Aluminum Flask

[dallen]

One more also, does that one side have the alignment handle built in?

Oh yea forgot I figured out how to fix it so that pin boss would work with like 1/4 inch pins the problem is that if you flip the thing over and set it on top the lugs don't line up. So I need to fit and glue one on the other side so you can keep em going the same direction. My R&D departments kinda like Henry Ford when he made his first engine, its sitting there running and getting hotter an hotter, and he says to his self, Self you know we could make that thing watercooled.

David

[Harry]

The sand holes are from when I was packing sand around the cup I was going to use for a pouring basin, sand fell down the vents.

Try using a short piece of pipe for your pouring basin. Make a cone shaped piece for the actual basin and put it into the 3" or so piece of pipe, pack it with sand and use your sprue cutter to make a hole down to it and push it out. These work great and you can pop them off before the metal freezes off. When pouring I keep the basin half full and when it begins to rise I have enough reaction time to stop pouring before it flows over. This will also give head pressure if using no vents. If you need to vent the part then each one would need a riser to get all opening up to the same level but just a pipe with a hole punched, no pouring basing needed.

These are very easy to make and place though with little to no chance of dropping sand down the hole. I have used them on every pour since the first time I made one because they work so good and are quick and easy to make. I am going to modify the shape of the basin pattern to make it more of a cone and make a new tool for pressing the sand in but it does work great.

[dallen]

Well a friend in ohio sent me some riser cups, and I figured what the heck I was pouring a pretty good size cup full that day, and I figured I'd see what would happen as I wanted to make sure I have plenty of head pressure to pour the two flask panels, so stupid me I set about using some sand to hold the cup in place cause they are some kinda high temp fiber. Well what I should of done was grab a sheet of the funny pages from the local trash talking news paper, and laid it on top of the flask and covered the vents. PROBLEM SOLVED of the sand down the vents. I know I did wrong when I placed the first hand full of sand on top, and little clumps of sand are running around hollering wheres my mommie, and like a little kid fall in the well. OOOOH well, can't cry over a screw pour, learn and go on.

Hey I found and tried some of them thin stamped out measuring spoons, sorta like your melon baller, but more sizes on a ring.

And yes I keep planing one getting some muffler tube from the local shop, but you know how it is when your old and forgetful. I keep forgetting to stop, and I don't think I will find 3 and 4 inch muff tube.

and why not just use one setup make the basins out of SS/Sand, press em up slide em out put in box and gassem like they did bundy.

got a new toy in the mail yesterday, installed it on the mill last night. Back last winter I had bought and installed a 2 axis dro on my milling machine, well yesterday I received in the mail a 6 inch scale with readout for the Z axis, I can't plug it into the mill, but if I go cnc I can plug it into the computer. anyway heres some eye candy

http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd4 ... /09_12_11/

[barryjyoung]

OK, everybody try to help me understand something please. Instead of angles with bolts which line up our cope and drag, why not just drill and tap the side of the flask for a bolt on the drag and a closish fitting hole for that bolt on the cope?

Thank you

Barry

[dallen]

Barry it doesn't really matter how you get the pins and holes on the flask, you just need them so that when you put the thing back together you get it in the same place, so if your going to make you own, I would make them however I wanted them, if you make several you may find yourself changing them around some to suit things you didn't think about the first go round.

One great advantage of the pins is that you want something you can push on cause you will find yourself using them to pull the cope to remove the pattern, by being able to to get your fingers under the top angle and the heel of my hand on top of the pin I can lift the cope pretty easy, believe me that little 11X11X4 full of hard rammed oil bonded sand weights close to 45 pounds, the top half, together they weigh close to a hundred.

Some people cast the lugs on the panels when they cast the panel, some like I did bolt them on after pouring and machining. Chastian casted his lugs them bolted them on, I used angle it was easier for me, and I wasn't writing a book like he did.

I looked at a site last night, dude had made some fantastic hand casted flask, to me there were way to heavy, almost and inch thick, but man were they pretty.

If you do all your work on match plates you can get alignment hardware that will allow you to not have to worry about flask with pins the alignment is on the sand.

[dallen]

I been playing with the toys again, I've just about finished my second casted flask, still got a little bit of work left to do on it. This one is different the the first one, in that the alignment pin lugs are casted on. I know too small and they don't line up. I should of just stuck a big ole block of wood in the middle and let it go like that. But as they say we pay for our mistakes.

It will work, I am actually pretty proud of how close they came out to one another.

[Harry]

Nice, it looks like after this next week I am finally going to have a little time to work on flasks. I want to take the total of 3 I have now to over 10 real soon. My wood flasks are wearing out and giving me some problems with the matchplates, the plates only have about 1/4" of overlap and the wear is causing flash on some of my molds.

[dallen]

well don't make em like that one, you see the mistake, and I still got one machining set to figure out so it won't matter if you take em apart and put back together in the wrong order

[castaway]

You need some lips on the inside to keep the sand from dropping out when you move the flask or flip it. I would also make larger aligning pin lugs so the pin holes can easily drilled and the pins mounted.

Here's how the 4"X10"X12"ones look that I cast which were cast as a one piece section. The lugs are set low enough on the sides so you can get your fingers in between the cope and drag to easily pull them apart. These guys have seen a lot of casting work over the years. Bob

[dallen]

uuuuuuum, funny the sand doesn't fall out of the first one I did. and the lugs are big enough on this one to get pins into but I'm not happy with them so I will probably either live with it or make new sides, which I am thinking of doing anyway. Or just mill the lugs off and bolt on an angle for a pin lug as I did in the first flask.



with the taper that you have on the side of your flask how do you keep the sand from falling out when you flip?, hold a board on it?

Bob on yours did you gate from the inside to pour it?