Tools, Glorious Tools! #11 - The Vacuum Casting Machine

[@kondybas]

Don't rub this lamp too hard...

[@Cheddar555]

Why? Will AvE appear?

[@MightyGenie]

Ahem

[@Chr.U.Cas1622]

Maybe he especially created this lamp to call the ghost of the creator of the antykithera mechanism to ask some questions!? 😁 ;-) Best regards, luck and health in particular.

[@iangraham6730]

Thats what 'she' said 😬

[@aerogfs]

@@Cheddar555He only appears when you put your d*** in a vise

[@ThisOldTony]

amazing as always. excellent work!

[@Clickspring]

Thank you mate!

[@justinmaynard890]

Tot. Quit watching yt and upload another video. Thank you …you comedic genius

[@AdamAugustPhoto]

@thisoldtony CNC MIG to 3d print one?

[@jackkuehneman9300]

Makes my brain tickle good when my favorite KZbinrs comment on each other's videos

[@CorbinMusso88]

Tony, I only have a small lathe time machine so I can’t go too far forward, but I just want to say…man your next video is fire.

[@bradfowler6464]

@Clickspring I repair, and customize brass musical instruments. I only use silver bearing solder, and I use a 50/50 mix of muriatic acid and glycerin as flux. It's a more aggressive, but much more effective flux overall than the zinc chloride stuff. My solders need to look good, and be air right, part of why I stay away from lead based solder (that grey oxidization looks really bad against silver plated horns), and the silver bearing stuff is measurably stronger. It takes a couple hundred more degrees (fahrenheit) to melt, but it's manageable. I also use that same model Blazer for about 75-85% of my work, so it will do just fine. Anyway, I love your work and your channel, and just thought I'd share a bit. Thanks much!

[@SeanBZA]

Will add that changing the vacuum pump oil is also very important to getting long pump life. If the oil gets the slightest bit cloudy or murky change it out. No need to go for expensive vacuum pump oil here, ordinary automotive oil works well as well, normally a straight SAE30 oil is the original, but you can use almost anything from a 5W15 to a 20W50 oil in it, and it will do the job. Also a good idea is to also include in the vacuum line a filter, simplest is to get a automotive fuel filter, and place in line with the hose, which keeps a lot of fine particulates out of the pump itself, and the filters are very cheap to buy and replace.

[@erikisberg3886]

The automotive filter is a great idea! Thanks. Use a straight oil, modern EP additives eat bronze and white metals as in bearings etc... Also important for vintage machines and vehicles. For real high vacuum I believe You need the special oils, but that is of no consequence for applikations like this.

[@secondarycontainment4727]

Oh, these lamps had wicks? I always wondered how they would work open like that - just burning oil. They are never shown with a wick... or, at least - I've never seen a picture of one. Now it all makes perfect sense to me. THANK YOU!

[@jcims]

Watching molten solder wet a joint is so satisfying.

[@petergregory5286]

Watching paint dry just doesn’t do it now!

[@Tasarran]

IKR? I watched it like five times!

[@ryangross5446]

Man so cool. I love how the ancient design is actually really functional. And of course the perfect touch of beauty. The artisans back then really knew what was up. Amazing work as always

[@opendstudio7141]

More impressive is that craftsmen of Greece and Italy mass produced these items for retail.

[@KnightsWithoutATable]

Imagine getting so good at casting that you could do casting trees of these in a single pour. Then you have cleanup by files and stones, which is labor intensive, but labor was cheap then. Still amazing casting skill to make them at scale like that.

[@SnakebitSTI]

I did some searching online, and while everything I found was about bronze statues rather than lamps, the Greeks did use indirect lost wax casting to make bronze statues. Lost wax casting itself seems to be a prehistoric invention, which I was surprised to learn.

[@garyseaman6105]

Lovely end result. Looks great. Thank you for the continued videos. I do really enjoy your channel. Thank you.

