Cygnar Storm Strider Casemod

[mDust]

But I’ve run out of time, I’ll post the pouring and results tomorrow! Sorry!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! lol
That is frikkin awesome, as you know, since you were there.
Don't forget to upload the rest tomorrow. A lot of us are depending on it...it might just be me though. I'm not sure.

Is the furnace just a concrete cylinder with a gas inlet? You know, in case I'm ever forced to build one of my own...

[msmrx57]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! lol
That is frikkin awesome, as you know, since you were there.
Don't forget to upload the rest tomorrow. A lot of us are depending on it...it might just be me though. I'm not sure.

Nope, not just you.

[DynamoNED]

This mod is already so full of awesome and win that I can't make a coherent or intelligent contribution...<slowclap>

Well done, sir, well done. +rep & +subbed.

[TheMainMan]

Arrrggggghhh! This is why I don't watch TV shows during the season! I hate cliff-hangers!
Can't wait to see the rest, the process so far looks super awesome!

[monkeyfun]

LOL!!!!

Its like watching a TV show and it has a dramatic ending and now you have to wait until next weeks episode!!!

Its amazing that you have access to that shop.

Yeah, Rusty is a great guy that like supporting creative endeavors and his shop is like a playground for metal workers.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! lol
That is frikkin awesome, as you know, since you were there.
Don't forget to upload the rest tomorrow. A lot of us are depending on it...it might just be me though. I'm not sure.

Is the furnace just a concrete cylinder with a gas inlet? You know, in case I'm ever forced to build one of my own...

The furnace is a home-made concrete refractory with an air-forced propane feed. There's a little more to it than a concrete cylinder. But you can build your own. There are several DIY instructions on the web.

This mod is already so full of awesome and win that I can't make a coherent or intelligent contribution...<slowclap>

Well done, sir, well done. +rep & +subbed.

Thank you!

Arrrggggghhh! This is why I don't watch TV shows during the season! I hate cliff-hangers!
Can't wait to see the rest, the process so far looks super awesome!

Thank you! Working on the post now!

[SXRguyinMA]

nice work! hope it turns out well!

[monkeyfun]

Pouring!!!!!!!!

The first pour:

Any extra aluminum is poured into ingots to be used later.

Before we put the crucible back in the furnace to melt more aluminum we toss in a piece of cardboard to put a little layer of carbon between the furnace and the crucible. This is to prevent the crucible from sticking to the furnace.

The second pour:

This shows the foam burning off. You can also see a little bit of over-run from one of the molds.

This is me scrambling to keep the molten aluminum moving off of the concrete floor and cooling it with some sand. Rusty continues pouring more aluminum into the other molds.

And for your viewing pleasure, here’s 3 videos covering our pouring experience: us waiting for the aluminum to be ready, pouring, and post pour jitters and conversation.

Waiting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0St6RAslNY

Pouring:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PjzTrDupBU

Convo & jitters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUfD9t-Xjmo

[mDust]

Very impressive!
I know almost nothing about the casting process. The foam burns away to be replaced by aluminum? Unless I'm way off or it's a special clean burning foam, don't bits of burned material get stuck in the casting?
I hope it turned out completely perfect so this mod can get underway.
Also, thanks for the videos. We can't get enough of those around here.

[Fuganater]

Very impressive!
I know almost nothing about the casting process. The foam burns away to be replaced by aluminum? Unless I'm way off or it's a special clean burning foam, don't bits of burned material get stuck in the casting?
I hope it turned out completely perfect so this mod can get underway.
Also, thanks for the videos. We can't get enough of those around here.

That's exactly what I was going to ask!

I can already tell this is going to be very very cool.

[monkeyfun]

Very impressive!
I know almost nothing about the casting process. The foam burns away to be replaced by aluminum? Unless I'm way off or it's a special clean burning foam, don't bits of burned material get stuck in the casting?
I hope it turned out completely perfect so this mod can get underway.
Also, thanks for the videos. We can't get enough of those around here.

When I state that the foam is being burned off technically that is true but it doesn't burn like paper or wood would burn. The foam shrinks from the molten aluminum long before any flame starts. If you want to see what I'm talking about try taking a lit match and move it near some blue/pink home insulating foam. Most of the flames that you see in the pictures above are from the molten aluminum hitting the wooden frame. In one of the moulds, I invested the foam with some plaster and that cause a little be of smoke.

The two biggest concern for bits getting stuck in the casting are impurities in the molten metal from the melting process and sand debris falling from inside the mould. To prevent impurities in the molten aluminum you make a trough for the aluminum to flow into and the cascade over a small barrier into the mould. The impurities go to the low point in the trough while the rest of the molten aluminum flows into the mould. To prevent sand from falling into the mould you just need to balance your moisture content and the packing of the sand.

I'll show you what it looks like when it goes wrong... in the next post. We cast nine piece that day, only 8 were usable. But no more spoilers for now.