadly there are a lot of "old hands" out there who refuse to 😱.. Martin
That was exceptional. Great information. Any more information you want to provide, about sprue design or anything else, will be as appreciated as all of your other content. Thank you.
I'm going to start my adventure with casting and I am thankful that I found this channel. Great information on the basics... best regards and waiting for the next films
Fantastic tutorial... your tips and tricks are much appreciated.. thanks for passing them on. Setting the sprue near the edge so you can rest the ladle.. so simple and logical, but often missed .. great stuff.
Dennis, You can't always get the basin near the edge but it is a big help when you can - it is as important as placing your moulds so you can get a good pour without working over the same or another mould.... Martin
Jan, Thank you for your comment. Yes it is amazing what the use of a decent pouring basin atop a small tapered sprue can achieve in improving one's castings, Particularly when it comes to the more difficult alloys like the aluminium bronzes. But there is nothing really new here - the basin owes much of its design to basins used around 1900 and the idea of the tapered sprue was well know and much advocated by the mid 1950s. The problem is of course that the foundry industry is very - ahem - traditional, plain and simple, it is reluctant to accept "new" ideas ... Martin
Thanks for this video I’ll use this when doing my first casting trying to get the best surface finish I can this makes a lot of sense thanks from New Zealand 👍🏻
Hi Martin, Excellent stuff, just Excellent. Always more than happy to learn what you have to teach, so yes please on the sprue size calculations. Thanks so much for everything you do and stay safe down in old Vic. :)
Kyle, Really, its only the start of sprue technique. I am glad that you found it useful. I hope one day to amplify the subject with emphasis on shape, size, and degree of taper - and even, hopefully - some fill time required calculations. Martin
This is without doubt the most informative video, you have out out there. I can't sketch either, but these sketchings got the message across perfectly, that is all any draftsman can ever hope to do. I know we have discussed this many times but this really shows the process in a way that even I understood it. I don't understand why everyone does not use this method to maximise the chance of a successful pour. The time invested in creating a pattern and making a mould is so long that I would certainly want to give myself the best possible chance of getting a good casting in return for that time. In cnc speak, it is like creating a program that will sort of get the job done, when a bit more time in writing the code and the job can be perfect.
SCL, Ah yes, nothing like a thumbnail dipped in tar sketch to convey the message. You are right - all that work to make patterns cores moulds prepare sand and melt metal and pour castings too much effort to not give one=self the best chance possible of a good casting.... Martin
David, Well, its not really a trick it's just what happens the trick I guess is keeping that layer intact and as you can see its not that hard..... Martin
From all the years that I have watched of castings, Martin you have wonderfully and informatively produced the only video of the why AND the how. I can now attempt it with the knowledge of knowing why I am doing something; then if something should go wrong I have an understanding of the process and can hopefully remedy it. Bring on the sprue design theory....
David, I hate having to do something without knowing the whys behind the way I had to do it. You are 100% correct - without the knowledge of "why" the solving of problems along the way becomes a very hit miss affair. I guess I have been a bit lucky - my training as a metallurgist gives me an insight into the "whys" and its an insight that I would like to pass along... Martin
Yes please on the follow up video. The skin detail is and making sure it is in tact while controlling the flow rate shows a lot of skill and experience. Thanks for sharing this.
Chris, I will try to get around to doing the follow up, unfortunately my health is such that it is difficult for me to do any video so it may be a while but I will try.... Martin
Bravo my Friend- Your lessons are like being out in my gramps shop with him again- getting a lesson with a jolly voice and all the information with the occasional "Right" and a happy "There ya go..." Thank you for the apprenticeship!
@@olfoundryman8418 Its not the years- its the wisdom... I respect that my friend. You teach by doing- and inject theory into the mix at practical points where it is relevant!.
As always Martin excellent instructional video. You should have known going in we would all want the follow up video who doesn’t want to learn from a master craftsman.
Brilliant video, I will soon be doing my first castings and have been looking around for tips on how to go about it and so many people are getting bad results and you have just explained why. I thought it was just a bit hit and miss but not the way you have shown it should be done makes total sense. Thanks for sharing and can't wait to have a go.
