aluminum casting

[bigweasel]

hope this is the right forum...

anyone have any experience with aluminum casting? a buddy of mine runs a junk (curio)shop across the river, and called and said he picked up a couple of nice older bikes (no specifics yet: to brian, a bike is just something to sell IF it will fit on top of the rest of the crap in his truck) at an estate sale. he said two of the bikes had big elaborate tanks on them, but both have one good side and one side that is damaged or destroyed (again, specifics when i can get to see them). if the rest of the bike(s) is(are) fairly pristine, it seems a shame to let one bad tank plate ruin an otherwise cherry find. i have sand cast bronzes in the past, and have a back door at the local community college to an aluminum furnace setup, but no real practical aluminum experience, let alone any exp. with something as relatively delicate as a tank plate. any input? suggestions? ....
thanks in advance,
alex

 

[sensor]

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[B607]

A few years ago when aluminum was up the guy that runs the salvage yard rigged up an aluminum casting operation of sorts. They made a "furnace" and fired it with propane gas. They brought in a 500 gal. tank of gas. They cooked down every kind of aluminum imaginable, except cans. Mostly engine parts. The melted aluminum ran down a trough and into square pans that were dumped when cool. Looked pretty much straight forward. Heat it up and pour it into a mold. Gary

 

[Daddyar]

My cousin makes car club plaques and misc hot rod part form sand cast aluminum. You could cast it, but it would be as thin as the metal it's cast from. I've seen thickness added with wax, bondo, and epoxy resin. You could also cast some bungs on the inside of the tank so it could be drilled and tapped so the 2 halves can be attached to each other. The only problem you will have is shrinkage. On something the size of a tank, it probably won't be much, probably aroung 1/16 of an inch. So, if you were to cast it, you would probably need to do both sides.

 

[bigweasel]

cool. thanks for the info. i guess, as i think about this more, i am wondering how fiddly aluminum is to work with. all my bronze casting was lost wax method, and i have found that the more delicate/intricate/fragile/thin castings are acheivable; but require a great deal of finesse, which comes easily only with experience i have not yet logged in. and bronze is, by its nature, a moderately belligerent material to work with. mabye any suggestions on materials to work withinstead of aluminum? fiberglass perhaps? or resin castings, or something else?

thanks,

alex

 

[rick74304]

I forsee a few late nights reading in your future;
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/
Hope that helps,
Rick

 

[bigweasel]

I forsee a few late nights reading in your future;
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/
Hope that helps,
Rick

awesome. thanks. as if i wasn't already the neighborhood pariah... what, with the junk yard in the front yard, and lots of very noisy two wheeled toys and kids and dogs and all that other good stuff, but now im gonna have a foundry in the back yard...(wonder how cool that will look, all lit up at night)... thanks

 

[Quanah]

Here's something, may be of some interest. http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a ... -aluminum/

 

[bigweasel]

this R.R.B. forum has thus far shown itself to be full of good folk and advice/help. i am so glad i found this place!

and quanah, anything that has the following in it can't prove to be anything but something worth persuing:

"First off, this instructable deals with …"fire, molten metal, sharp edges, electrical equipment near water, burning paint/other noxious fumes, and probably some other dangers"

awesome...

thanks,


alex

 

[Quanah]

Hey bigweasel, its good to be helpful, on a regular basis. Be careful, don't wanna be readin' about ya in the "maimed for life column".

 

[Ratfink1962]

I found this a while back... http://www.aluminumrepair.com/video_new.asp

Looks pretty interesting.