Metal Casting Zone

Glad to hear you are taking an interest into Casting. i do hand made as well for fun but when you get large orders for your pieces you will want to get into casting. I used to own a large Casting Factory and still cast on a smaller scale. As far as Investement I have tried most of them. I like "R&R ultravest the best. Highly pure, excellent quality. and never lets me down. And I have casted and shipped over 925K pieces of jewelry.

In your case i would recommend ordering it from Rio Grande in New Mexico. they ship world wide.

www.riogrande.com

Jonathan
www.jjsilverdesigns.com

The tools and equipment to invest can be made. But you will still want to buy a good Vacuum pump and a see through Bell Jar and Rubber Mat. click the link to see all the tools you need.

www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/SearchPage.aspx?page=GRID&category|category_root|122=Casting+Equipment+and+Supplies&category|cat_122|4566=Treeing%2c+Flasks+and+Investment&first_answer=31

I don't recommend this set up for mass production but will work fine for a home hobby shop or even small shop. you will need a Table with springs so you can shake and vibrate any possible air bubbles while under Vacuum. For the table you can use 3/4 wood plywood but i would recommend topping that with Aluminum or even plexiglass. buy the Clear Bell Jar from the website above preferably the one with a hose attachement built in so you can attach your vacuum pump hose to it. they have finished equepment on that website so you can see your basic set up. mix the investmet by hand or preferably a kitchen aid mixer. instructions for mixing and times come in each box of investment. so just follow the instructions

have fun
Jonathan
www.jjsilverdesigns.com

28"Hg this is the perfect vacuum. That it is necessary to achieve a very good vacuum pump. Is it really necessary to have both a strong vacuum?

Oh Absolutely you need a good Vacuum. The more the Merrier. I Peg the needle at 30" mercury vacuum with a 15CFM Vacuum pump in Florida Close to Sea Level. Higher elevations you will get less Vacuum due to thinner air. I also use a 28CFM Vacuum pump depending on how much Volume of space i need to vacuum out. You can use a cheaper 5CFM for casting. the object of investing under Vacuum is to get all the Air out of the Mix and Flasks. if you don't you will surely get air bubbles in and on your pieces ending up with metal bubbles on your finished castings you will have to grind off. Easier said then done. Not to mention a weaker mold and possibly a blow out when you cast heavy metal into a weak mold = Blow out. i.e everything is lost and metal on the Floor..

whether it is suitable?
www.handyman.com/store.asp

A vacuum pump

Capable of pulling 28" of Mercury or about 95 KPa. Ones used by refrigeration companies or in a science class.

Gut an old air conditioner for the compressor. It has two tubes running to it, one for the intake and one for the exhaust. The exhaust side can be used to build a homemade air compressor, and the intake can be used to build a vaccuum setup. I would put a tank inline with the vaccuum side, and pump the tank down initially because it's probably pretty slow with just the compressor. With some imagination, some compression fittings, and a few valves, you could probably build a setup for pretty cheap that would be sufficient for backyard setups.

In this machine (nitrogen or argon) sed inert gas atmosphere.

But in my system just a normal air Inert gas is very important?

And I can`t understand it whether there are also inert gas or vacuum?
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Thanks

sekonic, they make a vacuum pump that the air blowing from your compressor operates, they use it in the automotive trade to draw 30" of vacuum on airconditioning systems. West systems (marine epoxy systems) has a vacuum bagging kit that has a piece in it that also creates 30" of vaccum from you air compressor that is fairly cheap.
www.westsystem.com/ss/vacuum-bagging

Thanks aonemarine. But if inert gas (argon) is very important component for casting. Is it even necessary? This makes the quality of the work?

Thanks