Working with cast iron castings.

Hi all,
visited our local Railway Museum Engineering workshops today...after a wander around and a bit of a chat I left with a fairly large and heavy bag of bits of bronze and cast iron...the cast iron was the cut off ''SPRUES'' from
castings done in the workshop foundry...I intend to give them a try after first giving them a good going over with an angle grinder...what do you guys think?
John.
 
Hi all,
visited our local Railway Museum Engineering workshops today...after a wander around and a bit of a chat I left with a fairly large and heavy bag of bits of bronze and cast iron...the cast iron was the cut off ''SPRUES'' from
castings done in the workshop foundry...I intend to give them a try after first giving them a good going over with an angle grinder...what do you guys think?
John.


What type of cast iron are the sprue from? Grey? Ductile? White? It sounds like most of the issues people here are running into is they are trying to machine cheap cast iron that wasn't innoculated properly, so it is carbidic on the surface and required grinding to start machining.

Sprue (or the runner system) is going to have some slag, sand, and shrinkage in it as well, regardless of the material cast.

If you'd like a full tutorial on cast iron, let me know.
 
I have not a clue as to breed of castings, only too glad to get it...getting material where I live is a nightmare...bronze and cast iron has to be imported from england and is very costly, thank you Flamm for the heads up on the material,
John.
 
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
I order a gravity feed gun and soda blast media, anything else I should know or advice from anyone, please send it. I will give update when I get it, and when i get started. Never did this before and I am little uneasy.

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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
Thanks Ron, but I would need 5 to 10 gallons to set it in, so I am going to try a cheap HF sand blaster gun. I will keep evaporust in my mind for a smaller project, thanks for your advice, Chester
 
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I order a gravity feed gun and soda blast media, anything else I should know or advice from anyone, please send it. I will give update when I get it, and when i get started. Never did this before and I am little uneasy.

- - - Updated - - -


Thanks Ron, but I would need 5 to 10 gallons to set it in, so I am going to try a cheap HF sand blaster gun. I will keep evaporust in my mind for a smaller project, thanks for your advice, Chester

Understood. I just hate using my sand/soda blaster as it is MESSY like nothing else on this planet. Oh, also found out that blasting soda will kill your grass in a big way. Don't ask me how I know...

-Ron
 
Understood. I just hate using my sand/soda blaster as it is MESSY like nothing else on this planet. Oh, also found out that blasting soda will kill your grass in a big way. Don't ask me how I know...

-Ron
Ron, good to know this about the grass, I was planning to use my backyard. I do like my grass and my garden very much, is there something else I could do, or sand blasted with? Thanks, Chester
 
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Please tell me your feeling on using soda to sand blast with, or what do you like to use? Chester
 
Sorry Chester, I've been kind of preoccupied the last couple of days. I'm far from an expert on blasting and blasting media but to my knowledge the answer is, "it depends...". :biggrin:

Straight soda blasting is great for cleaning things like carbon, soft paint and grime off soft materials like aluminum without damaging it. I don't think that's what you want to try for removing rust from cast iron, for that I think you will need something a bit more aggressive. Here is a little bit on the differences on Eastwood's site.

Depending on just how rough your cast is you may also have issues leaving behind some media on the iron so you'll have to be extra careful to clean it up or suffer very short tool life. I'm sure there are others here with far more experience on cast than I have.

Hopefully that helps a bit,

-Ron
 
J
Sorry Chester, I've been kind of preoccupied the last couple of days. I'm far from an expert on blasting and blasting media but to my knowledge the answer is, "it depends...". :biggrin:

Straight soda blasting is great for cleaning things like carbon, soft paint and grime off soft materials like aluminum without damaging it. I don't think that's what you want to try for removing rust from cast iron, for that I think you will need something a bit more aggressive. Here is a little bit on the differences on Eastwood's site.

Depending on just how rough your cast is you may also have issues leaving behind some media on the iron so you'll have to be extra careful to clean it up or suffer very short tool life. I'm sure there are others here with far more experience on cast than I have.

Hopefully that helps a bit,

-Ron
Ron, what do you think of aluminum oxide for rust, and do you have any concern with this media? Will it work in a gravity feed gun? I want to thank you for your help. I am lost here, and that means I spend a lot of money on wrong things. Like to get the right materal and equipment at least the second time around, I usually get in right on sixth or seventh time. Chester
 
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