I have cast ingots for years in open and closed steel ingot molds. Lately I have used Delft Clay to cast small objects that are flat on one side with no undercuts and it works very well. Most of the time though I use it to cast odd shaped ingots that I can’t cast in a steel mold and it works great for this purpose. The only down side is that Delft Clay is a bit expensive. Currently slightly less than $20/lb. Since each time you cast, you have to discard the burned clay, you can quickly go through a pound of clay, especially if the ingots are big. Since ingot have little detail to them other than their shape, I decided to look for less expensive alternatives to Delft Clay for odd shaped ingot casting. While looking around the internet, I found a reference to Petrobond. Petrobond appears to be a family of casting sands that are described to work in a way similar to Delft Clay, but are also less expensive than Delft Clay. I bought some and gave it a try. It is a bit more fussy to work with than Delft Clay, but I have had good luck casting the typical ingots that I roll. At $20 for 5 lbs., I am not as concerned about the waste. This got me thinking about other ways to cast odd shaped ingots besides clay, sand, and common open and closed steel ingot molds. If others have ideas about Delft Clay alternatives, I would be interested in hearing about them. Thanks…Rob
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Years ago, I used to buy 50 lb. bags which is probably a lot cheaper. Vince Larochelle
I wanted to test it out before I bought a bigger bag. Next time I will. Thanks…Rob
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Have you tried sodium
silicate bonded sand? Fine sand, mixed with sodium silicate
(waterglass), hardened with Co2. Several good YouTubes on it.
Cheap. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sodium+silicate+sand+casting
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Hey, Rob
When I saw the price on the Delft clay I looked around and found the Petrobond, too. Somewhere on Youtube,can’t remember where, a Russian guy (I think) had posted some pictures of surfaces cast with varying media and the Petrobond looked good. Haven’t tried it yet. Thx, royjohn
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