Tobho Mott
Active Member
That's awesome to hear! Looking forward to hearing how the molds and castings turn out.
You've done your homework, obviously. For anyone else, or if you missed it, here's a bunch more info on K-bond sand, including Tom Cobett's suggestions (and recantations, regarding the use of glycerin). One post (#84) seems to confirm what you're saying about how the Natural Pigments' organoclay (used to be) the petrobond II equivalent as it does not need any activator/catalyst:
forums.thehomefoundry.org
And for a Canadian perspective, here's some background on my friends Doug's K-bond adventure using real bentone-34 from Elementis, if it helps. He's using his to cast model steam loco parts in bronze and cast iron(!).
forums.thehomefoundry.org
I have a sample of his K-bond here and it feels just like the real thing when I compare it to my OBB sand and US Petrobond, and from what I remember the 40# of K-bond I made a few years ago using a small sample of VG-Plus as the binder. I haven't used his yet, or made any new oil sand using the bentone-34 sample he gave me, but once all this new greensand is put away I'll get into it and report back.
Jeff
You've done your homework, obviously. For anyone else, or if you missed it, here's a bunch more info on K-bond sand, including Tom Cobett's suggestions (and recantations, regarding the use of glycerin). One post (#84) seems to confirm what you're saying about how the Natural Pigments' organoclay (used to be) the petrobond II equivalent as it does not need any activator/catalyst:
Mixing up K-Bond Sand (Similar to Petrobond)
ADDED LATER: See post 17 below concerning better formulation options. I followed as closely as I could the K-bond formula published online to make...
forums.thehomefoundry.org
And for a Canadian perspective, here's some background on my friends Doug's K-bond adventure using real bentone-34 from Elementis, if it helps. He's using his to cast model steam loco parts in bronze and cast iron(!).
My adventures with K-Bond
Like some of you, I like the properties of Petrobond, but find it pretty expensive. Enter K-bond, a do-it-yourself version. It promises to be cheaper...
forums.thehomefoundry.org
I have a sample of his K-bond here and it feels just like the real thing when I compare it to my OBB sand and US Petrobond, and from what I remember the 40# of K-bond I made a few years ago using a small sample of VG-Plus as the binder. I haven't used his yet, or made any new oil sand using the bentone-34 sample he gave me, but once all this new greensand is put away I'll get into it and report back.
Jeff