« previous next »
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: casting brass hardware  (Read 785 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline CannonKrazy

  • Trade Count: (5)
  • A Real Regular
  • ****
  • Posts: 779
  • Gender: Male
casting brass hardware
« on: September 16, 2006, 05:36:59 PM »
Hello,I've been following this site for some time now.I have built several cannons over the years and I'm now wanting to try casting most of the ornamental parts.Has anyone out here tried this and did you have any luck.Also did you have a furnace to heat the brass in or just an open heat source.I use alot of 660 bearing bronze at work so I have alot of scrap to play with.Thanks guys for any help.
Logged

Offline GGaskill

  • Moderator
  • Trade Count: (2)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5668
  • Gender: Male
Re: casting brass hardware
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2006, 07:27:44 PM »
A furnace and a crucible will make things work a lot better.  Lost wax will give the best quality results but it takes more complicated moulds than sand casting.
Logged
GG
“If you're not a liberal at 20, you have no heart; if you're not a conservative at 40, you have no brain.”--Winston Churchill

Offline Cat Whisperer

  • Trade Count: (2)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7493
  • Gender: Male
  • Pulaski Coehorn Works
Re: casting brass hardware
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2006, 03:21:23 AM »
Quote from: CannonKrazy on September 16, 2006, 05:36:59 PM
Hello,I've been following this site for some time now.I have built several cannons over the years and I'm now wanting to try casting most of the ornamental parts.Has anyone out here tried this and did you have any luck.Also did you have a furnace to heat the brass in or just an open heat source.I use alot of 660 bearing bronze at work so I have alot of scrap to play with.Thanks guys for any help.

CK - WELCOME to the board!  There are several folks here that will respond with their experiences (more recent than mine).  Starting with the smaller items is a good way to into it. 

Start with the designs.  Post a few and you'll get a wide variety of comments - from envy to advice on technicalities.

Next focus on methods of casting - there are methods that work.  Folks here will post pictures of their setups - those are PRICELESS for building your own - you'll see new ideas and you'll also see ways to improve using your resources.

Take pictures as you go, we'd love to see them!

Logged
Tim K                 www.GBOCANNONS.COM
Cat Whisperer
Chief of Smoke, Pulaski Coehorn Works & Winery
U.S.Army Retired
N 37.05224  W 80.78133 (front door +/- 15 feet)

Offline CannonKrazy

  • Trade Count: (5)
  • A Real Regular
  • ****
  • Posts: 779
  • Gender: Male
Re: casting brass hardware
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2006, 04:33:06 AM »
Thanks for the welcome,I found this site by accident and that was the best accident I ever had.I have learned quite a bit just reading some of the responces to many different topics.

For my first casting project I would like to start with some trunnion straps.I have poured several different types of elevation knobs (nut with handles) in the past but these were small parts.

I have alot of old fire bricks and was thinking of a simple design for a furnace if someone has a proven method I would really be interested in hearing about it.I will be useing propane for heat.
Logged

Offline Powder keg

  • GBO Sponsor
  • GBO Supporter
  • Trade Count: (0)
  • A Real Regular
  • *****
  • Posts: 752
Re: casting brass hardware
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2006, 07:12:15 AM »
Welcome CannonKrazy,

I to found this forum by accident. There is a wealth of information here. My experiences with casting bronze have been mixed. The main trouble I've had is getting it hot enough. My first furnace was made out of firebricks, like you proposed. It worked great, for aluminum. But I had trouble getting the heat required to get bronze to a good poring temp. I could melt it, but the metal would freeze before the sand was filled. I think the firebriks loose to much heat?

I built a new furnace out of castible refractory. The walls and lid were pored 4" thick. With my old burner it would take 45 min to get everything hot enough to pore 660 bronze. I gust built a new, bigger,  burner and just need time to test it out.

Hope this helps, Wes
Logged
Wesley P.
"Powder Keg"
Custom Machine work done reasonable. I have a small machine shop and foundry. Please let me build your stuff. I just added Metal etching to my capabilities. I specialize in custom jobs.
"When the gun is lost, All is lost"

Offline CannonKrazy

  • Trade Count: (5)
  • A Real Regular
  • ****
  • Posts: 779
  • Gender: Male
Re: casting brass hardware
« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2006, 04:13:18 PM »
Powder Keg

What kind of burner and fuel source worked best for you.I can use the oxy-propane mix at work when Im stress relieveing large plates of steel.I have a simple set up now but Im open for suggestions from anyone thats done it before.Brass is kind of new territory for me.
Logged

Offline Powder keg

  • GBO Sponsor
  • GBO Supporter
  • Trade Count: (0)
  • A Real Regular
  • *****
  • Posts: 752
Re: casting brass hardware
« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2006, 06:13:47 PM »
It's kinda late here. I'll post pictures of my old and new burner tomarow. My old burner used propane and I injected a small amount of air from my air compresser. It is made from a piece of 3/4" pipe and a bell reducer and a 1/8" nipple about 3" long. It melted aluminum great but I needed the air to melt brass. My new burner is made the same just bigger. There is a lot of burner info on the net. Here is one good site http://ronreil.abana.org/design1.shtml Search for forge burners and building your own. There are several designs to chose from. I think these are the easyest and that's for me. I really want to try this out on brass but don't have the time now.

Wes
Logged
Wesley P.
"Powder Keg"
Custom Machine work done reasonable. I have a small machine shop and foundry. Please let me build your stuff. I just added Metal etching to my capabilities. I specialize in custom jobs.
"When the gun is lost, All is lost"

Offline GGaskill

  • Moderator
  • Trade Count: (2)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5668
  • Gender: Male
Re: casting brass hardware
« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2006, 08:32:29 PM »
The furnace we had in the art bronze foundry would melt a #90 crucible of bronze.  It had a 2" gas line and a 2 HP air blower for the draft.  We also had a three axis crane (electric hoist) to lift and move the filled and extremely hot crucible.

You don't need tanked oxygen but you do need to be able to burn a lot of gas for a large crucible.  For your application, figure the weight of the finished products (including sprues) and be able to melt 150% of that.  You don't want the crucible so full that it spills while you are moving it around.  Crucibles are sized by their capacity in aluminum; bronze is about three times as heavy.  So a #10 would hold 10 lbs of aluminum and 30 lbs of bronze.
Logged
GG
“If you're not a liberal at 20, you have no heart; if you're not a conservative at 40, you have no brain.”--Winston Churchill

Offline CannonKrazy

  • Trade Count: (5)
  • A Real Regular
  • ****
  • Posts: 779
  • Gender: Male
Re: casting brass hardware
« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2006, 01:24:01 PM »
Thanks guys for the imput.I had time to look at the site Powder Keg listed and found alot of good info.Im going to do a little more research before getting in to deep.The parts that I have done so far have turned out well but I would like to be able to cast larger parts.When I get something going I will post pictures and info.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »