Your such an inspiration Paul(insert funny, yellow font comment here). After watching all of yours and SWDweebs videos (multiple times), I now have all the supplies for my foundry and plan to pour the kastolite this weekend. Thanks for all the great content.
@@PaulsGarage No data but expect it will be about the same as most woods. The hardness properties if anything may relate to density which may better transfer the heat. All guesses. I plan to try using thin steel angles positioned over the wood near the pouring basin positioned during the ram up. Not an end all but a start.
Two features I used when I made my flasks: To help with orientation, I painted different sides different colors. Second, to help break open the mold, I used some bolts. When you tighten them you can open the flask in a very controlled manner.
thats a pretty good idea! especially the colors so i don't forget which one is the cope and drag. here I put the flanges only on 2 sides so i know the un-flanged side goes towards the front/back of the bench. I didn't mention it in the video but the bench isn't perfectly flat, so i made these flasks fit the bench in the current direction. If i rotate them 90 degrees they rock slightly. It's not a perfect bench but it's close
wat you could do to fix the wonky flasks is add a piece of mdf on the top exactly the same size as the flask maibe slightly smaller as long as the dont stick out outside the box , screw it on then shim the low corner so it becomes level the way you want it to be then run the opposite side along the tablesaw using the mdf lid as the guide along the fence take off the lid and use the now straight side of the box / flask against the fence to cut the other side level if you do that with both halves of the flasks you should end up with reasonable usable flasks that are about an inch or two lower you have to redo the centering thingies and prolly will do them so you can grab onloo them better if there not glued together you could unscrew them and saw grooves intoo them , just need to push 8 pieces through at a time so it takes a bit longer
Great video! I've been needing to make some new flasks, and I'll be taking some of your tips. As for a heat resistant wood, maybe check out ipe? It's also called Brazilian walnut. It falls into the category of woods called ironwoods, and I've heard that it's some ridiculously tough stuff. Not sure about taking on 1221F+ molten aluminum, but it's probably got a better shot than most other woods.
@@PaulsGarage When my last belt sander failed after 20 years of occasional use, I replaced it with a 3 x 21 Wen belt sander that is $41. Belt sanders are so productive, you don't need a big one.
Looks nice. Alignment pins help a lot when you're working with an irregular parting line where the cope or drag sticks out past the flask, but without any pins it should still work fine when the parting is flat. How will you get your fingers between the flanges to lift off the cope, or set it back on the drag without pinching your fingers though? Looking forward to finding out next time.
Thanks! There's enough of a gap I can get finger tips under that. Some of my old ones had no gap at all and it didn't cause too much trouble, but im sure I could chamfer the inside of that groove a bit more to give me a ridge? That might work
Nicely done. You went for some high quality type operation here. That’s good, glad to see it. I hope they work out really well when you get to do your first casting.
Not sure how well it will work in the end, but I made the halves of my flasks non-rocking by filling the gap with Bondo. Smeared it on one side then laid cling film over it and set the other side on top. How it will hold up in the long run I don't know as I'm still working out the bugs in my melting down the aluminum setup.
Would it be a good thing to cut the top of the bottom flask and the bottom of the top flask at 45 degrees so the top inserts into the bottom? That forces it into alignment both front to back and side to side. Of course if the wood swells or warps it might be a bad thing. Not sure.
Plywood is very stable but i'd be worried about the screws holding as well going into "end grain" of the ply. In my experience it can just peel the layers apart. Also i suspect the heat from the metal could degrade the glue
It's nice. A little recommendation: replace the screws that hold the two halves together with bolts and their screw holes with through holes. The bolts will have a much longer usable lifetime with repeated attachment/reattachment.
what about casting up some aluminum handles for each side with built in smooth tapered alignment pins.... could make them unique... maybe a sent of warning lights, or a volcano... nuclear explosion... artsy - to put your stamp on them.
I have a real hard time believing miter joints are stronger than finger and dovetail joints. Miter joints are end-grain to end-grain which should be far weaker than the edge-grain to edge-grain orientation of the joint. Moreover, miter joints and especially dovetail joints form a strong mechanical lock, which holds together even without any glue. I'm not taking any bets on it, but miter joints being stronger needs a scientific explanation.
I can't believe it either, but the test showed a significant increase in strength compared to finger joints and dovetails (which were similar to each other). I think the explanation is that the 45 degree angle grain glues less like edge grain and more like side grain? also the larger surface area of the angled joint helps. Either way I added screws so i should be ok
@@PaulsGarage Mathias Wandel needs to do testing on those joints. Dude is a total beast when it comes to settling joint strength using heavy duty metrics.
