The Bucket Foundry

[Cheesy]

[IMG][/IMG]

Testing the new I phone 7, injected Kawasaki.

Probably not much use to you but someone has written an android app for megasquirt, I added a bluetooth rs323 adapter to the MS board and can now do it all on a tablet (this is in a car though so no where near as cool as an EFI 2 stroke)

[Flettner]

It's a bit crap, you would think Link had a window that would plug into the ECU and be able to see the program while it's running, but not as big as a lap top. They do make a screen that shows temps etc but not the running program. So, o well, this setup works, if a little cumbersome.

[Yow Ling]

It's a bit crap, you would think Link had a window that would plug into the ECU and be able to see the program while it's running, but not as big as a lap top. They do make a screen that shows temps etc but not the running program. So, o well, this setup works, if a little cumbersome.

You are lucky you didn't build this bike 25 years ago when portable computers were called lugables

[WilDun]

More or less finished my furnace which I have left to dry out before firing it up.

Decided a while ago to have a go at making machinable wax and got a large candle from the little Chinese craft shop down the road, bought an electric frypan on Trademe for $10, cut up a few milk bottles and a few opaque yoghurt containers ( The yoghurt containers look to be the same material as milk containers ie Hi density polyethelyne or HDPE).

I turned the frypan up to full bore and melted the candle first then melted in the plastic stirring it till it wouldn't absorb any more. Then I poured it into a thick walled cardboard core and let it cool overnight.
Shrinkage was a problem and I think it needs to be fed more wax as it cools. I ripped off the cardboard and tried it with a milling cutter and it machined beautifully, but although it was reasonably hard, it was still a little on the waxy side.
Today I melted it all down again and melted in another yoghurt container stirring it in (for about 15 mins) at as high a heat as I thought safe, before it got properly absorbed!

Not having many suitable things to pour it into, I used a couple of Weider weights as moulds (I was going to use them for material on the lathe) however, they showed me that the wax was excellent for patterns for lost wax casting as the writing on them came out perfectly!

I'll try machining the wax again tonight, - when you hit two pieces together, it sounds like hard plastic, the difference is that it cuts easily and cleanly with a knife and of course melts at much lower temperatures.
I have high hopes of it being good for machining.

[WilDun]

A word of warning though, you need to use temperature controlled heating! - don't try it with gas hobs etc.!

I got a terrible fright a few days ago, although I had originally melted everything at full heat on the frypan the first time, I assumed that I would just melt it again at full heat - big mistake, I left it heating up and was working on something else and there was a sudden bang, the lid of the frypan jumped up and flipped and the melt went on fire! I managed to grab the lid and put it on again and the flames went out - luckily!

This time I kept the temperature a little lower, maybe a bit over three quarters and it did the job fine.
However, another fright today, luckily I had decided to do it all outside and I set a tin can full of hardened wax in the frypan and let it slowly melt, had a look at it and decided it was going a bit slow so I gave the crust on top a prod with my stirring stick and the whole lot shot into the molten pool underneath spraying me with hot molten wax!
I really got a fright when I saw the congealed wax all over my hand so I rushed to the cold tap and held it there for about 10 minutes and I consider myself lucky to get off lightly with a very red hand covered with cracking wax and a couple of little blisters! (hurt like hell though).

Moral of the story? - listen to those who have done it before, don't be in too much of a rush, have everything prepared and thought out beforehand, don't underestimate the flammability of hot wax and the possibility of it doing some severe damage to your body!
Keep an extinguisher handy and DON'T spray it straight into the molten wax pool, or it will come back and bite you!!!
Always wear some leather gloves and adequate eye and face protection.

In other words, -Don't be a DICK (like me )

[Bert]

Thanks for sharing guys.

I'm starting to get excited by this (again)

Here's my fist attempt at a furnace from a few years back. Scotty keeps laughing at me (apparently I should stick to my day job)...

k.

It won't be long until GPR starts melting again...

[Yow Ling]

Another closet pyro coming out, I suppose you guys will cast a frame, easy !!

[Flettner]

EFI twostroke, Sherco.

[WilDun]

FLETTNER, those photos you last posted didn't come up when I clicked on them, it just took me to the Photobucket site but that's as far as I got! - would still be keen to see them if possible.

BERT, Good to see there are others interested!
I get laughed at too, my family think I'm nuts, (maybe I am, but it's a much happier state to be in than following the great sane majority, who know best what I should enjoy!).

YL, That's pushing things a bit! and you'd be missing out on all the fun building a steel one out of 4130 or whatever they use nowadays!

[husaberg]

Finished 360 cylinder water cores with allowance for blade type power valve now. Metal will flow through this gap to make a soild plug through which I can machine a slot for the power valve blade to run. As simple as that.

give me a minute.........

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...psce0016e9.jpg
Carbon based release agent

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...psa45ec78e.jpg
Filling with shell core heat set sand, then off to the oven to bake.

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...h_IMG_0519.jpg

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...ps14c5c5a6.jpg

Only seam available as a mini pic Neil?

Carbon based release agent


Filling with shell core heat set sand, then off to the oven to bake.

[Flettner]

These might be a little clearer, back to my old system.

[husaberg]

kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

little photo story.

[WilDun]

FLETTNER.
Carbon based release agent??
In the first photo are you deliberately using a carbonising flame?

[Flettner]

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...ps14c5c5a6.jpg

Like that?

[husaberg]

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...ps14c5c5a6.jpg

Like that?

That's it. now if you do the last step you can place them in with the text.


Its a down arrow in the attachment box just to the right (can't see it in the dark zone settings I use.)

The first one you did the water cores
was done as adding a link to a picture (which is great to use when the picture exceeds the size allowed by KB.)
http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...ps14c5c5a6.jpg


the easiest way to do this is just to rick click on the picture get the address, and then just paste it in direct. (the clever KB widget fairies recognise this and it works a treat.)
http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...ps14c5c5a6.jpg