The Bucket Foundry

[WilDun]

SLIDER UPDATE.
Well after a time away, an involuntary event and back to some hard work, ............At the same time also wanted to check out the simple load arm and spring scale as I have abandoned the idea of using the software that came with the dyno due to the apparently failed load cell and/or its amplifier.
That being done, it will then go home where I can run it in the back of the shed to really give the neighbours the shits.

I think that you must know your neighbours pretty well and vice versa or you'd think twice before attempting that!

So the absorber is a water brake and you will be calculating everything from the torque and rpm readouts? - sorry but I just need to familiarise myself with all the stuff which I have had no experience with.
Is the absorber constructed similar to a centrifugal pump?.

[Frits Overmars]

Is the absorber constructed similar to a centrifugal pump?.

Probably more like a hydraulic torque converter.

[WilDun]

Probably more like a hydraulic torque converter.

Ok, that helps, does make sense! - I understand how a torque converter works!

[ken seeber]

SLIDING CYLINDER.

Found out that I had to use Microsoft Edge to upload cos my Internet Explorer hadn’t been updated.

So here it is, really short and amateurish, but does tell a bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBEAt2FIOqE

Willy, when I pull it apart I'll show some pics, but as Frits suggested, I think it'll look like the inside of a torque converter

[Frits Overmars]

SLIDING CYLINDER. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBEAt2FIOqE

I don't trust that rev counter any more than you do Ken. It doesn't happen to come from a four-cylinder car, does it?

[Flettner]

How cool is that.

[WilDun]

Progress! - Hearing it actually going must be good, just keep on developing, - have you still got it at the business premises?, after that's all done (or maybe before) fix that bloody leak and then maybe morph the 3 pipes into one!
Then you can tear down the dyno and show me what it looks like inside!

[Lightbulb]

Great work there Ken. How important was the water cooled fan?
Let us know when you get some revs on it. Does sound great though that is for sure.
Neil

[WilDun]

Funny how threads wax and wane (this one is on the wane at the moment). I would be interested to know just how many people visiting this thread have actually had a go at casting as well as just having a passing interest. Also, it is sometimes hard to keep track of what is happening and who actually knows who and what is happening with various projects.

The use of private messages probably contributes some to the gaps in the information we receive.
Eg, as I understand it, Neil (aka Flettner) supplied the initial casting to Ken for his sliding cylinder arrangement, but I'm wondering if their projects are still closely tied to each other, or have their ideas and designs diverged somewhat?

It is understandable that if anyone came up with a radical design and which was worthwhile developing, that despite the co-operation we would like to have here, there comes a time when things need to be kept under wraps or at least not to the extent of putting it all on the net for the whole world to see.
It's probably different on threads like ESE (where it's all about wringing the neck of and getting the last quarter horse out of an already over wrought two stroke engine, never designed for such high outputs!). .... and that's bloody good fun I reckon!

There has been a lot of detailed casting info here (almost exclusively by Flettner, but also Michael Moore and I understand Ken from Aus has done a lot in the past plus a few others from all over the world) and even though that detailed stuff has died down, there must be some more of you who have had some experience at foundry work, even if it had nothing to do with bikes!

Haven't heard a lot from the guy who started this thread lately either, (Yow Ling) - I don't really know what he does for a crust (probably tied up doing bikes) but he must have had a strong interest in casting initially, to have started this thread!

Me? - well I'm a retired old "muddler" unable to ride bikes anymore (maybe never really could!) but I still keep an eager eye out for new designs and trends especially in "designed and built from scratch" engines.

This casting obsession goes right back to when I was about 12 when I was casting "medals" in lead and later on visiting the local foundry on the way home from school - actually remember being kicked out for walking on some "mounds" which apparently were moulds ready for pouring!

I also regularly visited the local scrapyard where there were two Bristol sleeve valve radials from a Wellington bomber which crashed locally - these I eventually hoped to get hold of! - like bikes, this stuff gets in your blood but obviously not in your Genes (3 sons and not one of them interested in bikes or foundry stuff!).

My son has allowed me to move my casting gear to his bach (holiday house to our overseas friends) on the proviso that I don't go there and do any casting on my own - he is mildly interested in 3d printers - that's why I have been having a look there.

Bucket Racing? well, watching isn't really as good as taking part - I always miss the Mt Wellington days because I don't seem to have any info on when it's on there !

