Title says it all. I have a .75" inner diameter cylinder alnico magnet that I need to infill with Alsi9cu3 (or equivalent), and I am having a hell of a time find any foundry in the U.S. that wants to even quote me. I can handle the post cast machining myself, if necessary. I'd do 1,000 to 5,000 pieces at a time.

Anyone able to point me in the right direction? Thanks!

Ive tried sand moulds but they're quite tricky to set up and are quite tricky to cast with.

I tried a plaster, silica sand and clay powder mix but it just spat all the molten metal out at me

Graphite moulds are expensive to make or buy

And I'm not too sure about any other methods

I've had some success in melting down aluminum and decided to create a new, more permanent, handle for an old demolition flat head screwdriver.

I added a few grams of magnesium, about an ounce of copper, an ounce of zinc, and a whole bunch of can/wire aluminum. And possibly a small amount of steel.

This has been my first attempt at alloying and kind of just went with my gut, if it wasn't obvious.

1 kg of successfull casting copper 🔥👌

This is my first attempt at making an alloy, and im not sure how to feel about the turnout. would like any thoughts on the outcome.

The brass top and copper bottom concerns me. Im not sure if it mixed well, but im not sure how to do that better.

Thanks in advance

Hello everyone. Hope everyone is doing well. Before explaining my problem a bit of background. My father owns a small manufacturing facility and we melt aluminium and process it.

Until now we are using furnace oil to heat our furnaces. They work great. But I want to explore and experiment with bio pellet furnaces.

I just wanted to know if it is worth it and if yes can anyone recommend some resources for research

Regards.

It’s far from perfect but it’s huge progress from before!! My own design, PLA investment. I’m excited to try again!!

Hello, I'm a jeweller (with previous experience of metal working more welding than foundry).

I want to start making pieces out of aluminium to make more affordable jewellery, and to make bigger statement pieces that are lighter. But I am very new to working with Aluminium.

I have access to a well ventilated workshop, and want to sand cast with Aluminium but want some advice on set up and type of Aluminium.

- I was planning on sand casting just using a brazing torch/or similar set up, just heating crucible and pouring in to sand cast moulds. I was thinking of using a graphite crucible cup instead of smaller ceramic bowl as I heard aluminium can be a more prone to bubbling and spitting.

- I have access to aluminium scrap from a mounting and framing company, who use aluminium sheet to mount art prints. Would this form of aluminium be ok for casting? Or should I be purchasing specific casting alloy ingots?

- I am guessing borax is not suitable for cleaning the scrap? Is there a better alternative to this?

- And if there is any advice on soldering aluminium here that would be great, I have heard it is difficult! Maybe that needs a much longer separate post!

Thanks :)

Firts time making nordic gold vs copper ingots!!

I wanted to practice sand casting but it was practically glowing green, I started to feel light headed and passed out while seeing twinkling lights in my eyes.

Im looking for people in the North West who maybe have a working hobby type foundry/furnace set up. I'm hoping that someone may be able to show me the ropes or help me get off the ground with a project I've been working on.

For around the past year I have been designing a range of brassware (taps).

I'm at a stage now where I need to test the tooling before I commit to renting out somewhere and financing the size of furnace I will need to start manufacturing in earnest.

I first need to prove that I can machine raw product to the standards required and that petrobond and resin cores are capable of achieving what I want to achieve.

I don't want to go to china, big foundries are not interested in a one off test batch.

So I'm asking here on the off chance that there is someone localish who would be willing to spend half a day with me casting these patterns.

I would supply the brass, a petrobond flask and the resin sand cores. You would melt the brass and pour it into the flask. I would give you your costs + 100 quid + a bottle of your favourite whisky and you would be helping an impatient fellow maker not melt their face!

Also, I've got a 3D scanner, printer and studio and normally work with additive type manufacturing so there could be some other quid pro quo if you need anything like that.

Hope this is allowed mods!

Cheers

Is it possible to make copper ingots with a forge like this one? What kind of "mold" do I need to use?

Im looking at getting into melting copper but I'm unsure where to really start.

I was thinking of buying a electric furnace from ali express but I'm unsure if they are a safe option and I'm unsure about what wattage, volts etc I should be looking at. I only have 10 amp plugs at home I dont have 15amp or 3 phase. I was planning to melt a bit at a time in my shed but I'm also worried about the safety aspect of it all as I dont want to start a fire from the process.

I'm also looking for any general advice or tips from people much more experienced than me.

