Brass Casting - Tragedy and Triumph

DIY Brass Casting for a Large Ornamental Nameplate. Maybe, How Not To Do It.
You can watch the furnace build videos here • DIY Foundry Furnace
The bridge build videos are here • DIY Foundry Furnace
Music by "The Merrymen" "Feelin' Hot Hot Hot"

[@bigcoolviking]

Great to see you you using a crucible now rather than a crooshable, its makes all the difference.

[@AmateurRedneckWorkshop]

You can be proud of the bridge and the brass casting. Well done.

[@ronjones1990]

Terrific project from beginning to end. We learn from our mistakes.

[@popo5413]

Now this would have to be the neatest and best-looking Furnas I've seen (I have watched you biled for it )

[@Preso58]

I like the rebuilt version of my furnace. I have also recently converted it to burn diesel fuel and it is now about three times faster than the propane version. Regards, Mark

[@fredwild190]

I noticed the gating on the second attempt in fact was not the same as in the first attempt. The side channels on the second attempt followed a much more gradual curve into the mold (10:38 vs. 25:30), and I wondered whether the difference contributed to the successful second pour. Really excellent and fascinating video. Thank you very much.

[@Preso58]

Who knows? That is the trouble with this type of project. If you change more than one variable you never really know what contributed to the success of the casting. I do know that gating, venting and metal temperature are fairly critical with brass. Regards, Mark

[@jrkorman]

Excellent - Those plates certainly dress up your bridge nicely.

[@messageweek]

I've learned a lot. Having cast aluminum, and wanting to see what this looks like in brass, I appreciate the process, errors and experience gained, and I think this will be helpful in the next project. (I also appreciated that this video is done by a fellow Aussie.)

[@RockingJOffroad]

I think these castings came out wonderfully for a first time casting brass.x

[@icedragongamer4646]

Hi Mark I read a few comments and replies. Using an oven is too much for for the whole mould. Preheat and slightly dry out the faces of the mould with a blow torch just before you pour the molten metal then you drive off a little excess moisture you can do this by playing the torch or blow lamp down the pouring channel for a few minutes then pour the metal straight away. I've done it successfully but finer work I use lost wax and cast plaster then burn the excess wax out. I hope this helps nice work. I like the furnace and design of your gas jet 👌👍😀

[@Preso58]

Thanks for the feedback. I think my furnace is just about at it's upper limit when melting brass. The refractory is capable of the temperature but the burner is probably just about maxed out. I am in the process of designing a burner that will use diesel fuel and I am hoping that this will reduce the melting time for brass and bronze. I did those brass casting quite a while ago and I thought I had learned a lot about casting since then but just recently I had the same experience with aluminium. I got a bit cocky and didn't bother to check the temperature of the melt with a pyrometer that I had made since the brass casting debacle and I got a similar result. I have always been a bit wary of drying out the mould using heat since I am concerned that it will loosen the grains of greensand which may wash into the mould. Petrobond and coolset might be different but I don't have access to those products. I still have a lot to learn but it's fun trying. Regards, Mark

[@tykellerman6384]

If at first you don’t succeed try try again definitely applies.... nice work🤠👍

[@AlbiesProductsOnline]

If the gate is deep enough to allow the full amount of metal needed to fill the mould before the sand can cool the metal enough to stop it from flowing you can use one larger gate the best KZbin channel for this is Myfordboy

[@geneelliott3230]

My casting group has found that all air should be pulled inside the burner so recommend closing off the excess air where it goes thru the hole around into the furnace. this will increase the temp in the furnace so metal will flow more easily.

[@Preso58]

Gene, that sounds logical. I must try that. Regards, Mark Presling

[@MrCeez1]

The Power of Patience and Determination

[@Preso58]

I must say I am a bit short on the patience thing sometimes but I have endless determination. Some people who know me well will tell you that I keep going long after most would recognise a lost cause and move on. Regards, Mark

[@Vladviking]

Relatively exhausting work pounding sand and carrying the flask around. I don't neck the riser as it just cools off faster and blocks the return of metal that you want. I might have used 2 risers, one on each end. And maybe not tried to run the filler tubes so far out as that would cool off and shut down fast too. I tend to believe one or two big entry channel/s is better than many small ones But there is a thousand ways to success in casting. Great video and results.

