Sourcing pig iron

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jlakes85
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Sourcing pig iron

Post by jlakes85 »

Hi All,

I've read from several sources that its not a bad idea to provide the raw material to the foundry in addition to the pattern. With that said, can anyone advise on where to get pig iron? I was also considering as a last resort grabbing a few cast iron skillets off of Amazon/Ebay if there's no source that deals in smaller qty's

-jlakes85
Glenn Brooks
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Re: Sourcing pig iron

Post by Glenn Brooks »

How much do you need? I have a thousand lb cast iron furnace sitting in my backyard, but unsure where you are located. If you can put your location in your login name area, it could help people identify possible local suppliers.

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Fender
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Re: Sourcing pig iron

Post by Fender »

Automotive brake rotors. Engine blocks and heads are good too, but more work to break up. Go to a garage that does brake work and they should have some rotors.
Dan Watson
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pat1027
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Re: Sourcing pig iron

Post by pat1027 »

What is the advantage of supplying the raw materials? Maybe a little mark up on the materials. I think you'd be better off specifying the grade of iron you want the castings to be.
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gwrdriver
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Re: Sourcing pig iron

Post by gwrdriver »

If this was a home foundry situation I could certainly understand, I'd be looking for rotors too, but one of the first things my first mentor (who spent his entire life in aero tool & die) told me was to avoid material of unknown origin and composition. It might be cheaper (or free) but it may not do the job and can wreak havoc on cutters in the process, and then you have to go buy the proper stuff (and fresh cutters) and start all over again. I'd think the same should hold true for a good foundry. Why should they take the risk of a problematic pour using your "Mystery Metal" when they have metal of known quality on hand?
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Fender
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Re: Sourcing pig iron

Post by Fender »

You'll have to speak to the operator of the foundry you want to use, as to whether they would welcome some cast iron scrap or not. In any case, purchasing new cast iron implements, such as cookware, for the purpose would not be economical.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Sourcing pig iron

Post by Bill Shields »

Perhaps the back door of your local (friendly) H-D motorcycle shop? :shock:
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Glenn Brooks
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Re: Sourcing pig iron

Post by Glenn Brooks »

Sounds like the last several comments are spot on. Any decent foundry will have a supply of proper material available. Better to spend your time deciding exactly what kind of iron you want for the parts, and just specify what you want. A chat with the foundry owner will go a long ways toward finalizing your choices.

Glenn
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Rwilliams
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Re: Sourcing pig iron

Post by Rwilliams »

Engine blocks and heads are heavy and tough to break up. Even with a big hammer they resist your efforts but will save a trip to the gym.

Better to look for smaller items of cast iron to begin with. Internal combustion engine crankshafts, cam shafts are much more easy to work with. A friend discovered automobile cam shafts are very good to work with. He also used a bigger Cummins truck engine camshaft and just turned it down for his needs. Found it was some premium cast iron and at scrap prices no less.
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Harold_V
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Re: Sourcing pig iron

Post by Harold_V »

Cranks and cams are generally ductile iron, not gray. Chemically they are pretty much identical, with ductile having a lower sulfur content. All in all, good quality, needless to say.

Serious foundries do an analysis on their heat before casting, and make the necessary adjustments so the metal in question meets the required standards, if applicable. Perhaps rrnut-2 (Jim) will chime in on this topic.

H
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rrnut-2
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Re: Sourcing pig iron

Post by rrnut-2 »

As others have said, Check with the foundry that you are going to use. Foundries do not want to contaminate their furnaces with mystery metal. If they put something into the pot with lets say very high chromium, then the next heat will have to be a wash melt, read waste. Especially if the next heat requires a much lower spec of chromium. That applies to any element, not just chromium. That is being used as an example. They most generally have a spectrometer and will analyze the metal before it is put in the pot and before they are getting ready to pour. This may not apply to Cattail Foundry, I doubt that they have a spectrometer.

If you are doing your own melting, then look online for places that sell prepared scrap metal. Prepared is cleaned and dried, no water, no rust, and certified if required.

Jim B
randallg
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Re: Sourcing pig iron

Post by randallg »

You may want to try going to an automotive machine shop and try getting engine block boring bar chips .
Some bigger shops collect them separate as scrap yards pay best money for them .
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