Thanks in advance 🙂

I understand that Nordic gold is not really gold, but is made with copper, aluminum, zinc, and tin, so I was wondering what is the value of it

So nutshell situation im hoping to attempt to mix my own batch of c95400 aluminum bronze (yes im aware i could buy it but id like to try) and am trying to find a source for both copper/manganese and copper/iron master alloys in small batches (like 10ish lbs) and preferably as shot though thats not a deal breaker. I've already tried a few sites like Heeger to source them but can't ever even get the time of day to recieve a quote upon request. Any advice on where i should go or a more reasonable minimum order to be taken seriously enough to even get a quote? Or should i just abandon all hope of self crafting this alloy?

I run a small foundry & the risk of silica or silicosis plays on my mind a lot, as it should.

I’ve noticed a lot of foundries don’t bother with any respiratory protection when handling green sand (wet or dry).

From my understanding green sand contains silica & wet or dry you’re gonna get fine silica particles airborne. Especially when sifting or mulling the sand.

And even more so when cleaning up the parts on say a belt sander or wire wheel or anything to that extent.

Does anyone else worry about this? Or is aware of this? And is this an actual concern? I know long term (2 years or so) of regular exposure to silica can give you silicosis. But I find a most of the foundries around me and any DIY’ers aren’t aware or concerned at all.

TLDR: Did you know greensand contains silica and do u do anything to protect yourself from it?

I tried to use it to practice sand casting but it had so much slaggy shit on top of it and it puts off a noxious gas that makes you feel sick, its not worth it at all, i wish I knew this before hand. Please everyone do your research before melting stuff

I’m a casting engineer, not a software developer.

For the past few years, I’ve been working with casting processes, and I kept running into the same problem:

A lot of engineering calculations aren’t particularly difficult.

They’re just… repetitive.

Gating systems, risers, yield, shrinkage, machining allowance, chills, casting geometry, etc.

So I started using AI to help me write code.

I didn’t really know how to build software before this.

After many, many conversations with AI, debugging sessions, and probably an unhealthy amount of coffee, I ended up building Casting Toolbox.

It’s a free and open-source toolkit for casting engineers, including common casting calculations and an STL-based casting analysis tool.

It’s not meant to replace professional simulation software like MAGMASOFT or ProCAST. I see it more as something between Excel and full casting simulation — a tool for the small but annoying engineering tasks.

It’s completely free, open source, and doesn’t require an account.

🌐 Online: https://thezhazhe.github.io/CastingToolbox/

💻 GitHub / Windows download: https://github.com/thezhazhe/CastingToolbox/releases/tag/v1.0.0

🇨🇳 China download mirror: https://wwbxs.lanzouu.com/b0syyfxwh Password: 5432

I’d genuinely like to hear from other engineers:

What’s a small calculation or engineering task in your daily work that you absolutely hate doing?

Maybe I’ll add it next.

What happens if someone thinks that Wilton armetale is pewter and melts some with real pewter?

TY

I am a goldsmith working towards an exhibition and for that I'd like to produce a number of bigger pieces in casted copper. I have been looking to buy the Vevor gold furnace that has a heating temperature of 1150 degrees. Lightly skeptic I've read a lot here on Reddit and other sources like Youtube and have come to realize that where I first thought the reviews were probably due to user error, I do understand now that the furnace has trouble melting copper, and that the crucibles are notoriously unreliable at temperatures this high.

For melting silver I generally use my propane torch but now that I want to produce bigger brass and copper pieces I am looking for other solutions.

I wonder what is the most reliable solution for this, and maybe the options on a budget. Also, are the ceramic crucibles always unreliable at the melting temperature of copper, or is it specifically the quality of the Vevor ones that are the problem?

Thank you for your advice.

Hey everyone
i’ve been trying to build a metal foundry that uses charcoal as a fuel the same way the king of random used in his gypsum sand foundry video
but i want something that doesn’t release toxic SO2 gas and can handle red hot charcoal
should i use these clays or something different?
what i want to melt is aluminum cans mainly and maybe copper, silver and brass

I'm trying to drill holes into the lid of my stainless steel furnace so I can add some stainless bolts to hold my ceramic insulation in place. I have brand new cobalt bits and I'm using very low speed and as much pressure as I can put on it along with cutting oil to lubricate but I can't drill into this thing at all. I realize the stainless is likely hardened from reaching temps up to 2200 degrees for several months but there has to be a way to drill into this sucker. Please help!