[@joell439]

👍👍😎👍👍 - i'm late..... but so glad these awesome videos are still available so i can catch up 🤣. Mark, Awesome work my friend...... Joel

[@bclare2544]

Another informative series Mark,well done.

[@Andrew-qo6br]

Nice job. BTW, you learn from your mistakes. We all want everything to be 100% perfect the first time - life just doesn't work that way. Thank you for showing what to do and not to do so we can learn along with you, thank you.

[@icedragongamer4646]

There was a little trick as well get a fine needle around the depth of the upper layer of the mould it would help the steam from the sand excape thus on long plate casts it would allow the metal flow better. Have a go and let us know

[@IBWatchinUrVids]

For anyone who cares about this stuff, bentonite clay can be purchased from well drillers. I have some, but so far I prefer casting into petrobond sand. I purchased mine on ebay. I mainly cast aluminum.

[@a0cdhd]

Aaaarrrrggghhh. I have been searching high and low for brass door knobs. Tried at least a dozen antique shops, hardware stores and other unlikely places without success. Even tried places on my way from Briz to Adelaide a year or so ago.Eventually gave up and settled for old steel ones. And here you are melting the damned things down.

[@Preso58]

I must say the brass knobs looked great when we first got them but they soon start to corrode under the clear powder coat they put on them. They get these hideous brown spots and it is difficult to polish the brass again because the powder coat forms a really hard skin over the corrosion and tarnish. If I had a maid I could pay her to polish my .... no, I better not say that out loud! Regards, Mark

[@badbutch5352]

Great job. Thanks for the trials and errors. It's always a learning process with different casts. Thanks for the video.

[@Kudzualabama]

I been watchin a fair amount of casting and a lot of em seem to run a thin rod down to the pattern before removin it to give the hot gas somewhere to go . To not get a back pressure block when it's poured . Your finished cast looks good either way , just a thought as to maybe why it was so hard to get it to fill the ends . I enjoyed the video , cheers

[@Preso58]

I think the main problem was the melt temperature and the inadequate gating. I learn a bit more each time I have a failure and there are plenty of them so I should be an expert in another 20 years or so.

[@garagemonkeysan]

That turned out great. Thanks for sharing. : )

[@jeremiahmccutcheon3234]

Would you be interested in making one of these for me? My brother recently passed away and I need a nameplate for the tomstone I’m making him

[@lourias]

Nice... thank you for sharing.

[@oldschool1993]

Shouldn't those plates face inwards so people on the bridge can see them?

[@Preso58]

Maybe, but we mostly see the bridge from our road so having the lettering facing outward sort of worked better for visitors seeing it for the first time. Regards, Mark

[@theanvil5288]

Well done ✅...👍🏻👍🏻

[@stephenonwood1986]

Very impressed with your work and attention to detail. I watched this series when they were released and I am interested in your foundry design. I have obtained an old propane bottle (about 12 1/4" diameter here in Canada). I haven't done any of this kind of work as yet, so would like to pick your brains, if I may. What is the minimum thickness for the refractory walls (I am considering using 1" kao wool, to insulate better, but am not sure if there is room or if that is necessary.) I would line sides with wool first then pour refractory inside that. The top couple of inches would be full thickness, of course. I noticed that you made your inside diameter 220mm, about 8 3/4". Is that good for a # 8 crucible? Not sure if I need that large. How hot does the outside of the foundry get with a brass melt? I am interested in what your thoughts are? Again thanks for your videos. I always look forward to your next projects.

[@Preso58]

