Modular Flasks (part 3) * THE FIRST CASTING * (casting design version 2.0)

[@crisnevin7934]

4 years late to the party, i know, but... go watch olfoundryman do his flasks. He does a 3d printed version with separate side pieces. You stick them to a backing board, put your pattern on them, ram up your drag, remove the backing board with the side pieces, and you don't have to make a parting line by digging. It's an awesome technique! Anyone who doesn't already watch him needs too.

[@hemeoncn]

Thanks for your videos. If there is a vote I would like to see them all, even with the boring parts. You are doing something I always wanted to do. Thanks again Julian.

[@stevejohn]

i love how in-tune you are with your community. thanks for showing the good and the bad. it looks really nice

[@JulianMakes]

cheers Steve John! yeah i always show it all :) thank you so much!

[@askquestionstrythings]

Overall very nice. You should print swdweeb's spin trap, runner, and pouring basin. Your basin ridge is way too high, it should be 10mm off the bottom of the pouring basin (you hat it 10mm from top). the art of repairing a mold when there was a breakaway is a challenge. I believe small wires can help stick those chunky sections back together by pinning them kind of like soldiering or gaggers. note: the pins you should put on the shortest length of your flask. ya, that looks like a cold weld on 28:21 and 31:58 yes, bigger filets on the inside corners for the outside grid, more draft, prep the PLA patterns, less thickness on the ribs on the short section, your changes are good.

[@JulianMakes]

i think you are spot on Ask. my next go is with bigger fillets (you'll see that happens!). abd i've messaged perry for help about the spin trap/runners for his advice. The next casting was very interesting for various reasons, i hope to have it up later today. cheers mate :)

[@paulriggs42]

Great progress, every video shows great progress and development !

[@JulianMakes]

thank you Paul!

[@garygenerous8982]

Julian, for a first prototype cast that is awesome. Yeah it’s not perfect but you know what you need to do for the next iteration. I believe that you can get this idea to work and it will do great things for the casting community. Keep up the awesome work sir!

[@JulianMakes]

thanks Gary! i hope so, there are plenty of other flasks out there to try and make, but i thought i'd try and go modular as i'd not seen it before and thought it was a neat idea. and fun to think it all through. I'm sure we'll get there eventually, it just might take a little while longer! thank you so much!

[@robinson-foundry]

Awesome Julian! These are looking great! I would say go nuts on the draft. I cant see a reason why you couldn't go up to 15 degrees, but 10 should do. Also using cheap flat black spray paint and some steel wool to smooth it when its dry really helps with releasing patterns. Sorry about your lens.. Hope it wasnt a 24-70.

[@JulianMakes]

Cheers Seth! the only reason i'm trying to keep the draft as small as posible is to try to stop the base of each extrusion as small a volume as possible, if i go huge with 15 degrees by the time i've risen up 20mm the base is a beast! i'm trying all avenues at the moment! thanks why it's so much fun, it's amazing how a few changes can make a huge difference :) no it wasnt at 24-70, but it was a Panasonic Leica 12-60mm (MFT) which is quite a loss (i'm sending if off tomorrow - fingers crossed!), cheers o/

[@raschellesherwood6347]

Just on a small side note. Love your vids and if your having trouble with parts breaking off in your sand mold.. reinforce the dug outs with small nails or similar as supports. That way you can flip the flasks upside down without fear of parts breaking away.. :)

[@JulianMakes]

Thanks Raschelle thats a great idea, although i've never done it before.

[@mortenchristensrn2487]

Just found your channel... Awesome project... 👍 Thanks for sharing on thingiverse...

[@JulianMakes]

thanks Morten! the files are on the last video of the series :)

[@raschellesherwood6347]

7 degree draft is totally fine. Concentrate on reinforcing the parts that protrude outside of the flask face...

[@JulianMakes]

yep agreed. i go with 7 degrees on the next go. (hopefully up today?)

[@dr.rumack7668]

I enjoy watching your videos. Sanding and spraypainting the surface of the patterns, makes them release much better from the sand. (it will be tedious with this project, but it's worth it. Keep the cool projects coming !!!