[@madnessbydesignVria]

Using modern technology to make an ancient lamp - I love irony. Beautifully done, as always... :)

[@stevenhanaway920]

I think its really cool that the legendary Charles Frodsham & Company are one of your special Patrons, perhaps you could make a double anchor escapement, as I'm sure many viewers like myself would love to see that, or perhaps your own implementation of it. Love your work as always!

[@Craftlngo]

very impressive work Chris! The design of the gate system is an artform of itself!

[@Ivanovitch2885]

It's truly amazing to see a reproduction of something I can see in a museum with the same fidelity a craftsman put into his product centuries ago. You can find all sorts of brass trinkets but none of them have a real craftsman's touch or care because they're production pieces for a mass market. I think the reproduction and seeing what it took to make it really brings home how hard it was to produce those museum pieces when they were new so long ago.

[@jodyvanliew2514]

Excellent work as always .

[@Argosh]

Paul's garage: I might have to look into vacuum casting at some point. Chris: This video. Never change man 😂

[@babbagebrassworks4278]

I was thinking the same thing. Chris always makes it look easy, until he say things like "I have been using this for a year." Then you realize how much effort he has put into the background for a 13min vid.

[@ChristopherHallett]

The man puts more effort into his fuckups than we mere mortals do for our masterpieces...@@babbagebrassworks4278

[@pickerjim9246]

Excellent content

[@jdmjesus6103]

Amazing work. Somehow you make it look like you've done every job a thousand times before. That solder flow was perfect. You're a true artist.

[@Tasarran]

10:45 That was truly beautiful to watch that solder appear

[@scottyelder8351]

My favourite YT Mechanical Engineering channel by far the best I've ever seen !

[@peter.stimpel]

I wouldn't be patient enough, so respect to you for all the effort you put into these projects

[@MASI_forging]

Such a beautiful pice of art 😀😀

[@MattysWorkshop]

Absolutely amazing Chris, the detail in the lions head is incredible, thanks for sharing mate, cheers

[@carlthor91]

As always, Chris, you never fail to educate us.

[@calebdeming5515]

You have the best KZbin channel. ❤

[@Tasarran]

What really amazes me is that these casting processes are STILL the way casting is done. Sand casting is the most common, but I've heard of this type of process being used in major manufacturing currently... The 'amazing' part to me is all that work, into a one-use mold... :D

[@madeofstone7619]

I watch your channel as a source of inspiration. whenever I think that I have already done my job well enough, I watch your video and understand that I am still far from ideal. Thank you

[@peterheinzo515]

VERY cool. imagine the craftsmen building these 2000 years ago! still as impressive today

[@giantpunda2911]

You could say that I'm invested in this casting video.

[@624Dudley]

So very impressive. 👍

[@hamidzakaria2710]

beautiful.. the result of craftsmanship

[@christianvlek]

Absolutely outstanding work , as always !!

[@clydebalcom3679]

Very nice. Looks good, and it works nicely.

[@justtim9767]

Beautiful work.

[@albertopolofernandez3472]

Skills, knowledge and huge intention to reach perfection... trully awesome. Ive never holded a file but really love this content.

[@philipsheie702]

Chris, you are a blessing.

[@JustinDrentlaw]

Great project!

[@daffyf6829]

I look forward to the videos that goes into more details of the process. This is the first I've heard of vacuum casting.

[@design8studio]

Awesome work! Great video!

[@mayhemmayo]

THANK YOU . KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

[@Halinspark]

When I was taught lost wax in school, we had a spring powered centrifuge in the floor that we used to push the metal into the mold. I always forget most people don't.

[@andrewnicon]

Its crazy that guys were making this so far before powertools and powered heat. They must have been truly incredible craftsmen with a lot of patience and intelligence.

[@Philtoid]

Stunning

[@garyknight8616]

Brilliant. The quality of your workmanship and videos never ceases to amaze. Thank you.