Stephen, Thanks for the positive feedback on my videos. I just went to the shop and checked my furnace dimensions. The wall thickness is 75mm, about 3" and the inner diameter is 220mm. The height of the furnace walls is 300mm (12") and I use a #8 crucible which is 145mm OD (5 3/4"). The lid is about 4" deep at the centre but because of the domed shape it gets a bit thinner at the outer edge. However at that point it is partly protected by the 3" thick walls of the furnace body. The hole in the centre of the lid is 110mm (just over 4" - I thought you guys in Canada were metric like us?) My old furnace was much smaller with the wall thickness being about 2 1/4". I only used that one for melting aluminium and it was fine although the outer casing was starting to corrode because the original paint and tin coating was starting to burn off. The old one got hot enough to start the paint smoking towards the end of the melt but the steel was only around 12 thou thick. The new furnace is made from much thicker steel and it is galvanised so I am hoping that it will stay looking nice for much longer. I haven't checked the temperature of the outer casing on the new furnace but I wouldn't want to touch it especially when melting brass. I will check it with a non contact thermometer next time I am using it. For what it's worth, I am not sure that super insulated walls are all that necessary unless you are worried about conserving fuel. Thinner insulation will radiate more heat away from the interior and perhaps slow down the melt but given that there is a dirty big hole in the lid, escaping heat is probably not an issue. My #8 crucible fits easily inside the new furnace and there is plenty of room to grab it with the tongs when removing the melt. I think the extra space around the outside of the crucible helps with maintaining complete combustion of the propane. No one was more surprised than I was when my first experiment in metal casting turned out satisfactorily. It turned out to be much easier than I thought and it opens up a whole range of possibilities when making projects at home. I am at last getting comfortable making cores for hollow castings and I have a series of videos in the pipeline showing how to make sand and epoxy resin cores for two different projects. They should be out in a couple of weeks. Have a go mate. It's fun!

[@stephenonwood1986]

@@Preso58 Thanks for your comprehensive reply. Very helpful. I'm retired now and I have a hobby machine shop (13x36" lathe, small mill, welding equipment, etc.) and have always been interested in having a forge, not only for casting projects but also for producing alumin(i)um and brass bar stock from scrap. Metal stock is soooo expensive especially aluminum and brass. So much to learn and have fun with!! Here in Canada we are indeed metric . . . officially. We have kilometers for distance; liters for gas. Groceries are sold in metric but priced in both. In the trades imperial is still used for the most part. 2"x4" lumber nominal (3 1/2" x1 1/2" actual) Plywood is 4'x8' sheets. Building plans are mostly imperial and if using metric a lot of converting has to happen to use the imperial materials. Plumbers use imperial sizes as do electricians. I can work in both but being an old fart I prefer imperial. So, in fact, we are both although the kids are only taught metric and are quite lost in the real world when confronted with imperial. Go figure!!

[@DarKnightReave]

Umm, I think you mentioned using galvanized pipe for the burner. You sure about that? I feel like there’s a concern for creating noxious fumes with the galvanized. I don’t put any type of chemically finished steel in my forge. Galvanized, painted, nothing.

[@Preso58]

Sam, the burner is actually stainless steel. I just checked the video to see if I had mistakenly called it galvanised pipe but I did get it right (doesn't always happen). So yes, it is stainless. I happened to have a piece just the right size. I agree that galvanised pipe would burn off the zinc coating and release a lot of zinc oxide which would be bad. The furnace body is galvanised and to date the coating is holding up really well. I measured some temperatures on the outside when it was melting a load of brass and the body was radiating 60C and the lid was close to 100C at the exhaust aperture which is not enough to melt the zinc so I think it won't be a problem. Regards, Mark Presling

[@DarKnightReave]

Ahhh. I’m not sure why I heard galvanized. Good to know!

[@noellwilson1273]

Spray paint the gloves with silver/aluminum paint to cut down on the radiation transfer. Or buy commercial products for much more money.

[@Preso58]

Noell, I am hoping I won't have to cast much brass in the foreseeable future. It takes forever to melt and the burning zinc fumes are a bit stinky. I really should get a good reflective pair of gloves though. Regards, Mark

[@patrickgraham9417]

Very nice, I’ve been in the foundry business for over 44 years, you have a great understanding of of what you are doing….. your common sense goes a long ways….. I enjoy your videos…..

[@dan5her]

They also use bentonite clay to increase the clay content of very sandy soils, helps retain moisture for plants I believe

[@DennisHicks78749]

Cool vid, thanks! I love the safety talk, many posters leave that out. It might be good to advise folks to only wear natural fibers when working with heat as man made fibers will melt onto the skin causing serious burns.

[@TomMakeHere]

The name plate looks great! I'm definitely going to have to get back into casting. I might need to copy your setup somewhat!

[@iteerrex8166]

A very nice finishing touch for a well done project! How about a turning handle for the lid? Really like the foot lift tho.

[@sheph7ceo799]

Beautiful bridge and brass plaque! Well done. Thank you for the excellent video series.