[@JulianMakes]

thanks Dr Rumack, i appreciate your comment very much. Yes i should do some better prep on the patterns, my next casting might suprise you (spoiler alert - i did no prep!)

[@raschellesherwood6347]

Also 1 last thing aluminum shrinks so use some large feeders.. this should help with the bowing/ warping affect..

[@JulianMakes]

thanks, i think you are spot on Raschelle, i will be trying one with a feeder next i think. I hope it will help it bow less :)

[@andycoombes]

Impressive! It's great to share your learning curve and hear your thought processes. Fascinating stuff - thanks, you deserve a bigger audience! Sorry about the lens tho'..... :(

[@JulianMakes]

Cheers Andy! very kind of you. I'm sort of just saying what's on my mind, it's not always correct though :) i'm sending the lens off this weekend, i hope it's fixable :)

[@roscoepatternworks3471]

Fillets more fillets. Your flask is very similar to yours, except mine are wood with square ends. Make your center rib much shorter by 1/2. Radius all outside corners except where it's not necessary, top, bottom and ends. You really only need one pin plane on the ends, double or triple the thickness and move up front the bottom. Also make follow board for the 45⁰ ends. Except for the 45⁰ sides the rest of the follow board can have about 20⁰ draft or more. And as thick as your flask. But it's an interesting concept.

[@RotarySMP]

The sand is probably just dry. You will need to add water and mull it.

[@JulianMakes]

Cheers RotarySMP, yeah i think you might be right. Ohh i want a muller so bad :)

[@RotarySMP]

Plastic sheet on the floor, sand on sheet, add water. Fold over sheet and Julian runs the next 17km on the spot. Who needs a muller :)

[@JulianMakes]

@@RotarySMP hahaha!

[@royscheirer5855]

Paint the pattern with automotive primer for plastic parts and sand with fine grit sandpaper. Works like a dream to release sand later.

[@JointerMark]

That looked like a really good first casting! I suppose if the flask faces are not 100% flat you could lap it on some coarse sandpaper, kind of how you lap a hand plane. You could maybe fine tune the corners on a belt sander? I was curious as to why you didn't cast with the 'outside' down so the 45s faced up eliminating the need for excavating them.

[@JulianMakes]

cheers mark! actually that a very nice idea, i hadnt thought of that. maybe make a little jig to hold the piece at true 45 and sand away the excess bits. god you got me thinking wih your last question! i was thinking er good point?? i think it's becasue i wanted the inside surface to be the widest part of the flask so the sand is kept in my the thickest part. which means the draft has to be the way i did it. so i can only do the digging out thing. (unless i'm missing something - quite probable!)

[@MeltandCast]

Hi Julian, first of all thank you so much for the shout out, that's really kind of you 👍👍👍. Sorry about your camera lens, that really sucks... Wonderful castings, they came out really well, can't believe you got away with putting that sand section back in, I was shouting at the screen... just leave it... don't do it... !!! haha - Nice dodge mate !!! And almost no shrinkage which surprised me, I was expecting some issues there. Just goes to show extruded ally is junk for casting, as I have found out for myself !! You don't need to worry too much about digging out to the parting line as the cope will fill any gaps anyway, just make sure you leave a generous angle for the extra sand to come out and you'll be fine. I think your bowing issue was down to the size of the sprue and the speed in which it was poured rather than anything else. You want to pour the metal as fast as you can, but not so fast as to damage the sand within the mould. Your sprue taper at the base was very narrow which restricted the speed of the pour. In addition you had 4 gates to fill the mould and each of those gates was at least double the size of the base of the sprue. This causes the flow rate of the metal to slow down significantly. So by the time your metal reached the end of the runner to the end gates the metal would have been quite a lot cooler and flowing at a much slower rate, hence the bow and the rapid cooling on the far ends. In an ideal world the total area of ALL the gates should equal the total area of the base of the sprue. i.e. 1 gate = same as sprue base area, 2 gates = 1/2 sprue base area, 4 gates = 1/4 sprue base area etc. This should prevent any air being sucked into the mould and keep all the runners and gates full during the pour. To fix this I would suggest using a wider sprue, a larger pouring basin so you can get more metal in at the start, a lower lip from the pouring basin into the sprue opening and smaller gates into the mould. This will allow you to pour the metal a lot faster, help keep the sprue full, allow the metal to flow much quicker within the mould and stay hot enough fill the mould before any significant cooling can occur. Using gates with a larger total area than the base of the sprue may be advantageous in some situations and is a good way of controlling or slowing the flow rate. But if you want to fill the mould quickly then aim for keeping the flow rate as high as possible using the above method. Alternatively use a seperate sprue for each mould section allowing you to utilise larger gates for each mould half. You might want to think about using a feeder next time if using the bolt on method of attaching a handle though as those sections will be a bit thicker. But to be honest they look fine just as they are. Do remember I don't really know what I'm talking about and am just repeating what I've learnt from other people, so take my advice with a pinch of salt until someone more knowledgeable comes along !!! Nice to see you casting successfully without vents too, pro caster !!! 😜😜 Love your work, really looking forward to part 4. Keep up the good work mate, Cheers... Andy 🍺🍺🍺👍👍👍

