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Mr. Sharpe

Post by Mr. Sharpe »

I was able to get these out tonight. Here is an example of Lost Foam castings. These are end carriages for two turntables I'm fabricating. I needed 16 wheels, and it was easier to carve them out of foam than to make a pattern. The next photo shows guard rails that were made in lost foam. The frog is from a wooden pattern, and the other switch parts are lost wax.
Mr. Sharpe

Post by Mr. Sharpe »

Well, I guess I can't post those photos. I have them on my desktop but there does not seem to be any way to move them into a message. Am I missing something?[/img]
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willjordan
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Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2003 11:32 am
Location: Concord, NC

Post by willjordan »

Mr. Sharpe wrote:Well, I guess I can't post those photos. I have them on my desktop but there does not seem to be any way to move them into a message. Am I missing something?[/img]
I think you have to be registered to post an attachment. When you are in the edit screen, entering a new message you should see an add an attachment button opposite options near the bottom of the screen.

The img command only works if the photo is already posted somewhere else on the web.
grace & peace
will

[url=http://willjordan.com]Will's Web Pages[/url]
Andypullen
Posts: 2166
Joined: Thu May 22, 2003 8:17 am
Location: Bel Air, MD

lost foam patterns

Post by Andypullen »

Hi John,

My brother has been doing some lost foam work over the past year. He's made quite a few cannon barrels among other things to get poured in bronze. He managed to scrounge some nichrome wire for it and it works pretty well. I'll send you his email when I get back to work tomorrow.

Andy
Clausing 10x24, Sheldon 12" shaper, ProtoTrak AGE-2 control cnc on a BP clone, Reed Prentice 14" x 30", Sanford MG 610 surface grinder, Kalamazoo 610 bandsaw, Hardinge HSL speed lathe, Hardinge HC chucker, Kearney and Trecker #2K plain horizontal mill, Haas TL-1 lathe.
Mr. Sharpe

Post by Mr. Sharpe »

I was a registered member a few years ago, but somehow during all those change that took place I lost my membership. It has worked just fine to be a guest and post my comments until now, when I wanted to add some attachments. I guess I will have to renew my membership.
Mr. Sharpe

Post by Mr. Sharpe »

Mr. Sharpe wrote:I was a registered member a few years ago, but somehow during all those change that took place I lost my membership. It has worked just fine to be a guest and post my comments until now, when I wanted to add some attachments. I guess I will have to renew my membership.
CATCH 22!!!!

After I posted the above message, I tried to register. The Registration stopped at: THAT (my) EMAIL ADDRESS IS ALREADY REGISTERED. So I tried logging in, and of course I did not remember a password. When I put in Mr. Sharpe as a user name, and clicked on Forgot Password, it came up: THE (my) EMAIL ADDRESS DOES NOT MATCH THE ONE LISTED FOR THAT USER NAME.

So, I changed my user name to Mr. Brown, and tried to register, and it came up with: THAT (my) EMAIL ADDRESS IS ALREADY IN USE.

I can take a hint, I guess you guys don't want me as a member!

Mr. Sharpe or maybe it's Mr. Brown
JohnHudak
Posts: 1140
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 2:18 pm
Location: Ohio

Post by JohnHudak »

Mr Sharpe, I read your article in LS and have a few quetions. Last night I went to Home Depot to have a look at the foam that they carry. I saw the thick "pink" stuff that they have for insulation, some of it has a plastic film covering it and some dosen't. I'm sure that the plastic film needs to come off, but the stuff without it had a pretty nice surface finish....Nothing at all like the styrofoam "packing" inserts.
Keep in mind, I want to make a trailing truck as you did, and want as nice a finish as I can get.
In your article, you stated to "wax" the patterns. I went to the Blehm website and had a look at the wax, it says that you can put it on with a putty knife. What is the consistency of the wax? Can it be brushed on? I'll be making my pattern for a 3/4" project, and I don't think the sides will be thick enough to withsand a putty knife...I have a can of release wax from Freeman Supply, that is thin enough to be brushed on, do you think that will work?
Does the graphite mold wash improve surface finish too?
I've been all over the web looking for "Lost Foam" information, but your comments over on the casting board have been the most helpful yet...Is there a reason that you use sand that can be hardened? I would think that it would need to be, but a lot of the other sites say to just use loose, unbonded sand. Wouldn't it be like an "insurance" policy to use it, instead of risking collapse while pouring?
I also noticed that you put small pieces over the axle/pedestal box openings, is this to prevent possible warping when the casting cools?
Sorry for all the questions, but I think I'm going to give this a try, and will probably have a bunch more, maybe as I go, I'll post pictures, and you can comment/guide me along?
Thanks for all your help; John
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willjordan
Posts: 1083
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2003 11:32 am
Location: Concord, NC

