DIY Foundry in a Box: Step-by-Step Guide for Hands-on Metal Casting

1. Foundry in Box - How to Do It? Each of following pages gives a description of how to put FIB together & conduct a session • Page 2 – Patterns poured from silicone ice cube trays. • Page 3 – Preparing and Mounting pattern (widget) shape on match plate pattern which is a 4 inch square plywood piece. • Page 4 – Shows flask (electrical boxes), clamps (binder clips), & downsprue ready for mold assembly. • Page 5 – View of material and equipment needed for Molding Station. • Page 6 – View of Molding Station where youth fills & compacts mold with sand with assistance from an adult. • Page 7 - View of Melting & Pouring Station where experienced AFS - SVC adult pours mold while explaining to the youth who is watching what he is doing. • Page 8 – View of Shakeout & Finishing Station where experienced AFS - SVC adult degates cast widget, cools it, files any sharp edges and gives it to the student who made the mold. • Page 9 – Sifting of Sand after each FIB demonstration. • Page 10 – View of Typical Set-Up 6 to 10 Banquet Size Tables. • Page 11 – Pictures of AFS-SVC Set-Ups with Attendees. • Page 12 – Spreadsheet showing all material & prices AFS-SVC paid for items – Your chapter can put together FIB for around $850. AFS SVC How to Do FIB

2. Example of the Silicone ice cube trays used to make patterns. • The molten Tin (450 F) can be poured directly into a Silicone type ice cube tray – allow melt to cool by unplugging power source. • If tray melts – can make up plaster-of-paris molds to cast the first tin widget shapes and then use tin as pattern. Example of Silicone ice cube tray that is used to make patterns. Yellow one is Teddy Bear & Black one is Bat. Example of other widget shapes cast in tin from Silicone ice cube trays. Example s showing Teddy Bear & Bat mounted onto the match plate pattern. AFS SVC How to Do FIB

3. Example of the Pattern to make the shape. Match Plate molding with all the features in the cope. Down sprue ¼’ wood dowel guide pins glued into wood pattern plate pre-drilled to accept pins Runner & Gate Pattern Shape Guide pins Wood Pattern 3/8” plywood cut to size of electrical box flasks. (4 1/8” x 4 1/8”) Pattern held in with wood glue and 3/8” screws Down sprue use 8-32 ¾” screw with nut & lock nut Drag side of match plate pattern with hardware needed to assemble components Drag side of match plate pattern with hardware in place AFS SVC How to Do FIB

4. View of all molding material needed and ready for molding Cope Flask – electrical box 1” tall. Modified by drilling guide pin holes to line up with match plate patterns used. This not only helps strip flask from pattern straighter, but also its a fail safe way to insure mold assembled correctly Match Plate Pattern Shape assembly as shown in previous slide Drag Flask - electrical box only 3/8” tall Binder Clips to hold assembly together both during molding & pouring Down Sprue ½” aluminum tube cut to size with groove cut to go over runner at bottom of down sprue AFS SVC How to Do FIB

5. View of Mold ready for sand filling & compaction. Showing the material needed at each molding location set-up Sand used to fill molds with some type of scooper Steel Brush used to clean pattern before flasks are placed over it. Hammer used to strike wood compactor to densify sand around widget shape Wood Compactor used to densify sand in flasks Mold assembly – Make sure to fill drag mold first, then turn over and install downsprue and fill cope mold AFS SVC How to Do FIB

6. View of Molding station. Youth filling flasks with sand with adult assistance , compacting drag and cope flask, stripping mold from the match plate pattern. 1. Youth reaching into sand container to get sand to fill drag mold 4. Mold ready to be stripped from pattern. First pull out down sprue. 2. After drag mold made, student flips over mold and inserts downsprue. Then starts to fill cope mold 5. Second, take off drag mold. Third hold match plate wood pattern and carefully strip off cope flask. 3. Student densifies mold using hammer and compaction block. What kid doesn’t love to play in sand and whack a hammer! 6. Picture showing cope & drag flask with match plate pattern that made it. Ready to be re-assembled with the clamps and poured. AFS SVC How to Do FIB

7. View of Melting & Pouring station. After Youth makes the mold with adult assistance, he/she takes mold with name tag to Pouring Station Melting Station – always manned by trained AFS-SVC member. Melt tin shot, runners and scrap widgets. Two Molds Ready to Pour Melting Pot that melts tin shot, runners and scrap widgets with a Mold ready to pour Pouring a mold from the melting/pouring hot pot. Adult explains to youth tin’s melting point, oxide layer being skimmed off, and how important the gating system is as mold solidifies. AFS SVC How to Do FIB

8. View of Shakeout & Finishing station. After mold poured by AFS-SVC experienced pourer, mold is allowed to solidify, and then shaken out of sand Shakeout & Finishing station manned by trained AFS-SVC member, who explains & shows what he is doing to the student as he watches. After downsprue & runner cut from widget shape, it is cooled in bucket of water (grip in hand or tongs) Any excess flash and /or runner system is removed with cut off pliers. Mold sand is shaken out of flasks & sand recycled. AFS SVC finishing person shows student the shaken out widget shape he/she molded with gating still intact showing how molten tin filled shape. Final finishing includes filing off any sharp edges before widget shape student molded is given to him/her. AFS SVC How to Do FIB

9. Molding Sand Re-Cycling between each FIB Presentation During any one FIB event sand is recycled from shakeout to molding. But between each event all molding sand is sifted through strainer where any small pieces of tin are removed During sifting all lumps of sand are also broken into fine sand. AFS SVC How to Do FIB

10. Typical Set-Up for FIB presentation at School, Church, or other location Name Card’s are index cards or papers that Youth write their first name on. The Card will stay with mold during Pouring and Finishing so Youth gets the casting they molded. Name Card & Pick Up Safety Glasses & Match Plate Pattern Station where student will be pick out widget shape he/she will be casting. Melting/Pouring Station Lay-out uses one table with the roller FIB container top used as melting platform. Keeps it away from students, and allows melting & pouring without unplugging the hot pot melter Pouring Station – for safety purposes put a strip of blue painters tape on floor, 2-3 feet from front of pouring table, to keep youth from reaching onto table with molten metal Typical Molding Station Lay-out. Using banquet style tables (7’ by 2.5’) can get 3 molding stations per table. AFS SVC has used parent volunteers from organization visiting to assist at molding station – just need 15 minutes of training. Degate & Finishing lay-out typically uses 2 banquet size tables. Need bucket of water under table for cooling gating system after shakeout. Again AFS SVC has used parent volunteers from organization visiting to assist at this station AFS SVC How to Do FIB

11. Pictures of AFS SVC FIB presentation during 2014 & 2015 events Hemmeter Elementary School, Saginaw, Michigan – SPARK Day Typical Set-Ups have been in Class Room or Gymnasium type settings; • Banquet Size Tables (6’ x 2.5’) can be set up in variety of configurations: • Straight line – introduction, sign-in, pick up patterns (one table), molding (3 stations per table), melting & pouring (one table), shakeout & finishing (2 tables) in one line • “L” Shape • “U” Shape Standish Elementary School, Molding Stations using cafeteria type tables. AFS SVC Member introducing FIB activity with Posters & Steps in Process Molding Station with Adults helping Students mold their widget shapes. Delta STEM Day Activity AFS SVC How to Do FIB

12. AFS SVC How to Do FIB