[@JulianMakes]

Cheers Andy! you are very welcome mate. Thanks for the help too. Yes i think you are correct, i think i will need feeders, especially at that thick extension piece, the shrinkage there is def causing it to bend at that point too. so hopefully it will help wth that. (you'll see in the next casting - which is much better, the bend is worse!) yeah the gates were a mess too, i've messaged perry about his gates&spintrap combo, i think i need to print something to make it really easy to mould and pour (the pour on my next one is much better too - i'm getting used to aluminium again!) cheers loads o/

[@garyhuston]

Once again a great video Julian, I just love your presenting style! Looking forward to the next instalment.. On the subject of cameras, I currently use a camcorder style camera but I have a DSLR with a dozen lenses ranging from 10mm to 500mm and several zoom lenses but my body doesn't do video. I could easily upgrade the body to one that does do video but I'm worried that I may ruin lots of expensive lenses in my harsh metallic dusty environment, do you find the quality of the video justifies the extra expense?

[@JulianMakes]

ahh i had a different problem of having no lenses or body, that's why i went with the GH5, it's still bloomin expensive, but the lenses are absolutly relativly cheap compared to the big boys. Yeah i'm not sure it's worth it though. This breakage sure did set the expenses back! The GH5 does have wonderful video though (4k at 10bit) but the sensor IS small (hence cheaper lenses etc) but it does mean it struggles in poor light. I also got the camera when i was painting and that's less mucky/dusty, but thankfully nearly all my stuff is weather sealed so i've never even had to clean the sensor or even a lens yet. (i put a cheapo UV filter on the front of all my lenses to take the rubbish/dust. and it really saved the front element when i dropped the zoom, it's just something inside that broke. The one downside with the panasonic stuff is they dont seem to have many parts for repair, my repair guy has said unless it's simple then it could be a right off, wheras a cannon lens may cost 4x more but you can get every part as a spare. what mount are all your lenses? because you can get 'speed booster' adaptors like a metabones that will convert proper big lenses to a GH5 (MFT mount) and that combo is INSANELY GOOD. the speed booster will x0.7 the seed of your lenses too, so a nice F1.4 is like a F0.98 !!! (unheard of unless you get a voightlander crazy thing on a MFT). i love my GH5 but i'm finding i'm having to get expensivish (fast) MFT lenses to compensate for the small sensor size and poor lighting. I guess i would never had taken the plunge if i'd had to buy an expensive professional cannon with 3 expensive lenses too, so it's been good to get into it too. I need to take a little extra time to get the shots/lighting right too, it's been lacking recently and me having to use a prime lens now has made me do it all right again. So that's quite cool. (although i do still take some dark shots - i need to stop increasing the F stops to get better focus depth of field, that's why my shots have been a bit grainly recnely (as i've been using higher and higher iso's compensate. so now i'm on the primes i'm taking it more seriously again! my next casting vid (out today hopfully) has some better shots! (but still a few dark ones grrr). So i guess it sort of does justify the expense, as i had no camcorder even, and if you take the time you can get some amazing shots, but i need to make more time to do it lol. cheers mate o/

[@garyhuston]

@@JulianMakes Thanks for that, I have an Canon EOS, but it's an earlyish one before video was almost a standard extra so all my lenses are quite expensive! I like the idea of being able to play about with the shots more but think on balance I might just stick to the cheapish camcorders for now. When (if) I get my new shop I might consider it again when I have more room.

