looking for petrobond, new here

[johncur]

Hi, I'd like to start casting some small items but am in need of petrobond. Does anyone know where w3 from backyard casting is and if he is supplying his sand? I'm just not hearing good things about the BCS sand.

Thanks,
John

[Harry]

I would be w3 John. Send me a PM and let me know what you are after. I am not really in the business of selling supplies but I had in the past offered it so fellow casters could have an opportunity to use the stuff foundries use without having to buy the large quantities suppliers usually sell in.

BTW, I havent really heard anything bad about the BCS sand. One of our members here has used mine, BCS and another supplier and though he preferred the sand I get I think they were all pretty close. Maybe HT will weigh in on this.

[Jammer]

I think it was along the lines that BCS Petrobond came premixed and was inconsistent. The fellows new batch he bought was nothing like what he had the first time.
If you a first time caster using Petrobond and have a bunch of trouble with it, is it because the Petrobond isn't correct or your doing something wrong. That can be very frustrating.

[HT1]

I've used petrobond from everywhere it can be goten over the internet, Harry's is the best you are going to get, I have no idea where BCS gets theirs, they maybe mixing it up themselves. what I got from them was just fine, others have complained, my only complaint was the price, Rothco??? was the cheapest, though I have not called Small foundry supply to see what they are selling it for, best deal you can get is aif a local foundry will sell it to you

[Harry]

I remember awhile back someone posted they had gotten 2 250 lb barrels from IFSCO (where my sand comes from) freighted to them. I dont have a clue as to how much it was for shipping but going USPS each barrel would be close to $100 in flat rate boxes so if freight is less than that it would be a good way to go for large quantities.

Talk to Cameron and tell him Harry sent you.

For small amounts like what it sounds like hear I am willing to send a box or few.

[johncur]

Thanks All, I'm going to see if Harry can help with this first round. After I get an idea what to expect I'll probably get the BCS one.

[dallen]

Hi, I'd like to start casting some small items but am in need of petrobond. Does anyone know where w3 from backyard casting is and if he is supplying his sand? I'm just not hearing good things about the BCS sand.

Thanks,
John

where are you locate at? makes it easier to put you close to someone or someplace

[johncur]

I'm in NY, about 1 hour north of New York City.

[dallen]

one of the finest foundry sands that has been mined in ages is mined in Albany NY, or was mined in Albany NY. I do believe that it is a naturally bonded sand if you are interested in trying greensand. Retco is one of the closer places to you I believe that they are in chicago. Small Foundry Supply is in St Louis. Look up lancaster supply in Pa. they sell but you will probably have to buy by the bag from them.

[johncur]

Well, I've received the bit of petrobond that Harry kindly sent me so now I know what good sand looks like. I've made my little flasks and turned a ram, so I'm almost ready I think. We will melt the brass in my friends gas forge. It's open at the ends so I guess we'll sort of close them off. He says it will melt it fine, and he's got a crucible that will fit in there. If everything works out maybe we'll make a furnace.

The first project is rams head drawer pulls, about 2" high and 1/2" thick, three of them. I sent one to the Amish caster we have used but he can't do it for religious reasons, (fair enough) and the lost wax people are too over the top. This is 18th century type stuff and it should be able to be done in sand.

Funny about the Albany sand. I called my friend Morie ( AMtechbronze.com ) near there who we have used in the past. I was looking to get advice and the first thing he said was that the best foundry sand in the world was right there. He has sold his foundry and jobs out plaques now but it had been in his family since 1904. He also said that Lapan foundry up near him might help me, but that's a four hour drive. They are both worth looking up on the web, and my metalwork friend and I will probably get up there some day.

I'll wait on mixing my own sand 'till I sort out all the other stuff that's bound to come up. I did recover some local clay before I found Harry, when I thought I might be mixing my own stuff. The lift at the local service station sprug an air leak at the bottom so they had to dig 6' down. I guess they were pumping water out while they dug and the pump left a nice little pile of slippery sticky clay. I was going to dry it and mix it with some oil and real fine sand, maybe even that stuff the craft store sells for sand art. Maybe I'll still try it. I'm still wondering what this bentone is, and the catalyst I read about. When I hear catalyst I think of epoxy and such but this sounds different. And what the heck is "delft clay " anyhow?

Thanks for all the stuff I've learned here so far, I'll post pics if I can figure it out, and I'll report on how this works out. By the way that US Navy Foundry Work book on here is great.

So now I better learn a bit about this degassing. More later