[@dieSpinnt]

Great job. What a wonderful handiwork. Thank you for the video!:) Trivia: It's good that we have cars, nowadays. As they took over the "role" (Satire!) of the ancient oil-lamp. She (and the ancient model presented here is even worse as industrial revolution ones!) is responsible for many horrible and painful deaths throughout history. Just a reminder: This is not a toy, or just art. Greetings from a random firefighter girl from Germany:)

[@kiwishamoo6494]

Mate, that is a thing of beauty! 🙂

[@dscumpa]

Amazing video as always!

[@richb419]

Hi. one of the things that you may be interested in is, where I used to work the shop used a small tank to store the vacuum from the pump with a couple isolation valves that way the negative pressure could be quickly added and relieved and protected the pump from unwanted contamination. I thought the design was ingenious. Rich

[@JB-ol4vz]

You are incredible, always excellent results, at least the one you show us.

[@frfrpr]

Classy end result. This is going to be a nice series!

[@talyrath]

Watching you fettle and polish the piece, my brain supplied exactly what it smelled like. 😂

[@DrMattBug]

Always so grateful that you share your knowledge, talent, and skill with us 😊

[@sidneyriggs9764]

That is really fricken cool.

[@thedabblingwarlock]

Since you already have a vacuum chamber, you could avoid the resin expansion problem by adding another couple of steps. Divide the digital model up into different, easy to mold and cast shapes that have keys on them to help align the pieces. Print and clean as per normal. Make a mold of the pieces from a silicone that can handle the temperature of melted wax. Cast the pieces in wax. Assemble them and clean up the part. Then proceed as normal. While it takes more time, you now have molds that you can use to make a few more copies if you wish and masters to make more molds with. If you're careful with the silicone molds, you could get at least a half-dozen castings out of them.

[@AlRoderick]

That is very clever, I was just thinking that 3D printing resin is really expensive and the printing is pretty time consuming so I was wondering if there was possibility to make new positives by molding the original that you get off the printer. But I thought surely if it was castable in a non-destructive fashion. He just have done that from the start, didn't think about flexible silicone molds for making wax copies.

[@wobblysauce]

Bingo.

[@Halinspark]

You could also just cast the wax portions separately so cleanup is easier, and solder them all together after. Although the benefits of this are mostly if you have a modular design with shared parts, like reusing the boat and top piece, and having multiple handle decorations.

[@HelenaOfDetroit]

I would just print the mold that you can fill with wax. Modern resins can handle more heat than paraffin wax would produce. Or you could also print the mold using fdm and a different material as well if you really were nervous about temps.

[@armarmo964]

Great work, you make it look easy

[@Chriss120]

you are a true master of many arts. looking forward to more of your magical projects.

[@SimonPEdwards63]

Excellent.

[@earlscaanlon4353]

WOW! He's good yall.

[@Yagba09]

Oh I love it. What beautiful craftmanship.😊

[@Patroand]

Merci beaucoup, il y longtemps que j'essaie de comprendre le fonctionnement de la coulée à vide. Je suivrai les prochains épisodes avec attention. Merci

[@petevance422]

So many interesting techniques shown on this channel! Thanks for sharing!

[@andrewbialon4150]

your incredible dedication to considered craft is always so inspiring to watch :)

[@johnkelley9877]

This was fascinating to watch. Thanks for sharing this.

[@hassenfepher]

Dang bro. That wisk at 6:25 has had a hard life😂

[@andresilva8444]

Fantastic!

[@RichardGoth]

Brilliant video.... its been years since I delved into casting and its great to see the changes technology has made. As a former archaeology student the results please me greatly as well :-)

[@BobbyDukeArts]

Beautiful

[@Clickspring]

Thanks Bobby

[@Oldtanktapper]

Lovely results, and a bloody good job of getting it well sprued up for good metal flow!

[@thehessiansack6860]

Amazing video.

