# A new member from Brampton Ontario



## Oldarm (Oct 4, 2020)

I have no idea how I ended up on a Calgary metalworking site but it appears to be inhabited by some very enthusiastic members! If I can be of help to anyone with my admittedly fairly localized know-how then please feel free to drop me a line.

I am retired (ha, ha,) but actively engaged in developing a range of art deco aircraft. These models I cast from a master pattern either as a sand casting or as a gravity die casting. The materials I use are either aluminum or one of the zinc-aluminum alloys.

The sand castings are made in either a Petrobond or Mansfield sand. The die-castings are made in a die, also made of aluminum, which I build, oddly, without the aid of machine tools. I do like to keep things simple! 

Anyway, as I say, if I can be of any help, please feel free to touch base. I'll try to attach a photo or two to show what I am up to if I am allowed as a "beginner".

John


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## Johnwa (Oct 4, 2020)

Welcome to the group.  Nice castings!  You’ll have to tell us more about making casting dies.

John


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## gerritv (Oct 4, 2020)

Those are fascinating models!
You are not alone, more and more of us from east of Calgary  I'm in St Catharines.

Gerrit


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## Tom O (Oct 4, 2020)

Very nice castings!


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## Oldarm (Oct 4, 2020)

Johnwa said:


> Welcome to the group.  Nice castings!  You’ll have to tell us more about making casting dies.
> 
> John



Thanks John! The easiest way to explain the die making is to imagine that you are making a plaster, rubber or resin mould from an existing model or pattern. Instead of pouring any of those mediums over the part to be reproduced I pour aluminum. One of the interesting side effects of this process is the elimination of the shrinkage/contraction factor. That is to say that the die cavity and resulting castings are, to all intents, exactly the same size as the original model. One primary rule of physics defeated!
Sounds easy but there are one or two tricks involved! However it is a rapid and ever interesting process of toolmaking without the need for any machine tools. Basically, all you need is aluminum and a sand box.  When I say rapid I mean a die a day (or two). As you see, complex joint lines are not an issue. Because the dies are made from aluminum they do not need any external cooling, thermal conductivity and radiation take good care of that issue. Secondly, being inherently light in mass I do not need to mount the tools in fixtures, they are manipulated simply by hand and locked by the use of "C" clamps.

Great fun, keeps me out of trouble, young and an endless source of thinking stuff to put you to sleep at night (if you know what I mean.)
John


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## Oldarm (Oct 4, 2020)

gerritv said:


> Those are fascinating models!
> You are not alone, more and more of us from east of Calgary  I'm in St Catharines.
> 
> Gerrit


Thanks Gerrit,
                      St. Catharines and Hamilton make me feel quite at home. Gritty and down to earth!
John


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## Oldarm (Oct 4, 2020)

Tom O said:


> Very nice castings!


Thank you Tom,
                          When it's in your blood it's hard to stop messing about with metal!
John


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## YYCHM (Oct 4, 2020)

I'm not following here.... You make an aluminium mold to make aluminium castings?

Love your models BTB.  Canadiana for sure.  Harvard, F86, Avro Arrow, F5,  Canberra (not sure we had any of those?).


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## Oldarm (Oct 4, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> I'm not following here.... You make an aluminium mold to make aluminium castings?
> 
> Love your models BTB.  Canadiana for sure.  Harvard, F86, Avro Arrow, F5,  Canberra (not sure we had any of those?).


Good evening,
                        Yes, the mould/die is made from aluminium. I replied to somebody else a short while ago so if you don't mind I will "cut and paste" (I've learned how to do that despite being a Silverback!) and attach it here. Sorry for the liberty but it makes life a bit easier! Good to see your "planespotting" eye too! Last I heard was that NASA still had two Canberra's on active duty believe it or not.
I'll try to attach a snap of the finished model to this mail.
John

The easiest way to explain the die making is to imagine that you are making a plaster, rubber or resin mould from an existing model or pattern. Instead of pouring any of those mediums over the part to be reproduced I pour aluminum. One of the interesting side effects of this process is the elimination of the shrinkage/contraction factor. That is to say that the die cavity and resulting castings are, to all intents, exactly the same size as the original model. One primary rule of physics defeated!
Sounds easy but there are one or two tricks involved! However it is a rapid and ever interesting process of toolmaking without the need for any machine tools. Basically, all you need is aluminum and a sand box. When I say rapid I mean a die a day (or two). As you see, complex joint lines are not an issue. Because the dies are made from aluminum they do not need any external cooling, thermal conductivity and radiation take good care of that issue. Secondly, being inherently light in mass I do not need to mount the tools in fixtures, they are manipulated simply by hand and locked by the use of "C" clamps.

