Sand casting capability

Blacksmithing
1

There is a rumor blacksmithing is working on a sand casting capability. I understand it is still in process.

For non-blacksmithing folks, will there be any pre-reqs for any future sand casting classes? I was going to work on those while you all are finishing up

Max Locke

P.S. if u all need a non-blacksmithing guinea pig, let me know

2

We are aren’t setup for sand casting yet. Still need to build a crucible furnace build frames to hold the sand, a station to pack the frames, and get safety gear and develop training. Its on a long to do list. It will take several experienced people to run so probably will have 3-4 sand casting group events per year. We have talked about casting Aluminum and Bronze. Cast iron was originally considered but the cupola furnaces spew hot ash so we dont have a suitable place for that.

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3

Understand

Will there be any prerequisites that I should take now to be ready? Or will I be able to jump in with no blacksmithing background/checkouts, etc. when sandcasting is ready.

Thanks

Max

4

Meaning, jump into the sand casting training…

5

There isn’t any training at the moment. If you would like to do research on your own there are tons of videos on YouTube. We have a kiln and a sand pit mostly but as Randy said we don’t have casting boxes, bigger crucibles, training, safety gear…etc. @Christian_Greeff has done some very small stuff at DMS in aluminum if you want to ask him about it.

6

I have not taken anything in blacksmithing.

For instance, when u do get the sandcasting training set up, will something like " Blacksmithing introduction and open forge" be a pre-req? Or will I be able to jump right into sand casting training?

If so, I can take the pre-req now

Thanks

Max

7

Casting is kinda a joint venture with blacksmithing/metal shop but it won’t require any blacksmith classes. It will most likely be an event in parallel with the blacksmithing open forge days

8

Ok.

I will read up and be ready

Thanks

Max

9

You should take Blacksmithing and Metalshop classes to get comfortable being arms length away from hot glowing metal. And its fun.

10

Will do

Thanks

Max

11

There are a few bronze art foundries in DFW, would there be any value in reaching out to them?

12

If you have any contacts getting a tour, advice, and being able to buy raw materials would be very helpful.

13

I don’t know the local sculpture community, but I can certainly gather info on the local art foundries, and see if they do tours. They do much smaller pours than the industrial ones and likely able to help.

I did sand and investment casting in college, haven’t been able to do it in 2 decades, though. I’m so glad we might have this!

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14

Sorted by distance from the Makerspace

Schaefer art bronze casting
132 S Collins St, Arlington, TX 76010
(817) 460-1102

A&B (Aluminum & Brass) Foundry
Smaller decorative castings, drain covers, downspouts, etc… not art- but might be a good resource.
11165 Denton Dr, Dallas, TX 75229
(972) 247-3579

Hefestus Fine Arts
3823 E Hwy 199, Springtown, TX 76082
(682) 229-8234

Mcmaster Carr sells bronze ingots.
What size/material crucible are y’all going for? Silicon Carbide?

15

I googled it, and we might have to be asking about what’s in any bronze ingots we might get:

What are the 3 components of bronze?

Bronze is a metal alloy that primarily contains copper and 12% tin. Other elements—such as aluminum, arsenic, manganese, phosphorus, and silicon—are also added to yield different properties. These mixtures form some of the common bronze alloys, including: Leaded bronze.

At least there’s no zinc, but arsenic makes me wonder quite a bit. I don’t think we’d accidentally get leaded bronze. Lead has such a bad rap that I doubt anyone would sell you some without being 100% explicit about it.

16

@AmeliaG would you have time to contact a few of the local foundries and see if they give tours, Im out of town for work and fun the next two weeks but pretty flexible after that. If during the work week an early morning tour would be my preference due to afternoon temperatures.
Thanks
Randy

17

We have done small scale sandcasting at the space in the past (5ish years ago) but the various pieces of equipment have wandered off over the time period since.

We only ever cast aluminum to my knowledge.

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18

Walter talked about casting pewter at one point, and he made it sound like we’d done that at DMS. Lead-free pewter, I’m pretty sure.

I had heard “American Certified Pewter” as a lead-free pewter, but Google says that that’s a trademark of the American Pewter Guild. Not a specific lead-free blend. Basically modern, post-1974 pewter is just tin with antimony and a bit of copper.

I know that I handed over a couple of small smelting pots/crucibles when I ooched the smelting furnace out of Fired Arts (it originally included Ceramics and Glasswork, plus the smelting furnace) into Blacksmithing.

19

I’ve been doing research of casting with sand and Tufa stone for jewelry. I’d love the opportunity to melt some silver in a crucible and pour directly into the casts. If this is something the jewelry/small metals department can collaborate with blacksmithing on, I’d like to help where I can.

20

I have a friend who was a previous member of DMS. He was recently working at Schaefer art bronze casting so I reached out to him. They love giving tours, but the owner Tommy is out on vacation this week. I toured it years ago, and would highly suggest it.

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