Foundry Question

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jmush24
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2018 8:23 am
Location: Newnan, Ga

Foundry Question

Post by jmush24 »

Hello Live Steamers,
Has anyone had experience casting parts with Acheson foundry in Chattanooga? I'm near Atlanta and looking for foundry options in the southeast.
Thanks,
Jason
BClemens
Posts: 475
Joined: Sat Oct 08, 2016 10:04 pm
Location: Gloucester, VA (Sassafras)

Re: Foundry Question

Post by BClemens »

'OK Foundry' in Richmond, VA. https://okfoundry.com/

Had some loco cylinders cast there a long time ago. They were 1" scale 0-6-0 cylinders cast without coring the bore. Even so, they machined like Meehanite they were so pure - no holes and no hard spots. They do excellent work.

BC
reubenT
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:04 pm
Location: Spencer TN USA

Re: Foundry Question

Post by reubenT »

I was in Newnan once, sawmilling over in AL and needed a part from woodmizer south so drove over and picked it up. Oops, that was 24 years ago. Time sure flies. The truck I was driving at the time is now retired from the road, and converted to steam power.

So what kind/size of part is needed? I have the capability, all the supplies and equipment ready to put to work. just haven't actually done it yet with iron. (done plenty with aluminum) Last move I made was deciding my 55 gallon double barrel cupola with stairway and platform to load it was a bit big to learn on and started building a small cupola, about 11 inch bore, got it mostly done, waiting on my attention to finish it. (get some experience with the little one and want a bigger steam cylinder I'll run the larger furnace) figured on using charcoal like they did long ago, since hardwood is abundant in my neck a the woods. It's dirt cheap, just takes work and time to cut wood, wait for it to air dry and charcoal it, which I've been doing for biochar anyway lately. I read the old foundrymen liked charcoal iron better than coke, and some small foundries kept using it for their higher quality work long after most had switched to coke. Problem was it took a huge amount of charcoal to supply the larger foundries and it was getting expensive, and depleting the virgin forests, when coke came in as a much cheaper alternative, since a lot less of it was needed for the same heat. And then finally the arc furnace and induction took over. Now looking at making an induction melter to add to the capability before I even done an iron melt yet, since it can do steel without converting it back to iron. (apparently melting steel directly on coke or charcoal puts carbon in it and converts it back to iron, which then has to go through the Bessemer process to burn out the carbon to get steel again. That is provided enough heat can be obtained to melt the steel to start with, which may be marginal with charcoal) But I had the small cupola fired on wood when curing the lining and laid a steel screen over it, promptly burned a hole in it, so I had steel melting temp there just from wood fire, but I was blasting a bit hard perhaps, throwing charcoal out the top. Just need to make a breast for it, plug the pour hole and fire it up. Oh and need to make a ladle out of some bowl with a handle welded on lined with refractory. Got plenty of junk around to play with, both steel and cast iron. Everything I plan on doing anyway, just slow to get there because I have multiple projects and have to prioritize. My mother is the issue now, high blood sugar problem and she's incapable of cooperating with trying to control it. I keep testing and shootin her up with insulin, but it's not working very well while she eats like a workin man and sleeps the rest of the time. My brother is gone on a trucking job for a few weeks, and I'm trying to juggle caring for her versus making progress on projects, most of which are involved in her care in some way, as in growing her better food to eat, finishing a better house to move her into, and the foundry factors in on one of the aspects of it. Making parts for a power plant to help heat a greenhouse. (future business hopefully, selling good produce all winter while minimizing operating expense) So getting the mini foundry operational certainly wouldn't be a diversion from the current plan of operations. I'm just 60 miles north of Chattanooga. Dirt floored junk shop way back in the woods where the ground is hardly ever level. Metal work of this type and agriculture are my two favorite things to do. But since my "farm" is a rough rocky mountainside covered with trees, I have to do things in small spaces with agriculture. No row crops other than a garden size. Just ordered a 50 ft steam hose to do garden bed steaming with the truck boiler, kill all the weed seed, clean weed free grow beds for salad crops.
jmush24
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2018 8:23 am
Location: Newnan, Ga

Re: Foundry Question

Post by jmush24 »

Thanks BC on the OK foundry recommendation, I'll keep them in mind. I have called a few in the southeast and may work with one in Opelika, AL. I'll post my findings as I get further along. I'll be starting with drive wheels.
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Fender
Posts: 3084
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 8:33 pm
Location: Chattanooga TN

Re: Foundry Question

Post by Fender »

I’ve used both Acheson foundry in Chattanooga and OK foundry in Richmond. Both are very accommodating to small jobs such as what live steamers want. It’s been a few years since I used OK, but they were able to do the pattern work to mount my patterns on a matchplate for a reasonable cost.
Dan Watson
Chattanooga, TN
630fireman
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat May 05, 2018 9:47 pm

Re: Foundry Question

Post by 630fireman »

I know we have used Acheson at TVRM. So they at least have seen plenty of railroad stuff through their castings. Can’t think of what all we’ve had done there (630’s driver boxes perhaps?), but I’ve been a couple times a few years back when I was in the shop more. I did some design for a safety valve turret that I believe was done there.
reubenT
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:04 pm
Location: Spencer TN USA

Re: Foundry Question

Post by reubenT »

by the way, what does it cost to have small single items done at a foundry nowadays? Just wondering if it's reasonable. I know it has to be way higher per piece than production work when 1000's of the same piece are done. I never intend to go into production, just do my own with occasional outside job of limited complexity perhaps, specially if it will slip in as an add on to something I'm already doing for myself. But I would enjoy making whole machines of steam powered devices, large enough to be useful for practical work in steam winch, and vehicle use, and running anything that needs running for limited scale woods and farm work.
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Fender
Posts: 3084
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 8:33 pm
Location: Chattanooga TN

Re: Foundry Question

Post by Fender »

If you are looking to have single castings made from loose patterns, you’d be better off using Cattail foundry or something similar. The setup charges for mounting patterns on a matchplate will be expensive with oitfits like OK or Acheson.
Dan Watson
Chattanooga, TN
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