[@johnhewit5884]

Excellent series. Great filming. Great narration. I learn something every time. Thx.

[@geneelliott3230]

If you close the gap around your burner it would increase temperature and speed up the melt

[@HepcatHarley]

Great job, I just hope nobody steals them for the scrap value. :)

[@pgs8597]

G’day Mark, excellent series on the bridge and foundry furnace. Olfoundry man has many excellent videos and many years of knowledge in the industry. Well done with the plaques it must have taken some time to make the pattern, I hope the better half doesn’t go looking for the brass fittings. Cheers Peter

[@MatthewTinker-au-pont-blanc]

Your overalls should be over your boots, a splash inside your boots could be disastrous!! Regards, Matthew

[@Preso58]

Matthew, now you know why my wife always checks my appearance before I leave the house. I've had some "costume fails" before! I didn't realise that I had mis dressed until I watched that footage. I was hoping no one would notice.

[@MatthewTinker-au-pont-blanc]

@@Preso58 I did a lot of steel fabrication work, I adopted welders boots which have no laces, a flap over the front with velcro. No laces getting burnt! No metal making it's way down into your socks!

[@AJR2208]

Leather Welding Spats - check them out online. They can be short or long (go right up the shin). Try making your own but you can buy them from welding supplies - $20 to $50. Get them from China (Banggood) for less than $15.

[@crazyfeller5704]

Outstanding work. Thanks for sharing, always good quality content. You should have a lot more subscribers....nuff said.

[@Preso58]

Thanks, I must say, I don't get the whole subscriber thing. Although, there was a time when I thought I was doing well with 30 subscribers! I guess it will build over time but for me, it's more about archiving what I do. I find it weird that people will now have a sort of digital afterlife. Unless there is some sort of zombie apocalypse my videos will probably live on after I've put my cue in the rack!

[@lancelottavola9685]

problem is : you need larger hole for the metal flow very fast before start solidify...

[@CMAenergy]

Just a little something to try, Looks like you got gasses backing up an slowing the flow of pouring, When you are pouring such a long an flat piece, Sometimes I make an entrance into the cast from one end an let the metal flow up hill. ((Not from the middle)) An I never made my puddling hole at the top of my sprew (spelling ? it's been well over 25 years) (I forget which is the drag an cope) PREHEAT THE MOLD BOX IN THE SAND I would make the puddling pool in the drag or the bottom mold box so the metal has slowed down closer to the cast. an the velocity of the falling metal an contaminates will be driven into the bottom drag where the pool is an stays warmer, where as if they are falling from the top out of the pool, an the molten metal will not have enough time to rid itself of all the air an gasses that are picked up, including sand as it falls, when it settles into the drag pool, the metal flows in a much better pour with less gasses, an I also make a couple of breather holes from that pool an the top flat of the cast as to allow all gasses to escape, use welding rods several of them. Also remember to preheat the mold, (very important) by some times if you can place mold on top of the furnace, (yours is to small) this rids a lot of humidity from the sand, But rather then using wet green sand I would use water glass, an not using co to harden it, just preheat it in a simple oven then remove the mold from the mold box, after it is hardened, also when pouring try to keep one point of the mold box lower then the other so the metal flows up hill, an not so flat, as this can cause defects (gas pockets) in the casting, it also cools. I would also put welding rod holes (4 or 5 of them) in the top mold box to allow venting as the metal is being poured, other wise you will get to much humidity an back pressures. re the flame make it carbonizing, After seeing how you mounted it, I would have placed a adequate breather hole (probably 1/4 inch rod) where those bolt were going to be, an this would have allowed me to thread a nut onto it without having to do other work,

[@jamieclark7221]

Great Job, Try covering the top of your furnace and you will not use as much gas. If you watch your video you can see how much heat you are loosing at the top.Just cover half the top don't cover the entire opening.

[@popo5413]

Hint door knobs are the most dangerous door laches? In a fire they become too hot to handle. Lever-type laches are the safest as you can use your elbow or any object to knock them open (such as a coat hanger) and pull or push them open

[@clayz1]

I always learn plenty when watching your vids. Well, it’s 4 AM, off to work. Have a good day!

[@lancelottavola9685]

anyway final casting was fine

[@mce1919A4]

Nicely done thank's for sharing this.