[@RotarySMP]

Sorry about your lens. I think you are going to wrong way making ribs thicker. In casting it is best to keep constant cross sections. They will work find with fewer, lower and thinner ribs. more corner radius and no sharp edges. They are currently extremely massive considering the loads on them.

[@JulianMakes]

you are absolutley spot on RotarySMP (as usual), i'm taking your comments on board i explain in the next vid where i'm trying to head. and i realise why i made ribs in the first place! (you'll see what i mean) thanks loads for the help.

[@3DTOPO]

Add some vents and make the sprue *at least* double the diameter and you'll be able to pour much faster. I actually can't believe it came out as well as it did with such a *tiny* sprue. If you flip the pattern over 180º (when you start), you wouldn't have to dig out those 45 degree sections.

[@charles1379]

Instead of thickening up the fins, try reducing the thickness of the flat face of the pattern. 4mm is more than adequate and it will reduce the shrinkage distortion. cheers

[@noviceartisan]

Wow, these are a fantastic idea. One things that jumps to mind though is why not cast the pieces individually, rather then assembled? (You may have mentioned this, I skipped a bit here n there lol)

[@JCSalomon]

I’d guess the dovetail is too finicky for easy casting.

[@luckygen1001]

I see a pattern or trend emerging in this video ( no vents ), are you going to use vents less in the future?

[@JulianMakes]

luckygen1001 hi lucky I’m not sure I use them that much. I usually put them in if I’ve got a core of some sort, but I have found them unnecessary recently :) Do you use greensand or petrobond?

[@luckygen1001]

Home made greensand 99% of the time and 1% of the time I use petrobond sand.

[@thoughtnox]

i already commented it before, also sent you a fb message: the sand-side of your flask patterns need those cutouts with a larger radius, also 5-8mm deep, in order to make the sand actually stick to them. You tried making that feature on the pattern, but with this size, the sand will neither really get much into it while casting the flasks, nor while using the flasks. Also you'll need to make cornerpieces for hinges... snapflasks... round knobbed centerpiece attachments to make the flasks chain-hoist-rotatable... please upload the current state of the patterns to thingyverse, to allow others to contribute..

[@JulianMakes]

thanks Rocketri, i didnt see your messages sorry, i've increased the rounded fillets to 2mm and it's working great at the moment. i think you'll like the next part (part 4 it's just out 5 mins ago) the casting looks great :) hinged corner pieces will be expored after the basic sides have been explored and the patterns will get uploaded once the flask sides have prooved to work as a whole, so that's still a little way off i'm afraid. Snap flasks would/will be amazing, but i've not even got the sides casting right yet :)

[@RotarySMP]

Good on you for the run. Thanks for posting this video. Good first attempt. What layer height did you print these at? More radius on all inner corners would make it pull better. For trying out an experimental pattern, you don't need to cast it, just ram it up and try pulling it. Mould making practice also mulls the sand, improving it. The blocks which separate are failed moulds. Placing then back in place risks floating up on the pour. Start again. Considering the striations locking in sand, it is a surprise they pulled as well as they did. Good point on the parting powder filling the striations with use. From a strength perspective that mid horizontal rib is unnecessary. If you delete it the sand features will be stronger. The rib and walls could all be thinner so the print faster and use less metal.

[@JulianMakes]

super points Rotary, I printed at 0.2mm layer height, but in 'fast mode'. More radius is spot on i think too. (V3.0 is now 2mm - v2.0 was 1mm), but i think going much higher would be better. i'm casting v3.0 today, but the way it's evolving i'm already considering reducing the ribs even further. I think you might be spot on with the middle one too. I'm realising that the ribs are only there to give the 3dPrint some strength and not the aluminium, and honestly the ribs might be fine at only 2mm high at the furthest point to the dovetails. if i can reduce the dovetails in height (?two per join?) then the horozontal ribs coult be greatly reduced perhaps to nothing. Which might greatly reduce the bending of the part. But i'm guessing there. But great point on the middle rib. I'll be looking at that with a very critical eye after todays casting. cheers loads o/

[@emaglott]

great vid. I'm curious about running that burner indoors. do you have ventilation? doesn't it get smoky/fumey?

