r/Metalfoundry

I finally had an opportunity to purchase some premium silicon bronze from a company and oh my god what a difference in quality. I did hollow casting only for the 2nd time ever with this, and the detail that came out was astonishing. I can only imagine what I'd get when I practice hollow casting more and get better at it (and also a better vacuum chamber).

Anyways, I added LED lights to most of them which is why I made them hollow and I like how they turned out, especially the skeletal native Americans. Most of the unfilled areas were intentional, but I did have a few areas not fill in which was weird because the high detail and thin areas filled out perfectly. I think it was because of trapped gases/air?

I was able to retain a rainbow patina by heat treating the surface prior to buffing. I'm amazed at how well the color stayed because every other bronze I've cast oxidized too fast to retain the color for very long and washed out pretty quickly. Also, adding protectaclear drastically reduces the color retention (didn't add on the skeletons vs. the others I did). The 2 outer skeletons ended up solid because I forgot to drill holes to vent the plaster, the middle one is hollow.

Lost PLA investment casting method

Hi, hope someone can advise, I need to replicate some of these guitar pickup covers and I’m drawing a blank on exactly how to go about it.

I *guess* they could be cast brass that’s been chromed and paint infilled, but I’m a wood guy, so don’t really know. They don’t look like other stamped pickup covers I have.

Would getting someone to make say, ten of these be feasible? Any other way it could be done?

Any suggestions would be gratefully received!

Lost PLA investment casting method, liver of sulfur for the patina. Melted scrap metal that I alloyed together for the Nordic Gold. I absolutely love this color and it's by far my favorite look. The red and white colors are epoxy resin that I added for effect

Furnace is set to 1150° C, and I’m heating the crucible with a MAP torch before pouring, but the poor looks “chunky” and comes out like this. What am I doing wrong?

Was on night shift going through some quotes with the maint planner and we were joking about how the lead times on certain sections are killing our shutdown schedule. That turned into him saying we should just start looking at North American steel processors for some of the more specialised stuff.

I work in maintenance on an iron ore site in WA, mostly dealing with wear plate, pipe spooling, and the usual Frankenstein repairs on chutes and conveyors. Lately we’ve had dramas getting specific grades/sections on time, or we get them and the tolerances/straightness are a bit average. Maybe I’m overthinking this but it’s starting to screw with planning.

Has anyone here actually imported plate, tube or structural from North American steel processors for mining work here? How did you find the quality, specs vs what was ordered, and how painful were shipping, customs, and QA docs? Also, how did it stack up on cost once you added freight and delays?

Keen to hear real-world experiences - wins, horror stories, whatever.