[@itanc1]

Nice work dood!

[@stephenfowler4115]

You could try multiple risers

[@iknownutting]

top job i learnt stuff ty

[@ccbproductsmulti-bendaustr3200]

👏👏👍👌

[@grassroots9304]

Nicely done. The detail of the brass cast standoff for the offset braces was an amazing bit of attention to detail. Those cross brace tie plates are a brilliant idea and nicely executed.

[@tommybrown9034]

Top man...

[@seancrowley7520]

Nice job and thanks. Lots of useful information. And now for my opinion (yes, everybody has one). I would fasten the badge to the bridge so that it could be viewed whilst standing on the bridge as opposed to standing, say in a river basin... thanks again.

[@Preso58]

Well, more than one viewer has made that observation but I can assure you that the plates are quite easily read from the banks of the creek. Regards, Mark

[@markphillips5368]

The higher metal temperature and the extra ingate solved the problem of the cold shut on your first attempt. Topping the riser up with molten metal once the mould has been poured also had the advantage of adding extra molten feed metal to make sure the casting fed properly.

[@Preso58]

I now have a decent pyrometer which allows me to check the metal temperature more accurately. I often get a bit impatient and try to pour too early. Regards, Mark

[@Argyll9846]

Having worked in a foundry many years ago I'd guess that a riser/channel at either end of your plate may have been of some assistance to the brass flow, but on the whole it turned out well.

[@Preso58]

Thanks. I learned a lot from that job. I now use a temperature probe to check the melt and it has saved quite a few castings. I upgraded the hot end of the probe just today. I added a stainless steel heat shield to protect the wiring. Regards, Mark

[@bross824]

Another good source is myfordboy, he doesn't say much, but he is an excellent teacher!

[@Preso58]

I have been a fan of Myfordboy since I got started in metal casting. In fact, it was his videos that convinced me that it might be possible to have a go at foundry work. Since then, I also stumbled on the work of Olfoundryman and Luckygen1001. Both of them are Aussies like me and although they have different philosophies on foundry work they nonetheless are very experienced and there is always something to learn. Regards, Mark

[@kentuckytrapper780]

You will use five time more gas without a regulatory, don't ask how I no,lol ,great video..

[@Preso58]

I am now using diesel as a fuel and it is a lot quicker and cheaper than Propane but I get your point. My old propane burner did the job but it was very inefficient. kzbin.info/aero/PLbPzkHRZCQB_E95Rz3PKZzTDwYy3MTlTr Regards, Mark

[@garyk5316]

Dont consider them fails...just learning experiences. Good job.

[@garycooper4964]

Mark I think they turned out GREAT especially being second attempt with brass. As like all craftsman we are much more critical of our own work . I have been thinking about building new forge and think this is the perfect size after watching this build 2 or 3 or 4 times atleast . LOL Thanks for sharing

[@Arouth249]

It’s called a “Crewshible” Mark. Geez. lol

[@moonshiner2977]

You need more patting on the back and less slapping :) Great job and determination !

[@Preso58]

Thanks. I don't normally work with brass so it was a steep learning curve. Regards, Mark

[@lv_woodturner3899]

Very nice results. A lot of work and patience to overcome the failures. Looks very good. Casting metal is not easy. I have watched videos like this, but not tried myself yet. I think if I try it would be aluminium. Dave.

[@icedragongamer4646]

I put that wrong. Use the needle to poke from the pattern side to the top of the mould from the pattern itself

[@Preso58]

I do use vents in my moulds a lot more now. I also have to fight the urge to ram the sand too hard since that can prevent the mould from venting. Regards, Mark

[@ronaldnickell6110]

When making your green sand, just get a bag of clay kitty litter. Don't bother with getting the lumps out, just add water to make a slurry that you mix the sand into as you will need the water anyway. This simplifies the process, and will give the same results.

