Hello,
I am trying to learn about the centrifugal casting machine. Is there someone that could teach me how to run the machine.
Thanks.
Raheem
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What metal are you trying to cast? We only cast bronZe, silver, gold - or if you have deep pockets - platinum. That machine can cast about one ounce maximum and it only accepts flasks that are 2.5" diameter x 3.5" high. Your part would have to fit within an envelope about 1.5" dia (maybe 1.75") x about 2.5" high.
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@John_Marlow I am trying to cast copper. The part 1.2" dia and 3" H. I can reduce the height to fit if 2.5" height is maximum.
I’m sorry but we don’t cast copper.
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@John_Marlow I am assuming you do not cast copper with the centrifugal machine. Is it possible to learn to cast copper with the Neutec J2R casting machine?
I’m sorry but we don’t cast copper at all. We only cast bronze, silver and rarely gold. In theory we can cast platinum but no one has ponied up any platinum to try it.
All of our castings are done once a month as a community casting lab. We put all the prepared investment flasks in the casting kiln for one common programmed cycle, and then the following day we all cast all the flasks. Investing and casting are both done best with multiple participants both for resource efficiency and because the tasks actually require more than one person.
In addition, remember that this is a hobby shop casting process, not a precision casting shop. Even if we were casting copper (which we’re not), if you require precision or if porosity is an issue, you’d be better off with a commercial shop.
I’ve often wondered if DMS could “partner up” with dental laboratory technicians or a dental lab for stuff like this.
Let me know if you dive into that rabbit hole.
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From what I can tell, copper is extremely difficult to cast. It’s particularly prone to cracks and porosity.
A turn-key copper casting from Shapeways is probably the best way to do this.
One snippet I remember from college oh-so-long-ago is that copper really likes to boil. And at that time, what was recommended to help prevent it from getting too crazy was to use green wood as the stirring item. We were told that the big copper smelting processes bought green logs to use to stir the copper. I’m not sure if this is still the case, or if somebody has extracted the specific ingredients for purchase.
Yes. Two things to do.
(1) We typically do a casting lab “class” on the last Sunday and Monday of each month. It’s a two day event. Sunday is typically around 6pm; Monday is typically around 1pm. We invest on Sunday and we cast on Monday. Normally we’re using the J2R caster, but it’s easy to fire up the blue centrifugal caster. I plan to be using it this month myself. Watch for this event on the calendar so you can sign up. Once you see it on the calendar, don’t delay. It fills almost immediately.
(2) Go to learn.makerspace.org and select the class “Lost Wax Casting Part 1 - Self Study”. This course is primarily focused on the centrifugal caster. It demonstrates the smaller vacuum table (and we’re mostly using the larger one, but the principle is the same). This won’t clear you to use the machine by yourself, but it will give you a real good idea what our process entails. I strongly urge you to do this. It will clarify a lot of information before you show up at the in-person class.
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