# Anyone have experience metal casting (Aluminum) at home?



## kuksul08 (Mar 24, 2009)

and if so, how hard is it?

I did some metal casting at school. Every week we did a different type of casting, and lost wax seemed to yield the most accuracy without much difficulty.

I have made a couple prototype light housings and was considering getting some machined, but I'd still have to assemble the small parts, file away JB weld etc. Do you think I could cast these, since I already have an exact prototype made? The only thing I worry about is if I need special tools, or maybe it's not accurate enough.

Here's roughly what I am looking at. It's 1/16" wall thickness.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m267/kuksul08/LED/IMG_2418Large.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m267/kuksul08/LED/IMG_2420Large.jpg


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## 65535 (Mar 24, 2009)

I'm not sure that's necessarily a good part to be casted. Normally you cast odd shaped or repetitive solid parts. When you start dealing with voids and holes casting loses it's flair.

l think you'd be better off with working out a way to use aluminum sheet stock and machining it. You could probably do something simple like grooves to line up.


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## kuksul08 (Mar 24, 2009)

65535 said:


> I'm not sure that's necessarily a good part to be casted. Normally you cast odd shaped or repetitive solid parts. When you start dealing with voids and holes casting loses it's flair.
> 
> l think you'd be better off with working out a way to use aluminum sheet stock and machining it. You could probably do something simple like grooves to line up.




Well what I learned (I'm sure on an industrial level), is that voids is where casting is especially useful, where machining tools can't reach, like cooling passages in an engine.

I have been using the square Al tubing which is perfect for my needs but yeah. If I want to make 10 of these for friends, there's no way I can sit here and file aluminum for that many hours haha. You think it'd be easier to use sheet?

I guess I just need a more efficient way of making them..


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## StrikerDown (Mar 24, 2009)

I think he is referring to unwanted holes where you don't want them.


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## LukeA (Mar 24, 2009)

kuksul08 said:


> I guess I just need a more efficient way of making them..



There's a lot that can be done in the pursuit of that. Like:

Does the space in the middle need to be there?
If yes, can the shape change? 
Can the same job be done by drilling a hole in a solid bar?
Does the part need the bottom attached to the front or can it be attached to the back?

Among others.


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## kuksul08 (Mar 25, 2009)

LukeA said:


> There's a lot that can be done in the pursuit of that. Like:
> 
> Does the space in the middle need to be there?
> If yes, can the shape change?
> ...



Yeah true I guess I could design it a little differently. The whole bottom plate is just for strength, so I guess if I had it welded instead that would make it simpler. 

The middle part could be made from solid aluminum actually , I just may do that on the next one. It is a space for four 5mm LEDs


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## LEDobsession (Mar 25, 2009)

kuksul08 said:


> where machining tools can't reach, like cooling passages in an engine.



You mean like water jackets? Thats actually possible. I didnt think it would be but check this out.
V8 Engine Block Machined From Solid We call this Machining P*rn at school. :twothumbs


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## kuksul08 (Mar 26, 2009)

LEDobsession said:


> You mean like water jackets? Thats actually possible. I didnt think it would be but check this out.
> V8 Engine Block Machined From Solid We call this Machining P*rn at school. :twothumbs



Now that is awesome 

Nevertheless, there are places where casting can produce things that machining just can't (or not anywhere near practically). Surely if I had a CNC I could make these things out of billet 

Thanks for the replies


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## old4570 (Mar 26, 2009)

At home ? Forget it ..

Go to a caster : Sand casting / lost wax is probably the cheapest way of doing it ...

Dont forget to chose what aluminum you want to cast from , if you make your own sand box / casting box etc ... should be cheaper that way .


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## AuroraAlpha (Mar 26, 2009)

Haven't done it myself, but what follows is my understanding of the biggest issues:

-Feeder Material: This should be the easiest thing, but since aluminium is so good at forming a protective coating it means that the chips you produce are often useless as they already have significant amounts of unusable material already, and as they melt they will just oxidize more (unless you have a vacuum furnace). One way to get around this is to have a small pool of material at the bottom so any good aluminium that melts can fall into the pool and then be 'protected'. Some people keep self-made ingots to start the pool at the bottom, and then add chips to that. Make sure you clean your machines well before doing anything you will want to recover chips from, if you end up with aluminium+stainless steel+brass+iron+titanium your going to have a very werid material after you pour.

-Furnace: Generally some kind of steel combined with an insulating material. These get destroyed over time so don't expect it to last long. Also your aluminium will probably pick up impurities, so you may wish to avoid using it for projects where it will have a low factor of safety. Also consider your fuel source. Propane/oil burning seems to be popular with some sort force air system (old leaf blower or fan).

-Location: You don't want to pour over conquer because bad things will happen if you spill any. You don't want to pour near your house, nor anything flammable either. This can be a challenge if you don't have a good location to make into a big mud pit.


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