Great fun, keeps me out of trouble, young and an endless source of thinking stuff to put you to sleep at night (if you know what I mean.)
John


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## PeterT (Oct 4, 2020)

Really nice. Would like to see more pics of your molds/dies when you have time.
You have obviously mastered thin section detail judging by the prop & spinner -are those part of the main die or made separately?


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## JohnnyTK (Oct 4, 2020)

Welcome great work! Collingwood here.


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## Janger (Oct 4, 2020)

PeterT said:


> Really nice. Would like to see more pics of your molds/dies when you have time.
> You have obviously mastered thin section detail judging by the prop & spinner -are those part of the main die or made separately?



I second this...


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## Oldarm (Oct 4, 2020)

PeterT said:


> Really nice. Would like to see more pics of your molds/dies when you have time.
> You have obviously mastered thin section detail judging by the prop & spinner -are those part of the main die or made separately?


Thanks Peter,
                      I will take a photo or two of a typical pattern, die and castings to give you a better and more tangible idea of the process tomorrow and forward them on to you.
The props? I make those in separate moulds. 
John


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## Oldarm (Oct 4, 2020)

JohnnyTK said:


> Welcome great work! Collingwood here.


Hello Johnny,
                     And thank you for your welcome and assessment. Another Ontarian too!
John


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## CalgaryPT (Oct 4, 2020)

Oldarm said:


> I have no idea how I ended up on a Calgary metalworking site but it appears to be inhabited by some very enthusiastic members! If I can be of help to anyone with my admittedly fairly localized know-how then please feel free to drop me a line.
> 
> I am retired (ha, ha,) but actively engaged in developing a range of art deco aircraft. These models I cast from a master pattern either as a sand casting or as a gravity die casting. The materials I use are either aluminum or one of the zinc-aluminum alloys.
> 
> ...


I know little about aircraft, less about casting. What I do know is that those are beautiful, and I love anything art deco.

Super nice job...those as sales-worthy.


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## Janger (Oct 4, 2020)

Oldarm said:


> Thanks Peter,
> I will take a photo or two of a typical pattern, die and castings to give you a better and more tangible idea of the process tomorrow and forward them on to you.
> The props? I make those in separate moulds.
> John



Please post the pictures in this thread John - many people will want to see what you are up to. I do.


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## Janger (Oct 4, 2020)

Janger said:


> Please post the pictures in this thread John - many people will want to see what you are up to. I do.



Process pictures are always fascinating. What kind of aluminium do you use - I mean scrap or chips or new stock or? and your furnace?


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## Oldarm (Oct 4, 2020)

CalgaryPT said:


> I know little about aircraft, less about casting. What I do know is that those are beautiful, and I love anything art deco.
> 
> Super nice job...those as sales-worthy.


Thanks so much for that. I understand too your eye for beauty. I am really only interpreting an eye that went before me when these creatures left the drawing board.
John


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## Oldarm (Oct 4, 2020)

Janger said:


> Please post the pictures in this thread John - many people will want to see what you are up to. I do.


Do you mean as opposed to replying to somebody?
John


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## Oldarm (Oct 4, 2020)

Janger said:


> Process pictures are always fascinating. What kind of aluminium do you use - I mean scrap or chips or new stock or? and your furnace?


When I was poorer than my current condition, yes, I used scrap metal, not turnings though. Pistons, gearbox housings, engine mounting brackets even a few airframe forgings went into the mix! When ones back is against the wall it is quite amazing what can be done with little or nowt. And that is what makes it all worthwhile at the end of the day. 
At least, that is my opinion. And I'm not trying to sugar coat things one little bit.
Cheers, John


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## Janger (Oct 4, 2020)

Oldarm said:


> Do you mean as opposed to replying to somebody?
> John


You can send private messages (PM's) to people, like email, but here on the forum. Or you can post like you have been in this thread. Just keep doing that and everyone can see your pictures.


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## Oldarm (Oct 4, 2020)

Janger said:


> You can send private messages (PM's) to people, like email, but here on the forum. Or you can post like you have been in this thread. Just keep doing that and everyone can see your pictures.


10-4 I have that.
John


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## trlvn (Oct 5, 2020)

Hi from Oakville!



Oldarm said:


> ...As you see, complex joint lines are not an issue. Because the dies are made from aluminum they do not need any external cooling, thermal conductivity and radiation take good care of that issue. Secondly, being inherently light in mass I do not need to mount the tools in fixtures, they are manipulated simply by hand and locked by the use of "C" clamps.



I'm not following how you get the newly-poured part out of the mould?  There seems to be minimal flash around the parts you showed even though the sprue is still attached.  Are the moulds two pieces (or more) and then C-clamped together?

