Warbird Information Exchange

I am looking into doing an aluminum casting project when the weather warms up here in Ohio. At this point, the parts I am looking into making are non-structural, non-load bearing, however you want to put it. I have done some research and found it is possible to do at home without breaking the bank.

Does anybody out there have any experience casting aluminum? Any tips / tricks / advice? Anyplace reputable where you get your supplies? Where do you get your aluminum? The biggest problem I am having thus far is finding a small quantity supplier of aluminum ingots. I also thought about approaching some of the resto groups looking for junk castings that could be re-smelted. That way, the casting would be a little more "vintage".

Anybody out there want to weigh in on this?

Find a place that overhauls engines and buy their scrap pistons?

The local scrap yard usually has stuff by me.

Old pistons are probably best as BDK suggests since they are almost 100% aluminum and not 'blends' of added metals, aircraft aluminum actually brings less per pound @ a recyclers because of all the added metals like copper, manganese, etc. used as alloying materials which adds cost/steps involved for the smelter to remove and deal with. They'd rather have a pickup truck of soda cans they can spit out quickly as a pure ingot as opposed to you showing up with a dump truck full of wrecked PIPER AZTEC.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

What he said.

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Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

That is genius! Plus, they`d already be small enough to go in the crucible to melt.

Glad to be of service. If you were close I would donate some.

WIX's own Taigh Ramey has done some sand casting of aluminum parts for his PV-2D Harpoon restoration. See the Harpoon thread. He has photos posted.

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Link to post: PV-2D Harpoon 84062 (Tanker 101) comes back to life

The post is long, so make sure to scroll down as it starts on a different topic. Also, make sure to read the following posts, as they explain more about the process.

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Tri-State Warbird Museum Collections Manager & Museum Attendant

Warbird Philosophy Webmaster

Another source would be scrap motorcycle & auto engines. I can't speak for other manufacturers, but the alloy used in Kawasaki crankcases is a joy to work with.... & is easily welded if needed (don't ask).

Just make sure it's not some valuable crankcase you're about to take a hammer to

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Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

In high school metal shop class we used old Briggs and Stratton crankcases. We made wood patterns allowing for the aluminum shrinkage, and we tamped damp "sand" around the pattern that was set inside the steel alignment frames. We removed "sand" by hand to let the aluminum in, and to get vents out. On on long or large patterns you would have to add more vents depending on intricacy. I forgot what chemical we added to clean the molten metal before the pour, but it worked well and the contaminents were easly skimmed off. We would pour the moulds full, as fast as we could safely pour, so the aluminum would not try to stop flowing and make bad casts. Good part of getting a bad cast, was that it just wasted your time. The bad cast was returned to the crucible, and the pattern re-done, and re-poured.

The most common mistake I saw happen was too small of sprue openings, that did not let the metal enter fast enough, and did not have enough head pressure to make the metal flow out on thinner areas. It is a bit of an art, some kids just never got it right, even with extensive coaching. Intricate items take a lot of practice.

I had a lot of fun with it.

Good luck!

Here's some interesting aluminum casting work:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/show ... ost8439995

I`d like to thank everybody who has posted. I`ve gotten a LOT further with all of your help than i would have gotten on my own. I just have a set of plans to track down, and then wait for the weather to break. I think i can make a furnace with stuff I have laying around and maybe about 50 bucks in supplies from Lowe`s. Stay tuned...