[@lloydmilton]

an interesting video giving some really good advice on how metal flows into a mould - covers gate size and there is another video this guy does with Bob Puhakka where he discusses the sprue velocity etc all in all worth the watch IMHO just for the information given which all ties into the reasons behind having a pouring basin mate

[@OldIronShops]

Nice looking parts well worth the effort

[@icedragongamer4646]

I could save you a little energy. Have a little basket over the exhaust so that you can preheat the scrap. I don't know if you preheated the mould it could dry out the sand thus the molten metal wouldn't loose so much heat drying out the sand and flow better. Just a thought

[@popo5413]

What is the inside diameter/boar of the burner, please

[@Preso58]

You can download a 2D drawing of my propane burner here www.dropbox.com/s/qfjs5c91o9qyiaj/Furnace%20Burner%20Assembly.pdf?dl=0 However I have recently upgraded my burner to operate using diesel fuel and a small electric blower. You can see the new burner here kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJ7MgWqIiM1oa5o&pp=gAQBiAQB Regards, Mark

[@ianpendlebury3704]

Triumph indeed......an excellent result and an informative video.

[@AlbiesProductsOnline]

Why do you keep putting the powder on the pattern and then brush it off the hole reason for the powder is to stop the sand from sticking you put a layer over the part and leave a later between the part and sand and a good even coat between the cope and drag

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

Fabulous result. Well done for your perseverance. 👏👏👍😀

[@Jason-rs6co]

good job mark good to see your not scared to share your mistakes more learnt that way i think. in fact if your ever down newcastle i might even let you build me a bridge. im good hearted i know

[@OldMachinery]

Great job on the bridge, foundry and nameplates

[@davidfe47]

Wonderful in all aspects. Glad to see you plated your furnace. Great explanation of you burner. Far simpler than most om uTube. The sight & sound tips are easily repeatable. Name plates are the perfect touch. Can't wait to see the dedication.

[@AboutTheBuild]

Looks really good 🇦🇺🇦🇺

[@CraigLYoung]

Kudos! It looks really great. If you get a chance, check out "Sandrammer's" channel. He is a retaired US Navy Chief Molder. He offers the basic Molders class and covers a lot of information that may help you in the future. 0000r00

[@Preso58]

Craig, I have been watching some of his videos, in fact I watch whatever I can get. I do really appreciate it when experienced and highly trained operators freely give of their knowledge. It sort of restores you faith in the human race. I have met quite a few people who prefer to take their knowledge to the grave with them. I have never understood that. A lifetime of experience and learning wasted.

[@sandrammer]

@@Preso58 , That's the very reason I started making videos...to pass on the tricks of the trade before I pass on. Enjoy!

[@icedragongamer4646]

Hi Mark yes probably that I was using a higher clay content sometimes I let the mould dry out naturally but I think there may be too much water content in the sand. When I did it for the first time it boiled and shot the aluminium out of the mould luckily not high enough and I was heavily protected. I tickle a blow lamp over the split mould just to dry out the surface and warm up the mould a bit I'm definitely watching how you get on love your work. I just hope that anything helps. It's a bit like cooking a cake a little bit of experimenting to get it sorted

[@Preso58]

It's fair to say I picked up the metal casting bug fairly late in life. It was deemed to be too dangerous to include in the high school metalworking curriculum here in Quensland and I notice that Mr. Pete often talks about teaching metal casting during his education career. I do learn a bit more every time I have a fail but it's not my main gig so I might only get the foundry gear out 10 times a year. Regards, Mark

[@nongbloke]

​@@Preso58 A dictum for makers - if you don't make a mistake, you don't make anything. Mastering any new task is an iterative process - that's why they call it trial and error. Good to see you having a red hot go (boom, tish). Love the job you did on the forge. I spent a bit of time lost wax/centrifugal casting silver and gold fifty years ago, but based on your experience, I reckon I'll leave brass alone. Cheers, Bill

[@frikkiesmit2695]

It came out very nice!!! If one wants it 100% perfect you must do it with cnc milling. For casting i give you 10 thumbs up

[@Preso58]

Thanks for that. It's just my view, but a casting seems to have a little more soul than a CNC machined plaque. Regards, Mark

[@frikkiesmit2695]

@@Preso58 exactly my view also. I agree with you. The reason i made the comment, was to try and uplift you. Cause hey nothing always turns out 100% perfect.

[@lucwybo]

Setbacks and happiness are sometimes close together. The keeper always wins and with a stunning result. The work was very successful. I would go to a bell foundry in the area for such castings. This can save me a lot of work, make casting tools and furnace, collect the right materials, etc.