Jeff, "a bit hit and miss" well, that's sort of the way the foundry industry has been for about 6000 years! It has been able to get away with bad techniques because despite them sometimes you can get a good result. So if you ignore the bad results and your customer is prepared to do the same it all goes along sort of ok. However when first starting out and using too many of those bad techniques as copied from the wrong areas of YT, truly good results can be very thin on the ground indeed. Nobody can do it perfectly of course - there are always areas where it could be done better if one had a big enough and expensive enough 24/7 enterprise. None of us do, so the best we can do is eliminate the worst of the bad stuff and from what I know this will be enough to give results of which you can be truly proud...Martin
I really appreciate your academic approach to the concepts you demonstrate. Very well done. It seems like there's not a lot of content on RU-vid or elsewhere for anything between uninformed amateur metal casting or footage from professional shops where they don't explain anything. Your videos really hit a sweet spot. You do professional quality work at an achievable scale for a serious metal casting enthusiast.
Borderline, Thank you, I guess I had to get reasonably good at making castings as it was how we survived for 30 or so years. I always tried to do it better each time and I am more than happy to pass what I learned on to anyone interested. It is entirely possible for an amateur to make very good castings - not top of the line aerospace perhaps as you need lots of really good equipment and to be operating at size to do that and few, including most of the commercial foundries, can do it anyway. But, as I show, very good castings can be made with simple equipment providing one cares enough to do it properly..... Martin
mrtynan, Thank you but I am hardly a professional teacher - just someone who has been at foundry for a while and someone who is well pleased if others find the information useful... Martin
I have never cast anything before except for sinkers. After watching yours and others videos I was able to cast some specialised clamps for my round column mill. Worked like a charm, I thank you for your knowledge and time and yes I would like to see how the sprue size is calculated.
MIck, Fishing sinkers - be careful! That us how I started out (at age 10) I got hooked (no pun intended) totally addicted in fact.😊 I am very glad that my information was of use... Martin
Great demonstration, thank you very much. Flowering Elbow sent some of us over, me included. Appreciate your wisdom and the no nonsense way you share it. All makes perfect sense including the inside radii and outside square corners being fine. When practical experience matches hydrodynamic theory :-)
Fredio, Bless flowering elbow. There are times when doing everything exactly right is virtually impossible, particularity when we are working with small moulds. Fortunately the need for perfection is less with smaller work as metal velocities are lower in lower moulds. I guess its a question of knowing which corners can be reasonably cut and which can't. Even so we should strive to get all things as "right" as possible as that gives our castings the best chance..... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 I am very glad that you're still alive. I had seen the last upload time and guessed the worst. I lost a great photography youtuber in the UK a year or so ago and actually cried. The relationships formed "in the comments below" are very real if you let them be and put the work in. Thank you sincerely for your reply and I meant what I said above. Cheers! :-)
fredio, Cry not for me my friend - well, not yet anyway 😊. Ill health does prevent me from making active type videos - nothing terminal, save old age itself of course, just bloody debilitating - very frustrating! I do hope to have a sort of talking head video (without the head) coming out shortly. Its sort of an exposé on faults I have seen in RU-vid casting videos using snapshots and even short excerpts that I have - ahem - acquired from other (unnamed) people's videos. I expect some heated debate so keep your fire extinguisher handy😊 - should be fun!... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 You don't have to be shy about using other's clips like that - that's 110% fair use, journalistic in nature, even, a commentary on what's shown - do it, and do not feel bad save for embarrassing the original uploader :-D If they're good people they'll appreciate the learnings more than hate the shame.
