Zebra Clutch cover

[Jeff Clark]

I havent been on in a while I have been busy getting my casting room finished I will get some pics of it up soon, also been trying to figure out local suppliers for bentonite and sand around town, I did get the local drilling supply to sell me a bag of bentonite funny the stuff comes from here but all they want to sell is truck loads...

[dallen]

sand is going to be your next hurdle, look up Quikrete in google and email em for a list of suppliers in your area that handle silica sand, damn have to go out back and get the skew number off the bag for you, of you can locate a supplier that handles supplies for sandblasters in your area you should be able to find some that will work. check with where you were having your castings done, they should be able to come up with a supplier for you.

awesome work on that Zebra Cover.

[Jeff Clark]

sand is going to be your next hurdle, look up Quikrete in google and email em for a list of suppliers in your area that handle silica sand, damn have to go out back and get the skew number off the bag for you, of you can locate a supplier that handles supplies for sandblasters in your area you should be able to find some that will work. check with where you were having your castings done, they should be able to come up with a supplier for you.

awesome work on that Zebra Cover.

Dallen things got alot easier today, my mind I guess thinks a little too deep at times I had been searching bentonite figured that was easy oil rigs everywhere here even in my damn parking lot (another story) I have also been searching silica and not alot of luck finding anything finer than 70 I was getting really amazed at how hard it was to find what I need, Utah is a very large MFG state also a big refinery state alot of oil gas and mfg of all kinds. So like a dummy I finally googled foundry supply in SLC today well I can just drive about 15 miles and buy everything I need at one store....

[dallen]

your lucky, I can drive to Tulsa some stuff I can get here local in OKC but most to get a good deal I gotta still order it up.

[Harry]

Jeff, you should put your location in your profile.. makes for easy reference as to where people are. If you saw the thread below where a couple of us got some tapered sprue cutters they came from Utah, look up Larson Foundry Supply, they show two locations in your state and were happy to deal with me on just a few cutters so I would think they would be willing to work with other small orders. Ot took awhile to get them and they were not cheap but just try and find them anywhere and you will understand. I would think the rest of their supplies are competitive. When you talk to them get some prices on crucibles and mizzou if you are going to need them.

What sand system are you going with? I am guessing a water based since you got bentonite. Need to be care on what you use for which system, bentone is what is used in an oil based system and while it began life as bentonite it is very different in that it is now hygrophobic. Oil drillers use both depending on what they are doing, water drillers use just bentonite.

[Jeff Clark]

Going to Larsons today, Im going to have some Bentone Oil based sand anong with the Bentonite water based sand as well, I kinda want to mess with both. Larsons is about 15 miles from my office so I think I will be visiting them from time to time. I have a building with some old cars and toys in I set up a room in the back for my casting area I still have some work to do but getting there. I have the work benches done a poring bench I made also and gathered up some 6061 and 5050 and 7075 material new end cuts so nice melting. We own a heavy haul trucking and rigging co we specialise in cnc machinery and setting up shops so I have a good source of quality material.

[Harry]

Thats great they have a location so close to you. Very fortunate for a caster. Be sure to let us know some pricing you get as you buy things from them, they were very nice to deal with over the phone and had no problems shipping so it could be a good resource for any of us willing to pay the freight.

My foundry supply place is 3 hrs one way so I dont get by there often but they really treat me good so I feel quite lucky none the less.

On the material for melting, extruded alloys are not the best for casting. They will work but they will also cause special case problems that you will need to work around. Unless you need a finished product of those specific alloys I would suggest that you go to a auto recycler and buy some aluminum wheels, last load I got I think they were $1.00 lb. Wheels are 356 and it casts beautifully, machines ok on my CNC mill though it can be a bit sticky so you need to get your feeds and speeds just right and a mist does wonders. I have used the KoolMist and Tap Magic for Aluminum and found the Tap Magic to be much better. I can run 1/10 the volume of coolant with it (about 2 ounces and hr) compared to the KoolMist. There is a cost consideration as the KoolMist is about $30 a gallon and makes 32 gallons mixed with water and the TM is $65 a gallon and used without diluting but it really works great leaving a nice finish and no build up on the bits. Of course my machine uses a router so I am running at much higher speeds than a mill so YMMV.

[Jeff Clark]

Well thats a bummer on the material, I have alot of it... but thats why im here to lern.. I will keep you posted on Larsons I have to go that direction today purchased a new Kenworth I have to sign on by 4 for Tax reasons KW is just a few blocks from them so I plan on stopping by.

[Jeff Clark]

Well they do not sell Bentone, they have Bentonite and Sand but they had me scared on my water mix so I bought 100lbs of Petro Bond that was $96.00 with tax, nice people I was in a hurry and after the long conversation about sand I forgot a couple items so I will be back on tuesday.

[Harry]

Lets clear this up a little. You said you bought 100 lbs of Petrobond for $96 but they do not sell bentone. You need to arm yourself up a little before going back The petrobond is bentone clay (this is what petrobond clay is, bentone, a chemically modified bentonite made so that it will absorb oil). I am guessing what you got is mixed petrobon sand ready to use because 100 lbs of just the clay (bentone, petrobond clay) would be 3 or 4 hundred dollars. A 100 lbs of mixed petrobond sand has from 7 to 10 lbs of clay in it.

The price you paid isnt terribly bad for that small of an amount but if you ask, probably pretty close to what I have charged in the past but then I have $15 shipping on every 40 lbs. I would bet they would be nearly half that price at 500 lbs. Not sure how much you want as far as a heap but my bench will hold 500 lbs in each of the four bins and a steel trash can I got at true value will hold around 700 lbs so it isnt a terribly huge amount. Once cast in you will want to let it cool before using again and also mull it so you heap should have enough to cover all the casting you will do in a day and you should have some fresh sand to add into it from time to time to replace what is lost to spillage, this will also freshen it up.

Since they do have sand once you have a muller (you will need one to condition the sand after each use) if you want to buy some clay/oil/catalyst and mix your own let me know as I have plenty of all those materials.

Not sure what they told you about water based sand but if mixed right it works very good, David has expressed his is very good. For myself I never got a good mix in the first place then I never got a good temper. It needs to be mixed then sit before using for the best temper and it was always drying out on me by the time I got back to it. Once I found a supplier for petrobond (I bought two tons last time I purchased and it was just over 50 cents a pound) I was hooked. It is always ready with the most it might need is a quick trip through the muller even if it has sat for weeks.

Anyhow, you will love the way the petrobond takes detail and you dont have to worry at all about venting your molds with it since the low volume of gas created will permeate through even a densely packed mold. With a water bonded sand you need to watch the permeability and vent appropriately for it.