Jerrod Miller

Do they have to be soldered together? The shank will go through the "washer", then when peened it will all hold together, no?

For a simple button shape that is workable, but with the file work originally present that would leave anything that floats (sand or slag) stuck in those neat crevices. I would also worry about pouring straight down onto the shank, as the sharp edge transition may erode, and that sand can go somewhere unpleasant. Lastly, if your sprue isn't quite right you are more likely to get shrink in the center of the face. Whenever possible important features (detailed faces) should be kept in the drag (bottom, pointing down) and away from gating.

Another fun trick is adding some scratch vents. On the parting line just scribe the smallest line from the part to the edge of the flask. The goal is to make it easy for air to get out, but too small for metal to actually get in it. I doubt they will be needed for your setup given the open vent via the shank.

Nice! Yeah, that gating system is really rough. Smoothing that out will help.

Need to put some gold leaf in the numbers to make them pop now. Very cool die.

I would fix everything else design-wise first. Then, if you still aren't getting the surface finish you want you can explore that. I meant to mention that you can totally hand cut the gating system into the sand, but it will be better if you can ram up the sand around a solid pattern. Cut sand surfaces are not likely to be very smooth and the sand more likely to erode out into the casting. And the sprue should be a bit taller than you want the final pin length to be. This is so you definitely have a clean surface where you cut it to length, but also to give you head pressure (cupro-static pressure, in this case) in the mold.

Other than getting your sand just right, here are a few things that I would work on for the mold/molding process. I would cut the shank fairly short. Just long enough to grab it to pull the head out of the sand. This will still an impression in the cope sand that then gets drilled out, all the way out of the mold. Cut the final pin length as needed. You want the gating system much smoother in terms of metal flow. This is especially important with copper base as it really wants to make air bubbles (Al too). Below is a very quick and dirty diagram (nothing calculated). Key features: Well at the base of the tapered sprue (with integrated funnel) to smooth out flow and transition from free fall to horizontal flow. Ideally this would be parabolically tapered, not straight; but that is just overkill. Large opening to allow for faster pouring. Fill up the sprue as quickly as possible. Runner the extends beyond the ingate; it is in the drag. This is there to help flush oxides from the start of the pour and any sand that made it into the gating system to a sacrificial place, not the casting. Ingate in the cope, angled backward to the runner and tangent to the part. This will help direct the metal in the smoothest way into the part. Not show in the image is that your stud/shaft should be drilled out to the open air. This will act as a vent to let all the air out of the mold cavity as it is being filled with metal.

My first ever experience with casting was an awful failure. You can certainly get there. Are you doing green sand or oil? Getting the material ratios is critical for optimal surface finish. This includes sand grain size ratios. You will also want a much smoother gating system. I'll try to return to this thread later when I have more time for more pointers.

I found some of them on YouTube for free, on the Craftsman's Legacy channel. The Blacksmith: Lorelei Sims The Swordsmith: Kevin Cashen The Armor Maker: James Gillaspie Sadly, Tim's episode isn't in their "full episode" playlist.

Looks like Tim's episode was Season 1, Episode 10. I created a free account at Craftsmanslegacy.com, then found out I needed a Vimeo account to watch the episode. So after creating a free account there... I do not have permission to watch that video. Not sure what is actually required to watch it. James Gillaspie. Season 2, Episode 9. Kevin Cashen is Season 4, Episode 1.

@DennisKrielThat is some good looking rebound on the cast anvil. Do you get the same rebound on the assembled/welded anvils? Anvil production is a very tiny percentage of the work we do at our foundry (a couple dozen per year), and I am a big fan of more anvils being in the world, so I am happy to see more people making quality anvils. It also is very good to see manufacturers visiting the forums like this to support and back up the products. Perhaps you can end up working a deal with a place like Blacksmiths Depot to buy whole containers and become a N. American reseller for you. I hope you can continue to make and sell a bunch of quality anvils!

Considering everyone said to stick with the single burner, I would say you missed out some of the discussion. This tends to not work as well as one would like/think. That was my reasoning to building a double burner for my first forge. One of the many mistakes I have made in forging.

I had the same thoughts when I built my first forge. Boy was I dumb. Smaller is much better to begin with. You will never outgrow a small forge, though you may also need a larger one.

I wonder if Kelly Cuppples would have anything of use for this? You'd have to email him to ask. octihunter@charter.net

Broaches are generally pretty good for precision, perhaps you need a finer toothed one? You can also use a jeweler's saw (after drilling a pilot hole) to get good precision, but not very fast. There is also burning the tang in, depending on material. I'm sure you'll get plenty of other suggestions here, too.