Whatever the case, your work is beautiful and fascinating.  I really enjoy MyfordBoy's videos on Youtube even though I don't have any access (or ability) to do my own casting.

Craig


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## Oldarm (Oct 5, 2020)

trlvn said:


> Hi from Oakville!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Good morning Craig, the castings on the bench are in fact sand castings. The diecastings exhibit even less of a joint line of course. Removing the castings from the die: Because I have negated any contraction factors between the die and the casting, the castings can be removed via a light rap or even manually with a pair of pliers.
John


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## Brent H (Oct 5, 2020)

Hi John!  I am just North of Barrie Ontario - do you do any cast iron work? Even just casting blanks for gears, bar stock sort of thing?   Was thinking to take some old brake rotors and make them into stock for other projects type of thing?


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## Oldarm (Oct 5, 2020)

Brent H said:


> Hi John!  I am just North of Barrie Ontario - do you do any cast iron work? Even just casting blanks for gears, bar stock sort of thing?   Was thinking to take some old brake rotors and make them into stock for other projects type of thing?


Hi Brent, no, I do not work in cast iron. I did many years ago and it is a whole different ball game to working in non-ferrous! There was a foundry in Orangeville working in iron but I’m not sure if they are still up and running. Not a million miles away from you either. Good hunting.
John


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## Oldarm (Oct 6, 2020)

PeterT said:


> Really nice. Would like to see more pics of your molds/dies when you have time.
> You have obviously mastered thin section detail judging by the prop & spinner -are those part of the main die or made separately?


Peter, I was looking at your truly splendid radial engine project on a different forum. It is quite obvious that you have  ICU’s well and truly weighed up. I have had a recurring notion running through my head for many years involving a new and quite novel mode of power generation. Yes, it involves pistons and cranks and flywheels etc but not combustion in the accepted sense. No, not perpetual motion either! I would really like to talk to somebody and rationalize the possibility of the cycle functioning even at the most primitive level. 
I have the concept in my head but then get lost in all sorts of odd “what if” thoughts, mainly attributed to my limited concept of a single stroke form of power generation. Sounds a bit “off the wall” I know but, if you happen to reside anywhere local to me in Ontario I would love to have chat with somebody who understands these things. At least I may be able to knock it on the head if there is a glaring fault in the idea. Or, maybe you would know if it’s been done before.
It’s just one of those things that nag away at you!!!
John


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## PeterT (Oct 7, 2020)

Hi John, thanks for the compliments. Sorry I live in Calgary or it might well be a date LOL.
Not to detract you of brainstorming or posting ideas here, but are you aware of some of the (engine focused) model engineering forums? I have seen some posts of proposed engine designs as well as actual functioning models, either to prototype, or the fun of it. There are way smarter people than me that have contributed constructive feedback thoughts & comments ranging from deep dive fundamental thermodynamics to materials to whatever.
https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/
http://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php

Then there is the invention/prototype areas of the web related to engines which I can only guess go much deeper into subject matter because they are no longer 'models'. I have not gone down that path but have stumbled on a few over time. For the most part I am just an aviation buff & getting enjoyment in replicating something quasi-historical in miniature. It makes me appreciate all the more what people were able to achieve in full size form 90+ years ago. Mind boggling really. This radial design is not my own, they are commercial plans from Germany. But I've had to make a few changes along the way to suit my tooling & other constraints. Hopefully this winter will be the final push to completion and we will see if it runs or not with 'conventional' 4 cycles & simpler (glow) ignition plugs. Wish me luck!


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## Oldarm (Oct 7, 2020)

PeterT said:


> Hi John, thanks for the compliments. Sorry I live in Calgary or it might well be a date LOL.
> Not to detract you of brainstorming or posting ideas here, but are you aware of some of the (engine focused) model engineering forums? I have seen some posts of proposed engine designs as well as actual functioning models, either to prototype, or the fun of it. There are way smarter people than me that have contributed constructive feedback thoughts & comments ranging from deep dive fundamental thermodynamics to materials to whatever.
> https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/
> http://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php
> ...


Thank you so much for your input Peter. I really should put some effort into this before my “best before” marker comes due. So much to do and so little time...
Many years ago, shortly after arriving in Canada from the UK, I went through a period where I happened upon several brilliant minds. All had amazing ideas and energy and tenacity but each lacked the expertise for a certain facet of their particular project. Each was also scared stiff of giving away the farm by releasing knowledge of their efforts to third parties. 
Getting to know each pretty well over the course of my relationships with them, I felt like dropping them all in a paper bag and giving it a good shake and then telling them to talk, share and help each other develop whatever was on the drawing board. 
We all need to chew things over with our peers and draw on an individuals expertise in various fields. 
If only we weren’t so scared.
Cheers from a rather balmy Brampton, John


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