Fredio, While I don't feel bad about taking snapshots etc I do anticipate a bit of a reaction from viewers. I will not be mentioning any names save for three youtubers who I mention as people who have a good idea what they are doing and who are worth watching. I have tried to pick older videos that were not that popular so it would be less likely that viewers would know who the you tuber concerned was - unfortunately this was not always possible so many will realise which video and therefore whose video the various clips came from. Many youtubers have a very loyal fan base and to even hint at criticism is to invite quite a fierce response. I have seen this in the past when one RU-vidr had a bit of a go at Myford (justifiably so, I might add) but all hell broke loose. Not only in the comments but also across a forum or two. I have a couple of shots taken from his videos - not easy to recognise as his (hmm, maybe) but no doubt someone wil make the connection so it could be a bumpy ride - Bring it on I say. Its still a few weeks away as it is taking forever to get 70 or so snapshots assembled into a video and then all narrated - Oh, how I hate doing narration! It just takes forever - not to get it right for that is impossible - but just to get it passable.....Martin
Austrian, Sharing is my pleasure. May I suggest that you make up a simple loop on a shaft pouring shank - so much easier and more controllable that using the lift out tongs..... Martin
I learned more in this 20+ minute video than I have in any casting book or video I've found...and I've watched a lot. It's not just your knowledge, your teaching skills are great and I'm not blowing smoke. There's logic around all of the flows, and in keeping that flow air free and smooth. Thanks for this, and the kindness in sharing all this information. If you are ever looking for ideas on what to go into detail on next, I'd be interested in learning what to look for in riser, gates and runner design...but as I go through the videos you have up I'm sure I'll catch it.
Tom, Thank you for your comment. Feeder, runner, and gate design is a complicated area requiring quite different treatment for different castings - there are some basic rules though that have managed to surface through the still incomplete knowledge of the subject. Health permitting I will try and do something along the lines that you have suggested. To be honest in my own work I usually just eyeball a given casting and based on experience (60 years plus) make an initial guess as to these requirements and then let the first try or two refine my approach. Not the best way to do things perhaps but I do not have the resources to get my hands on casting simulation /calculation software..... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 I can completely understand the eyeball approach. So many things have been designed based on that, and as long as you've been doing this there were no computer simulations for those flows...and even today they are probably quite expensive. What I try to do is learn from the experts in the field such as yourself, and copy, and then adjust a little bit to account for my projects being different. Truly appreciate all that you give to people learning this science/art.
Very helpful! I admit I’ve seen many on RU-vid use the can and funnel method and have tried it myself and have gotten bad results. I got much better results without the can. I will definitely try the basin and tapered sprew method the next time. Thanks a lot!
Aaron, The can and funnel method seems almost designed to produce poorer quality castings! 😱 I am not surprised that you did better without it. But I am very happy that you did... 😊 Martin
Geoff at VOG said you're the guy, so here I am! Thanks for taking the time to make these videos. I just built my first propane furnace (posted a vid) and I'm going to skip a little trial and error and make your tapered sprue and basin right out of the gate because it makes sense!
Jason, Thanks for the vote of confidence 😊 Indeed it makes perfect sense. If you use the basin and tapered sprue properly as shown in this video you will be well ahead of most other foundries including the professional ones. However be aware that some people try to put their own spin on the basing/sprue design and make a bit of a hash of it - typically they make the basin rounded (cut with a spoon) have the ridge too high and - gasp - use a parallel sprue. I will be watching 😊... Martin
Jack, Yes most people (particularly old time foundrymen) look at that small sprue size and exclaim that the casting would never run - WRONG!. But look when they pour - a small stream (just like through my sprue) but down a big hole, flow rate is the same but mine is largely turbulence free. Try it for yourself and see just how fast metal will go down a properly filled small tapered sprue..... Martin
I love to see this sort of collaboration, where the strengths of others unselfishly magnify the effectiveness of the final result. I often wonder what the electricity world would look like if truly altruistic contemporaries of Nikolai Tesla had helped him, instead of the grabbing bankers who drove him to his paranoic secrecy.
Wright, In view of the discoveries made recently by John Campbell this is really the only way to go. Older methods with huge tall sprues with silly funnels on top are most definitely bad news for casting quality... Martin
Gabor, Yes, I am very much a JC devotee. His work is very much a greatly needed breath of fresh air into the staid, old fashioned, rigid, dogmatic, and pig headed foundry industry. My one regret is that I discovered his work too late in my foundry career. I have been using small tapered sprues since the mid 1970s but other of his refinements I have only adopted in the last 5 or 10 years. I would love to sit down with him and/or Bob Puhaka because I have a million questions. I have with varying degrees of success tried to introduce others on UT to his methods but sadly many are just not interested, content instead to bumble on as the foundry industry has done for millennia.... Martin
@@olfoundryman8418 I've had the chance to meet and talk with JC a few times. He is a real gentleman, really nice and down to earth. Also, he is really helpful and always finds the time to consult with me via e-mail. I think you should try and ask some questions in an e-mail.
