Metal Casting with Sand

Metal Casting & Sand

Storing & Preparing Sand

Finally a more permanent place to store my sand, I'd been keeping clean sand in an old (dead) shop vac, used sand in buckets and tubs.

This 2 1/2 ft by 4ft rolling fiberglass tub was in a surplus sale @ work earlier in the spring. I didn't see it then or I'd have bid on it... A few weeks went past and the unsold items (typically rusty/beyond usefulness) were being packed to go to the landfill... I spied this unit and immediately requested that it be spared the humiliation of being discarded, as I would give it a life of utility and meaning.

As you can see, I've freed up quite a bit of real estate in terms of floor space with this item.

Both the tub & the furnace being in large casters is a definite bonus, as mobility and ease of set-up are essential.

I cut the side out of the tub to make access to the clean sand much easier. The partial panel doesn't seem to have effected the overall structural rigidity of the tub at all.

I cut a sheet of 1/2" plywood to fit approx 9" above the base to cover the sand (thereby keeping cats out), and making a platform for every thing else to be stacked in.

No don't get the wrong impression, no great tragedy has befallen me... This little gem came from one of my keen eyed friends, put out with the trash from a medical supply business that was moving to a new location.

Again, I have to express my gratitude to the numerous friends that have stumbled across some odd or uncommon object, and immediately thought to bring it to me.

There were numerous issues with this unit...

Initially I wanted to restore this unit to working order. To that end I rewired the numerous lines that were cut, bypassed the main breaker (that kept tripping).

Overall this was a pretty loose machine, but I did get it to run... It it did steer for quite a while, but would emit a loud tick from the controller and stop steering... The motors are intense little units from Switzerland that run at 24 VDC, and have real pushing power.

But I would suspect that the controller is completely shot, of problems I hate the most, intermittent ones are at the top of the list.

Before letting myself get sidetracked into an electric ATV or matching go-carts for the kids, I realized that I have to stay focused on my pursuit of casting.

To that end I knew that I'd have expand my horizons beyond plain Lost Foam Casting.

So to that end I opted to make an electric mixer for the various plaster mixes and molding sand concoctions that I'm about to start working with.

Also my lovely wife has made it clear that I'm to finish re-building the stone work around our fire place (that was renovated earlier in the spring)... How could I even begin without a little cement mixer???

It took a fair amount of scratching, looking and turning over of the wheelchair, until I finally saw how to cut it up in such a way that it would sit as close to a natural position as possible with a minimum of welding and the like.

The basket for a 20Litre pail was made by pounding 2" 1/8 plate and bolting it carefully to the rim. The hoop around the uprights is a length of 3/4" by 1/8" band also bolted.

The motor is rated for 24VDC, but I've opted to run it off a single 12VDC battery as it offers a near perfect speed, if I find that in production it is running too fast I'll resurrect the Controller circuit I made for the Electric Bike project to slow it down as required.

The motor is far more powerful than this requires, as I have no doubt it could break your arm if caught in the rim and frame.

This works great for dry mixing, but I'll add a few ribs inside the bucket for wet mixing.

Even with the bucket half filled it has a sturdy enough stance that it won't tip forward, but still mix thoroughly.

The only other additions I can see are possibly a set of casters to make moving easier, but without the battery connected it can easily be lifted and carried with one arm.

In amongst the above doings, there has been quite a bit of casting activity since bringing the CNC Foam mill on-line... All this is in support of taking the plaque casting to the next level...

Should I ever get there I'll be posting LFMC #9...

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