[@guye7763]

Fantastic Chris, please do more on this topic.

[@MazeFrame]

Just casually making some art. Great watch!

[@methlonstorm2027]

always great to see your work thanks for sharing

[@nachtdiertje1972]

Nice one Chris, looks great

[@JoggingWithForks]

That is absolutely gorgeous! Thank you for sharing.

[@ManSkirtBrew]

6:20 just reminded me to refresh my sourdough starter.

[@SmokingMan26]

Very cool learning more about vacuum casting, but also wonderful work on the oil burner. It looks simply fantastic!

[@JRichard1973]

Very NICE 👍

[@Coffe-]

Very clever using a adapter plate for the vacuum chamber 👍

[@samellowery]

For real I've wanted to investment cast but never thought I could afford a machine but I also never thought to use the vacuum chamber like this it's really out of the box thinking.

[@PaulG.x]

10:47 it's good to see soldering on KZbin performed correctly for once

[@jakevalent6180]

that was sick

[@brianhanson9367]

Wonderful

[@torstenssongustav]

Tack!

[@Clickspring]

Cheers!

[@TheDistur]

Fancy lamp!

[@plainnpretty]

Very nice work and an interesting design thanks for sharing it

[@miserirken]

Man as much as i love the final product, it's the whole process of making it the thing i love the most. It's the journey, not the destination, i guess.

[@GraceNoteForge]

Fantastic work as always!

[@DavidGuyton]

fascinating as always!

[@pauladventure]

You sir are just on another level 🤩

[@Bob_Jones_]

very cool process, you can really appreciate the initial surface finish when compared to the rough finish of traditional sand casting.

[@Preso58]

That's a beautiful piece Chris. Investment casting is something I've been wanting to try for a while but it's quite equipment heavy. I did try centrifugal casting at college though. It's super scary!

[@johnsherborne3245]

I too have a thing about investment casting, I had seen a very good TV program about the Bennin bronzes, I then got a question about investment casting in my metallurgy finals. Bingo, a question I could answer easily! I passed.

[@jonbravo6262]

Incredible project Chris! Luv to catch up one day - Jon-CNS

[@artkaufman595]

Great video, thanks! I use a vacuum pump and chamber to de-gas silicone rubber and urethane resin. I'm happy with mine from BACOENG, although I wish that the pump was slightly more powerful.

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

Superb work resulting in an amazing piece! Well done! While you were scrubbing and rubbing the lamp, I was expecting to see a genie come out of it at any moment :-)

[@techrev9999]

Waw. All teh internets are belong to you. I've watched so many videos on failed castings - for the reasons you described - seeing it actually working is an amazing thing. Very cool. I watch BigStackD, who is in Australia, a lot - and he's going through this right now.

[@johan.svensson]

Incedible. ❤

[@paulmace7910]

I’ve not heard of the resin expanding and cracking the investment. A good tidbit to know. Thanks.

[@canadajim]

Truly great work and excellent video.

[@ArchEdge]

Great Video Chris - Got a little lost in the process there between the vacuum chamber and you pouring in the Brass - but worked it out in the end. Might have needed something to show the 3D Model being put in the resin...

[@tzampini]

Agree. I got totally lost. I watched the video 5 times and still have no idea what’s going on. For example, where’s the pattern?? The end result seemed to come out of nowhere. I’m a longtime subscriber Chris, and your videos are usually masterpieces. But this one, I don’t know.

[@MudSharkDanceLesson]

@@tzampini you can see it starting at 1:30 both in Blender and being printed in the machine

[@jimsvideos7201]

Remarkable.

[@DoNotPushHere]

Extra virgin olive oil cold pressed (should be a redundancy) shows a leven of commitment and quality hard to match. Literally it is a top culinary product what you are using for burning. Well, it matches the quality of that lamp :)

[@josedias4664]

Ficou ótimo, mais um trabalho de mestre do metal e da paciência, parabéns.