Oct17
Weekend aluminum foundry project update:
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 17, 2020
Just need to mount the temp controller PID and everything into the control box, then this project is basically done.
Then I can start doing some casting experiments🤓 pic.twitter.com/pE6EAblAPc
How to do quick project box cutouts with minimal tools:
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 17, 2020
1 – Scribe the area you want to cut out
2 – On a drillpress, use a small drill bit and peck around the cutout holes
3 – Use a small end mill to cut everything out
4 – Finish with a quick filing.
🙂https://t.co/apTztZcYMw pic.twitter.com/QeKRSg1XEz
Getting the project box mounted to the propane tank foundry, using 1/4" bolts as standoffs
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 17, 2020
The outside doesn't get *too* how so I think it will be OK.
If not, I can always pack insulation between the two and add a fan.https://t.co/fBylElBgaQ pic.twitter.com/cpw0eHxHu6
Finishing up the wiring now🤓https://t.co/D1Yy76oKZ3 pic.twitter.com/COx83mQUfz
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 17, 2020
Ooof.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 17, 2020
I had the foundry fired up and was melting aluminum for maybe an hour, then I noticed it started cooling down.
Turns out some Al had spilled to the side and shorted the coil. 😱
Spent some time trying to clean it out to no avail.
New one tomorrowhttps://t.co/e2zB5BlVWT pic.twitter.com/lkTuZKz9aW
Lessons learned:
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 17, 2020
– Add a 20a breaker to keep the Solid State Relay from burning out. (and maybe just swap with a regular relay?)
– Add a stainless 'splash guard' between the coil and crucible to keep shorts from happening
Oct18
Replaced the element in the homemade aluminum foundry, testing it out now.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 18, 2020
For now the foundry survives on a steady diet of old hard-drive chassis.🧐😋https://t.co/GwmMEbs6VF pic.twitter.com/BZoBjdjquj
First proper aluminum casting finished this morning.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 18, 2020
For a first ever test I'm pretty happy with it.☺️https://t.co/CBOEsTCa8B pic.twitter.com/56li5NQjX5
Casting cleaned up pretty good. Plenty of imperfections, but you can even see the little striations from the 3d print it came from:https://t.co/TCc8uzLaVO pic.twitter.com/t7sTRw3zzu
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 18, 2020
Also casting some more aluminum ingots to separate all the slag+paint+garbage from the good metal.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 18, 2020
It's much easier to reheat ingots, there's a lot less slag+garbage to skim off. pic.twitter.com/stfM5sYbIB
Oct19
Have been working on a homemade aluminum foundry over the past few weeks, turned out to be a pretty neat project.🥰
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 19, 2020
Anyone interested should read over the plans to see if it's something they're interested in.🤓
It doesn't take a lot of tools:https://t.co/DA0Nd979Lz pic.twitter.com/KFY0QZnNZV
Oct20
The engineering equivalent of brushing your hair and teeth while taking a dump😅 https://t.co/vSWSuKxZOQ
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 20, 2020
Working on a few ideas for a steel split-mold to make the whole aluminum casting process easier and more modular.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 21, 2020
Hopefully I have time to visit the metal supply shop this week🤞https://t.co/B63fALEgtG pic.twitter.com/bmJqIYkPh6
Huge power cables jumping against the Earth's magnetic field during an electrical short#Engineering #Electronics pic.twitter.com/cS3l29Q0v1
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 21, 2020
Oct24
Ordered a cast-iron frame to help with aluminum casting project.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 24, 2020
Finally getting a chance to test it out this morning🧐 pic.twitter.com/UBEPEwb5JK
Getting better😄
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 24, 2020
Homemade cast bitcoins☺️https://t.co/tN5xbzt9ic pic.twitter.com/p6rjw30aoZ
3rd time's the charm.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 24, 2020
I'm still getting a feel for the proceshttps://t.co/7Oj5dYTDId pic.twitter.com/ny3k7JedXP
Neo questions the idea of using humans to generate electrical power in The Matrix:
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 25, 2020
🧐 pic.twitter.com/E4TVtILT72
Crap I forgot to post the link. 😅😅😅https://t.co/ke3jnrlwZr
— Hippo University (@HippoUniversity) October 25, 2020
Oct25
Today's agenda is upgrading the electric foundry a bit and continuing with casting experiments.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 25, 2020
I definitely need to put a steel plate on the bottom,
because I've now burned up two coils when a bit of molten aluminum dropped onto them.🤫#Engineeringhttps://t.co/DA0Nd8PymZ
She's dead Jim.🙄
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 25, 2020
Open circuit >1megOhm vs the 100-200 ohms it should be.
