Working with cast iron castings.

kellswaterri

Active User
Registered
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Messages
27
Hello All,
I build model steam engines from casting kits, the castings are un machined, and I work to drawings. Some kit suppliers cut their tolerances pretty fine making a bit of an adventure, now I do not know much about the different types of cast iron but this stuff leaves me looking like a coal miner. If you put in a search for ''corncrake'' my Photobucket album should appear, the large 10'' cast iron flywheel had a skin on it that had to be under cut with an angle grinder, very hard to get through, but turned fine otherwise. I used a combination of Glanze insert tool and tipped tools...how would you guys approach machining castings like these.
All the best for now,
John.
 
Hello All,
I build model steam engines from casting kits, the castings are un machined, and I work to drawings. Some kit suppliers cut their tolerances pretty fine making a bit of an adventure, now I do not know much about the different types of cast iron but this stuff leaves me looking like a coal miner. If you put in a search for ''corncrake'' my Photobucket album should appear, the large 10'' cast iron flywheel had a skin on it that had to be under cut with an angle grinder, very hard to get through, but turned fine otherwise. I used a combination of Glanze insert tool and tipped tools...how would you guys approach machining castings like these.
All the best for now,
John.
Cast iron is dirty and mill scale can be very hard, sound like you have normal CI, I hate the stuff and avoid it as much as possible.
 
Hi Shade,
I could use aluminum or plain steel but the models just would not authentic, as you say it is dirty stuff to work with. I always use a good full face filter mask with cartridge and even then it manages to get up my nose. The cold spots and scale can be a real nuicance,
All the best for now,
John.
 
Need advices on removing old rust on cast iron parts, old lathe stand. Equipment I have is a 4 in hand grinder, general motor buffer and bench grinder. From reading on this site, it seem some people use WD 40 and a wirer wheel. Is this good way to go? Chester
 
I worked for several years in an iron casting repair facility (continuous oven preheat, fusion welding, and machine shop) and in my experience, it is always good to use a shop vac and hold the hose nozzle right down to the area that is being machined.

Also, with cast iron, cover the ways when you can, use a shop vac with the finest cage filter you can get, an old sock or two over the hose bib inside the canister can help catch the big stuff and pre-filter the powdered stuff before it gets to the cage filter.

If you're using a big diameter facing mill or a large fly cutter, (> 5 inches) stay out of the way and put your fan on it to blow the dust in the desired direction while wearing a dust mask. Just dont breathe any more than you have to, and protect the ways as well as you can.

For 12-13 years I went home every day with some iron dust in my clothes... When you work around iron, you can taste it when you lick your lips at any given time. After awhile, you wont even notice, sorta like when you live by the train tracks, you dont notice the train after a couple years!

Summary: Dust management.

Regards.
 
Need advices on removing old rust on cast iron parts, old lathe stand. Equipment I have is a 4 in hand grinder, general motor buffer and bench grinder. From reading on this site, it seem some people use WD 40 and a wirer wheel. Is this good way to go? Chester

I would just dump the part(s) in a bucket of Evaporust and let it sit for a few hours. The stuff isn't exactly cheap as I paid about $23 for a gallon of it the other night at an auto parts store but I think it's worth every penny.

It's non-caustic and non-toxic. I've been known to de-rust smaller items on our kitchen counter (the wife isn't exactly happy about this though).

Hope that helps,

-Ron
 
Need advices on removing old rust on cast iron parts, old lathe stand. Equipment I have is a 4 in hand grinder, general motor buffer and bench grinder. From reading on this site, it seem some people use WD 40 and a wirer wheel. Is this good way to go? Chester


I would go for sand blasting it. Using a wire wheel will stick small piece of steel into the exterior of the casting, possibly causing you additional corrosion problems down the line.
 
I would go for sand blasting it. Using a wire wheel will stick small piece of steel into the exterior of the casting, possibly causing you additional corrosion problems down the line.
Will those cheap harbor freight guns work good, or should I take it somewhere to have it done? Thanks for your reply, Chester
 
I often buy cheap import indexable tool holders that come with inserts. I just use the inserts that came with them for busting rust and mill scale. 5 tools with inserts for 20$. They actually work pretty good on a small lathe with good inserts.

Steve
 
Back
Top