Post by willjordan »

Mr. Sharpe wrote:
Mr. Sharpe wrote:I was a registered member a few years ago, but somehow during all those change that took place I lost my membership. It has worked just fine to be a guest and post my comments until now, when I wanted to add some attachments. I guess I will have to renew my membership.
CATCH 22!!!!

After I posted the above message, I tried to register. The Registration stopped at: THAT (my) EMAIL ADDRESS IS ALREADY REGISTERED. So I tried logging in, and of course I did not remember a password. When I put in Mr. Sharpe as a user name, and clicked on Forgot Password, it came up: THE (my) EMAIL ADDRESS DOES NOT MATCH THE ONE LISTED FOR THAT USER NAME.

So, I changed my user name to Mr. Brown, and tried to register, and it came up with: THAT (my) EMAIL ADDRESS IS ALREADY IN USE.

I can take a hint, I guess you guys don't want me as a member!

Mr. Sharpe or maybe it's Mr. Brown
Since I can't seem to find any registration for "Mr. Sharpe" or "Mister Sharpe" I can't check further for now. Send me an email at will at willjordan dot com and let me know what email address you registered under. I'll pass it on to the system administrator and see what we can get done.
grace & peace
will

[url=http://willjordan.com]Will's Web Pages[/url]
Mr. Sharpe

Problem solved

Post by Mr. Sharpe »


Since I can't seem to find any registration for "Mr. Sharpe" or "Mister Sharpe" I can't check further for now. Send me an email at will at willjordan dot com and let me know what email address you registered under. I'll pass it on to the system administrator and see what we can get done.
I soved the problem of logging in. I was down in the shop drilling some holes when it dawned on me that I had probably used my real name, not Mr. Sharpe (from B&S), when I first registered. This time, I was able to get a new password, which I had forgotten. I see no need to refrain from using Mr. Sharpe; I will only log in when I need to add an attachment.

Thank you,
Mr. Sharpe
RONALD
Posts: 754
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2003 7:27 am

Post by RONALD »

Here are those two photos I tried to put in a few messages ago.

Mr. Sharpe
Attachments
DSCN8114_1.jpg
DSCN8114_1.jpg (106.03 KiB) Viewed 1636 times
RONALD
Posts: 754
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2003 7:27 am

Post by RONALD »

Here is #2:
Attachments
DSCN8116_1.jpg
DSCN8116_1.jpg (111.73 KiB) Viewed 1625 times
Mr. Sharpe

Post by Mr. Sharpe »

John, I will try to answer your questions.

When I first started in Lost Foam very little was known about the types of poly styrene to use,and all the other parameters. Today, all the major companies, like GM, Ford, etc., have detailed specs for the foam and process. You know what, if you are not making 10,000 engine blocks, you can use almost any kind of foam and sand. If you look at that second photo, you will see that part of the foam pattern is made up of pink styrofoam. The greater the density of the foam the more heat is required to burn it out and there are more fumes, but the greater the density the better the surface finish!

I use my fingers (with a glove) and a dish of water, to spread the wax from Blehm. The wax is almost "Butter" like, and you can use water on a gloved finger to spread it out. You could even try shoe polish. You have to always remember that anything you add also requires heat from the metal.

The professionals almost always use some type of coating, but it has been sevearal years since I used any coatings, and I do not see much of a difference.

The industry uses vibration tables to compact the sand around the foam, and also sometime vacuum pulldown. Those turntable wheels in the first photo were molded directly in Petro Bond sand, but for the guard rails I used Sodium Silicate - CO2 sand, because I worried about collapsing the foam. (I only used the CO2 sand to cover the foam in the Drag, and used Petro Bond in the remainder of the Drag and Cope.)

All those trucks shown were top gated and poured upsidedown, and what you saw was part of the gating system.

Though I'm not a member, the Yahoo "Hobbycast" site has had many messages posted on Lost Foam.

Hope this helps.
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