Sorry, hadn't realised how much I had written - goes to prove you can still actually post something, even if it's F.A. !

[Lightbulb]

It's been many years since I did patterns and sand casting myself. I have made lost wax moulds up until 2009 and dissolveable wax cores as well. But there is no tricks I can add that this thread has not already shown or covered that I am aware of so far. It is great seeing what is being done and how people are doing it.
Neil

[WilDun]

It's been many years since I did patterns and sand casting myself. I have made lost wax moulds up until 2009 and dissolveable wax cores as well. But there is no tricks I can add that this thread has not already shown or covered that I am aware of so far. It is great seeing what is being done and how people are doing it.
Neil

You mentioned "dissolvable wax cores", how do they work? - not sure that I have heard of that process before ...... ???

[Lightbulb]

You mentioned "dissolvable wax cores", how do they work? - not sure that I have heard of that process before ...... ???

Not having read this thread from the very start, I assumed it had been covered.
It is when you make a core to go inside a wax core to create a detail that can not be otherwise created.
It can be placed into the wax mould, then have the wax put in around this core. This core is then dissolved in water
leaving a wax with the detail that a solid core can not provide, like detail that would result in an undercut for example.
It is more expensive and does rely on the people to be really careful in what they are doing. It is another thing to account
for in the shrinkage etc. So in the ones I did, there is guides that fit into the tool that support this soluble wax
and align it in the mould. Of course you are working with what is not going to be there in the final product or working in the
negative so to speak. So sharp edges become essential if you want the result to look good. A chamfer or a radius will
look wrong in some instances. In some cases in order to get the detail where it is needed the soluble wax may need
to take on a bigger roll of coring than what might have initially been envisaged. Like in a model engine, the side transfer soluble
core will need to be the boost and the inner for the cylinder and the inner for the case and shaft tunnel and exhaust stack inner.
This way, you have plenty of areas to stabilise and centralise the soluble core for the wax injection process. The soluble core mould
is made of many sliding parts like a jig saw puzzle in order to create the shapes needed.
Sometimes a melted core is used to help create the soluble core as well. Just depends on the level of difficulty in creating the core
that is needed. A bit like Mr Hintz and his puzzle of parts to make the core and mould he does. But all the core moulds are Steel,
Ali and brass.
Neil

[WilDun]

Of course you are working with what is not going to be there in the final product or working in the
negative so to speak. ........ The soluble core mould is made of many sliding parts like a jig saw puzzle in order to create the shapes needed.
Sometimes a melted core is used to help create the soluble core as well. Just depends on the level of difficulty in creating the core
that is needed. A bit like Mr Hintz and his puzzle of parts to make the core and mould he does. But all the core moulds are Steel,
Ali and brass.
Neil

I think I've got it, - not entirely sure to be honest, but as I see it, both the finished wax and the soluble wax core will remain as seperate entities when the wax is injected (to form the pattern) and the core will not become part of the wax (wax pattern)?? - so the soluble core must actually have a higher melting point than the "wax" but also be soluble in something - water? or what? - forgive me if I look like a right dick here! (you may have to show some patience)

Update: After being dipped and invested etc.to form a mould, the core will then actually become a hollow ceramic shell which is an integral part of the mould?

[Lightbulb]

Sorry Will, Yeah it is in a lost wax system to make the wax that is the final item, that the shell is made from for the casting to take place.
The soluble core, can be dissolved in water or what ever the solvent is for that particular core. It allows you to have a final wax that is the part to be made with the added shrinkage incorporated into it. Then this wax crankcase in my example, is then dipped into investment and sand until a casting mould is created. Then in most cases, they warm the mould and the wax melts out, leaving the cavity for the Alloy to be cast into.
The soluble core is so the wax can be made with detail that could not otherwise be made. The soluble core takes the place of the solid core, except it allows undercuts to be made etc.
Neil

[WilDun]

Sorry Will, Yeah it is in a lost wax system to make the wax that is the final item, that the shell is made from for the casting to take place...........
The soluble core, can be dissolved in water or what ever the solvent is for that particular core.

Yeah ..... well ..... maybe I should try it in order to get to understand it completely! - always the best way. trouble is there's so many things to try and not enough time or resources to do it! sandcasting, Milling ,turning, machine building & repair, 3D draughting to learn, foundry work, designing the ultimate two stroke to bring about the promised two stroke revival! - ...... I do hope there is such a thing as re-incarnation!