[@Preso58]

Yes, despite the setbacks, I still felt good about the result. I always imagined that metal casting at home was going to be way out of my reach. As it turned out, the very first casting I did turned out to be serviceable and I still use it in my home shop. It was a lathe driving dog. Thanks for the positive feedback. Regards, Preso

[@GadgetBiker]

I think the little flaws give it some real character. Great Job!

[@willywgb]

Well done. Very nice job. Cheers Willy

[@evdoby]

Turned out very nice. Well done.

[@danharold3087]

Thinking that the push in insert has a smaller ID than the pipe. Does this provide a venturi effect or can one just create the air holes in the pipe itself and use a pipe cap fitted for a jet ?

[@Preso58]

Dan, I am not sure if there is any real effect created by the narrower bore. I still remember using bunsen burners in science class at school. The were just a fine gas jet shooting straight up the centre of a cylindrical pipe. The air was drawn in through the variable opening adjacent to the jet and the velocity of the gas helped mix the fuel and air. I am not sure but I would think that if you were using atomised waste oil or diesel fuel you might need to have a venturi to create a vacuum which would help to pull and mix the fuel. Maybe I was lucky but the burner I made worked first time and I have not found a need to fine tune it at all. If I were doing it again I think I would mock it up as you have suggested and just try it before welding anything together. Good luck. Regards, Mark

[@BogdanSzczurek]

You, sir, secured my like with the opening song :}

[@mountainsprings3303]

Great job Mark, thanks for sharing.

[@CapeCodCNC]

Very nice! Watched the furnace build, I may do this when the new garage is built!

[@Preso58]

Thanks for that. I must say that I had always thought that any sort of metal casting would be too difficult to do successfully at home but it's not the case. I was really surprised when the very first casting I attempted turned out to be useful and I still use it today. It was a lathe carrier for between centres turning. I used a split wooden pattern and cast it in scrap aluminium. The new furnace I made is a vast improvement on the original one. I didn't put a lot of effort into it since I thought it would probably fail! Regards, Mark Presling

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

Hi Mark, Stuart from Canberra here. Mate, I feel your pain as I had exactly the same problems. My first big or proper cast was a handle for a very old Atlas arbour press and my main issue was getting the sand mixture right. I had to redo the moulding six times before I could get the cope and drag to separate well enough to make it usable. I nearly quit as well but got there in the end. I learned a lot from “old foundry man” and also Myford Boy. I was only dealing with aluminium and the first cast came out well enough. I have a lot of brass and copper scrap I want to cast so I am going to order the proper casting materials next time. I also have a channel now if you’re interested. Scrounga’s Workshop. Cheer mate, Stu.

[@Preso58]

Stuart, I just watched your video on the Atlas press. You did a really fine job and it looks original despite the aluminium handle. The pattern making looks excellent as well. I am glad you persevered with the moulding process. Getting that right is the key to the rest of the process. For what it's worth, I still have to redo castings which fail due to poor gate design or improper placement of vents and risers. Having said that I have seen much more experienced foundrymen who suffer the same problems. Part of the issue for DIY casting is that just about every casting is a prototype and if you were to pour the same casting 100 times you would soon work out the ideal workflow and method. I am looking forward to seeing more of your work. Regards, Mark

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

Mark Presling. Thanks Mark for your kind comments and encouragement. You hit the nail on the head with every job being a prototype. I do enjoy the casting process and so want to do more. I think my biggest mistakes was my choice of materials. Like you I found talc to be pretty unsuitable as a parting powder and I think my clay was wrong so as I said I’ll be buying commercial clay and parting powder. I hope to be getting more restorations going now, as I may have told you we had a serious car accident which really slowed me down but I’m starting to get back out into the work shop now only to find I have a water leak which is flooding the floor so I’ve had to clear out a lot of gear to to fix it. Anyway cheers and thanks again. Stu.

[@johnnym1320]

very nice! keep the projects coming

[@thebrodnaxs8304]

Wouldnt it be better to add some Kao wool to your burner opening so your not losing gas pushing back out?

