Metal Casting Zone Info Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Creating’

Cast Iron Casting- Creating complex shapes

Our daily activities comprises of using many small and big things having vital role in many activities. Big containers, candles, bottles, hammers, work pieces, sculptures etc are few of the many materials which have found their applications in our day to day activities. All these materials are designed to offer convenience and ease while working. Many statues and sculptures are shaped using created models.

Molds are created to produce items of similar shape and this process is termed as casting. A manufacturing process in which molten material is poured into the hollow cavity and after cooling it take shape of the mold. Casting is basically solidified part which is taken from mold to complete the entire process. This process is used to design shapes which are complex and difficult to design. This practice is followed due to its cost effective nature and ability to simplify the complex shapes.

Plastic, aluminum, glass or iron, any material can be melted to form shapes. Amongst many types, grey casting offers caster huge flexibility and freedom to make numerous shapes. Cast iron is used for this type of casting and it is derived from pig iron and also termed as grey iron. Grey cast iron is called because of the grey fractured surface and presence of the graphitic flakes deflects.

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Cast iron casting produces metal parts having low physical requirements, like oil pan, protective cover etc, frame, floor, hammer, handle base. Frame, knife, wheels, valves, pipes, motor blocks etc are the products which are produced using this casting. Gear box, brake wheel, coupling plate, medium pressure valve, cylinder liner, flywheels, and cylinder blocks are prepared using grey casting and have also found extensive applications in industries.

Cast iron casting makes use of material with good vibration damping, good wear resistance and good machine ability. However, it has low tensile strength and elongation, but ductile casting process makes use of ductile iron and malleable iron having great strength, amazing ductile properties and is also tough and offer resistance to heat. Ductile casting’s characteristics make them win over ductile steel casting, as it has high and complex production cost. Pressure pipes and fittings, automotive applications, road and construction applications, general engineering applications are various areas where casted ductile iron and malleable iron are used.

Several advantages of grey casting have opened its door in various fields, but at the same time it has to be linked with many drawbacks. This casting process cannot be used for variety of working conditions, which can be provided by ductile steel casting and iron steel casting. Besides, not so good mechanical properties deprive cast iron from being welded and workable. There are many advantages and disadvantages which tells you to decide; what to choose and where?

This is a cast iron pipe that attached the upstairs bathroom. It will be removed and new PVC piping will be run elsewhere so this area can remain open.
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There are generally to ways to have your own piece of custom jewelry produced if you want to create one and the first way is to go to a jeweler that makes custom jewelry and have them produce it to your specifications. The other way to have it made is to create or sculpt it yourself in wax and then have a jeweler cast it in gold or silver for you.

This is basically the way that most all rings and bracelets are made, although there is finishing work that has to be done after it is cast, the basic form of the creation is determined in wax. Its called the “lost wax method” and it has been in use for thousands of years. Your idea is first created in wax by using sculpting or dental wax. Standard paraffin wax won’t do because it is too hard and stiff and bees wax is too soft.

The wax ring or bracelet is then given to the jeweler who then encases the wax sculpture in plaster. After the plaster that incases the wax ring or bracelet has cured and dried it is placed in a hot kiln so the wax piece inside of it can melt and burn out. What is removed from the kiln is a chunk of plaster that has the hollow shape of the ring or bracelet in it where the wax was.

Jewelers use a centrifugal caster that spins around as the molten gold or silver is forced in to the hollow place in the chunk of plaster by the centrifugal force. After the gold or silver inside of the chunk of plaster has been allowed to cool the plaster is chipped away to reveal the jewelry piece where the wax ring or bracelet once was.

Have you ever looked at a piece of your jewelry and wonderd just how the jeweler made it? How do they create the fine detail in a piece of jewelry and what about the smooth swirling shapes. The fact of the matter, is that every piece of fine jewelry starts out being made from wax. Its called the “lost wax” casting method and it is amazing to see from start top finish.

The first step is to create the piece out of sculpting wax, which is the same wax that dentists use to make crowns for peoples teeth with, because dentists use the lost wax method for casting gold crowns. Then the wax piece is then encased in a can that is filled with wet plaster and allowed to cure and dry. After the can of plaster with the wax piece in has dried it is then placed in a hot kiln so the wax “piece” in it can melt and burnout of it.

What is then removed from the kiln is a hunk of plaster with the hollow shape of the wax piece left in the middle of it. The jeweler will then place the hunk of plaster in a device that spins around and uses centrifugal force to push molten metal down into the hollow shape inside of the hunk of plaster. It will then be allowed to cool and then the plaster will be chipped away revealing the piece of jewelry where the wax piece once was.

It will be cleaned up and then any details will be carved into it or welded onto it using a jewelers delicate tools and a jewelers torch. If any stones or gems are to be added to it, that will be the last step that is taken. It is then given a final polish and it is done. This method of making jewelry has not changed in thousands of years.