Luckily I had a spare onhand already and it won't be too hard to swap out.https://t.co/isn1Bc5TPe pic.twitter.com/Qo1xgG2HYV
Doing the rewiring now, then I can focus on machining a steel baseplate so this issue doesn't happen again.🔧https://t.co/isn1Bc5TPe pic.twitter.com/MdY9cYMOcR
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 25, 2020
Tried machining a steel plate on the lathe, but the inserts kept wanting to chip. Ended up rounding it all off with an angle grinder.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 25, 2020
Result is sharper edges and it's not nearly as pretty, but it's more for catching splashes of aluminum than for show.🤫https://t.co/isn1Bc5TPe pic.twitter.com/epfZo9ZgzK
In addition to protecting the coils from splashes of aluminum, the added thermal mass might help protect the whole system from thermal shock.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 25, 2020
Everything's assembled and wired up, firing the homemade foundry back up now.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 25, 2020
Hopefully everything holds together a lot longer this time 😄https://t.co/isn1BcnvdO pic.twitter.com/78I2FOEPKS
Testing the homemade foundry and it says I'm only drawing 400 watts?! Feels like it should be double that, maybe my Kill-A-Watt is messed up ?
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 25, 2020
(I had it near some Tesla coil stuff last time I used it a long while back)https://t.co/bda1yeGY5k pic.twitter.com/zebicpEYC4
Did some more casting today (still trying to get the Bitcoin right)https://t.co/bda1yeGY5k pic.twitter.com/CkZQuKoc5A
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 25, 2020
Very cool. I made one (much smaller) out of a stick welder and some carbon rods. I was able to make liquid steel in about 40(ish) seconds.
— UMP 40 🎄🌲⛄☕ Christmas is here! (@RE_UMP40) October 25, 2020
Just a proof of concept now that it's working I'm gonna develop it some more I would love to have one like yours tho pic.twitter.com/hMNiXgQur2
Not much to show today, mostly just kept feeding the foundry scrap aluminum.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 25, 2020
So far I got about 25-30lbs of ingots made from a big pile of scrapped hard-drives and rails.https://t.co/bda1yeGY5k pic.twitter.com/Kgq7IH5iTW
https://t.co/bda1yeGY5k pic.twitter.com/a95nbeHW3l
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 25, 2020
Oct25
#Engineering #Protip,
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 27, 2020
If you ever get tar, paint, silicone, or something on your hands that does not come off with soap and water,
try using WD-40.
Works great 9 times out of 10.https://t.co/sGyKaoG2hz pic.twitter.com/nnHJrSC4LW
Case in point, I was up on the roof sealing the garage with roofing tar for the rainy season here in SoCAL, and the latex gloves I was using practically disintegrated in the process.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 27, 2020
Soap+water would barely make a dent cleaning my hands, but WD40 dissolved it in seconds.
Watching the electric skies is on my bucket list🥰 https://t.co/ikix2YDPvC
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 28, 2020
Oct29
Now that I have an aluminum foundry going, I want to try making machinable wax so I can CNC some coins.https://t.co/yIGWXqIGIW
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 29, 2020
Making a few master-molds on the CNC mill this weekend, so I figured I'd try making some machinable wax in the process.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 29, 2020
Mixing wax + plastic = a gooey slop that looks like wax but machines very well.
For micro-machining it's a lot less likely to break end mills. pic.twitter.com/YUg2d1QO9W
You'll see it a lot in jewelry making.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) October 29, 2020
Cutting metal can be tricky at such small scales when the end mills are as thin as a mechanical pencil lead,.
Wax requires more steps to cast, but is MUCH faster and easier to machine pic.twitter.com/uSJK6miTMv
Oct31
Still tinkering with the aluminum foundry,
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) November 1, 2020
doing lost-wax and lost-PLA casting this weekend. Started out by casting a plaster mold of a 3d-printed bitcoin to hopefully burn out later. pic.twitter.com/PkilI9EjzF
Tried machining a master coin mold out of aluminum, but once the bits get below 1/16th of an inch you run a much greater risk of breaking them.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) November 1, 2020
I gave up on this one after breaking a few 0.05" end mills😕 ($4-$10/ea and I only have so many to go around) pic.twitter.com/nST8bH5HG0
Machinable wax is faring MUCH better for small prototyping work.
— Hakasays (@Hakasays) November 1, 2020
The bits just eat right through the wax with almost no risk of breakage.
I'm gonna have to buy/make some more because a dream to work with.
(end goal is to do castings with them)https://t.co/uHmlMKYsMY pic.twitter.com/OrPql2aEsI