[@Preso58]

I have not tried that but my understanding is that you need to have a certain amount of air circulating inside the furnace to ensure complete combustion of the propane gas. If the burner is starved of air it will go out or burn with a lot of soot. The heat required to melt the aluminium is a product of the direct action of the flame but also the incandescent radiated heat from the refractory lining in the furnace. There is some blowback of flame from the burner port but way more heat escapes from the hole in the lid. You can control that by putting a fire brick partly over the hole but still, you need to have a pathway for air in and out of the furnace. Regards, Mark

[@thebrodnaxs8304]

@@Preso58 My Devil Forge is made almost just like your furnace and it came with a small piece of KAO wool to stuff in and around the burner hole. idk

[@Preso58]

@@thebrodnaxs8304 I guess my burner is tuned to take in some air from around the burner. I must have totally fluked the sizing of all the bits since it worked first time, however it is sensitive to how far the burner is pushed into the furnace. Too far in and a lot of flame blows back and the temperature seems to drop off. I guess I could try different air opening sizes but so far it seems to work for me. Regards, Mark

[@petersaupe7455]

Well done.

[@shauna260]

Found your channel the other day and have been watching your videos since. So nice to see a humble gentleman working. And finally someone who knows how to call a “rule” I’m learning a lot from you. I’m learning a lot from you, mistakes and all. Keep safe!

[@Preso58]

Welcome aboard! Regards, Mark

[@icedragongamer4646]

Thank you Mark for your inspiration and showing us your knowledge. It's not easy. I had a good teacher who worked in foundry and I made a load of stuff and showed us what we could do with ally and brass. He gave us confidence in casting and welding..... at 15 years old 40 years ago. Can't do it now h and s at school. It's a loss to the kids nowadays. Shame

[@Preso58]

We were forbidden from doing any foundry work at secondary school level. The primary reason given was the classrooms had wooden floors but even after the education department devolved responsibility for WH&S to school level, and we had an engineering shop with a concrete floor it was still considered a stretch to be doing anything with molten metal. The other issue was the timetable structure. Our classes were between 50 and 70 minutes which was never enough to prepare a mould and melt the metal. Even when I was studying at college, the closest we ever got was to do some elementary lost wax casting. That's probably achievable in a secondary setting since you can make up the wax patterns, do the investment and burn out the mould over several lessons and with a centrifugal casting machine and oxy acetylene you can melt small quantities of pewter or zinc based alloys pretty quickly. Regards, Mark

[@bobvines00]

Mark, Your brass nameplates came out surprisingly well for your first two handful of pours. I suspect that many are trying to figure out why it took them so much longer to get good results like yours. Keep up these great videos!

[@Preso58]

Thanks Bob. If I had not done the previous video on the pattern making I think I would have given up and just done it in aluminium. It was good to know that my new furnace can handle brass and I am guessing, copper and aluminium bronze.

[@robertgilmour1903]

Really enjoyed this demonstration video. I don't have the space to do this but I am extremely grateful for people such as you which allows us to live our dream one step removed. I hope you weren't an English teacher in a former life because I'm not the best at putting things in black and white.

[@Preso58]

Robert, thanks for the feedback. I was actually an Industrial Technology teacher. When I started back in 1978 we were called Manual Training teachers, then Manual Arts. The name change to Industrial Technology was a political one but we we were mostly known as ManArts. Towards the end of my career I was told that all teachers are English teachers which was a bit of a cop out by the real English teachers who were copping a lot of flak about falling literacy rates. Sort of like spreading the blame. For what it's worth your communication is perfect. You use punctuation and capitalisation which is a long way from what large portions of the online community can manage these days. 😁 Regards, Preso

[@yambo59]

A beautiful job all around an excellent bridge, so much attention to detail and well engineered - hope those plauques dont walk off some day--lol

[@Preso58]

Thanks, I keep wondering what the scrap value is for brass these days!

[@ypop417]

Nice Plaques I would clear coat them otherwise they will look like the doorknobs you made them with!

[@Preso58]

I have a cast brass nameplate next to our front door (an original, must be around 80 years old), it would get that brown oxide coating on the raised letters. I tried spray on metal lacquer and clear powder coat and it invariably fails after about two or three years. The clear powder coat is better but there are always tiny pores that allow oxygen and moisture to get through. Once the deterioration starts, it leaves little tracks of brown oxide like veins under the coating. You then have to remove the clear coat, re polish and re-coat. It gets worse if the metal is exposed to UV light and rain. I figure that I can just sand the exposed letters lightly with a fine abrasive every now and then. Just what I need, another maintenance issue! 😁

[@jamesmillard259]

Enjoyed the series!