The Bucket Foundry

[Flettner]

I've been lucky enough to have work right through this lock down so uniflow bits are done sporadically. Actually gives me time to think, less cock ups perhaps��. I've just finished a big commertial job so I might treat myself to some uniflow time tomorrow.
Transfers and pistons can not be shown, but everything else can.

[F5 Dave]

I was going to make some sort of joke about tank clearance but it never fully formed.

[WilDun]

Maybe we could call it the "Enigma Machine" ?? or ..... could it be a modified something else from a couple of years back? (possibly with only one piston after all??) but still uniflow! .... hmmm!

[Michael Moore]

palezu, your CI cylinder came out very nice!


el chupacabra, do you have a local foundry? Stop by and have a chat with them, I think you'll find that handing them patterns (that incorporate whatever details they prefer) is likely to be more to their liking than you bringing in a mold and asking them to pour it. If they have no idea what is in the mold, they don't want you blaming them if the part doesn't cast properly. And if you are looking at full DIY using professional quality materials I think you'll save a lot of money/time/aggro by avoiding that. Give them patterns they are happy to mold and pour and let them give you sound castings in a known alloy. You might be able to get them to HT the castings for not a lot of extra as long as you can wait for them to go into a scheduled batch.

A friend has gotten castings from a foundry 400 miles away. He sent them loose Renshape patterns (V8 car rocker covers) and they sent back the patterns and castings. So while it would be nice to deal with a reputable local foundry if you don't have one then there are alternate options.

cheers,
Michael

[Flettner]

a little more work on the shell sand core machine.

[Flettner]

Finally a bit of patternmaking. Single cylinder Uniflow.

[Flettner]

Uniflow cylinder moving along. Making core boxes.

[WilDun]

Uniflow cylinder moving along. Making core boxes.

A bit early to ask, but how do you think the plating process will cope with the extra long bore?

And ..... I hope you checked the tarp on the 360 outside in the rain!

[Flettner]

yes and yes.
Tarp is well secure
nikasil guy, Grant, says 48 x 220 no problem. Intetestingly treated as a single cylinder, in regards to costing, good aye.

[Flettner]

cylinder bore core box.

[Grumph]

Yeah, Grant's one of the good guys. I'd have thought with those proportions, distortion could be a problem.
Any thoughts or anticipation of how to avoid it ?

What wood are you using ? Looks to machine well. Tell me it's an old Kauri fencepost....

[Flettner]

macrocarpa post.

[WilDun]

Yeah, Grant's one of the good guys. I'd have thought with those proportions, distortion could be a problem.
Any thoughts or anticipation of how to avoid it ?....

Grumph,
I was thinking more on the lines of how consistent the thickness of the plating would be - I believe that with (chrome at least) plating tends to be thicker at each end - but then with the Nikasil process, it might be a very different scenario!

Neil,
Are you considering a "straight line" arrangement for the piston assembly? or is it as yet 'classified information' as in your transfer arrangement (eg like 'shutting down' some ports - as you alluded to earlier)?

[Grumph]

Grumph,
I was thinking more on the lines of how consistent the thickness of the plating would be - I believe that with (chrome at least) plating tends to be thicker at each end - but then with the Nikasil process, it might be a very different scenario!

Grant has explained it to me at one point. Forgotten most of it now but thickness is consistent over the length.

What I was told - and remembered - is that doing blocks with adjacent bores like 6 cylinder BMW's can be a problem with heat buildup
I think they do alternate bores to avoid this.

The long cylinder here with ports cut in it could be a candidate for distortion - but as you say, Wil, I could be wrong.
Grant and the boys have done enough now they should know what they're doing. But in Grant's words to me "that Neil guy sends us some weird stuff"
But it was said admiringly....

[Flettner]

Will D, I got lots of ideas, it depends on which one wins on the day of the pattern being made.
No, really, this one will just use standard crank cases and rods. Im trying not to make my usual mistake of cramming too many new things into one development.