[@JulianMakes]

thanks emaglott! yeah it can get smokey/fumey but i try to wear my respirator mask when i remember. It's a bit worse in winter when i only have the shed door open 30cm, intead of wide open

[@JulianMakes]

@@askquestionstrythings i will get one today on amazon good idea thank you!

[@JulianMakes]

Purchased and coming on Sunday! Cheers :)

[@emaglott]

@@JulianMakes yes I was about to say that you could be producing CO based on the air/fuel ratio you end up with in your burner. As I watched your video of that long day where you were getting less and less alert, got me thinking and worried. Maybe a simple hood over your furnace vented through the roof? plenty of heat there to create draught. Respirator will not remove CO.

[@JulianMakes]

Im all fine thank you so much though. I was just really really tired from my run and the lens screw up! The co sensor I got show a digital read out of ppm and if it goes ove a certain amount it bleeps like a banshee, I’ll be 8nterested in seeing if it shows anything happening :)

[@tobhomott]

Coming along great! The pattern never pulls perfect the first time... I can't believe you got that broken sand core to stay put when you stuck it back in, lol, nice save! Is it possible the sand in that big heavy drag flexed a little bit while you were rolling it over and/or rapping on the 3D print and/or ramming up the cope? That could be an alternative explanation for why the casting was bowed a little - the wider and heavier the flask, the more likely the sand is to flex if it isn't supported... Are the flat panels and the redesigned ribbed sections all about the same thickness? I wouldn't think any of it needs to be very thick for the casting to be quite strong, and the closer you have to uniform thickness throughout the part, the fewer problems you'll have with shrinkage. Really looking forward to the next update! I actually like seeing how molds get made though, is it just me? I don't find it boring at all. 😀 Thanks for the shout-out! One thing I did not mention in my flask pin video is that the pins coming up from the drag should not be so long that they stand above the top of the cope when the mold is closed, as they will be in the way when you want to strike off the cope, or to set down the mold upside down if needed.

[@JulianMakes]

Hi ya Tobho, cheers and you are welcome mate. lol yeah i was lucky on that wedge of sand! Thanks for the help i will hopefully start thinking actually making the pins very soon!

[@WarGrade]

I am going to wait until your next video before I say anything because things are moving at a pace :)

[@swdweeb]

Almost gave you a thumbs down out of spite ;-D I do like the idea of a bolt-on method for the handles and the pins. I can't believe I'm not familiar with Jeff's video on the subject.

[@JulianMakes]

cheers mate! i wouldnt mind (too much!!!) if you did :) some miserable so and so usually does lol. apparantly YT takes it as an interaction, so in effect it actually helps more than no vote :) Yeah Jeffs pins are very nice (plus i like this squiril :)

[@mamamheus7751]

What a crying shame about the lens! So sorry for you because they ain't cheap. Other than that, I think that for a first go, the outcome wasn't too bad really. Are you going to put holes for the bolts in the corners into the design for the printout, or would that just be too fiddly? The one good thing about metalworking is that when it goes t!ts up, you don't lose all the metal, it's reusable. Pity that the pla isn't. That's got to be a huge layout. Is the sand at all reusable? Wish my dad was still alive. He'd have loved this channel. He was a keen photographer so he'd be feeling lousy about the lens for you, but he was a steelworker for most of his life, and was a qualified metallurgist. Much as he'd play down his knowledge, he'd have offered any insights he would have had - if asked for, never said a word about what he knew unless we asked if he knew something lol. Very old school!

[@JulianMakes]

thanks so much Mam! not to worry aboutt the lens. i hope to get it fixed up soon :) i did think about that for the bolt holes but i couldnt see how to do it and keep the drafts all good. lol yeah i'll remelt all the prototypes once i get a flask! and the PLA is really cheap, and i love designing and printing stuff so to me it's basically free :) aww your Dad sounds lovely, nice to remember him so fondly.

[@martasavi4434]

Pobre segui buscando clientes con el aguinaldo....xq a mi no me alcanza ni para cortinas