Does anyone around here still steam cast? I have a few questions.
But first a little intro. I am just getting into casting and I don’t have a ton of money. Right now I can either afford only a burnout oven or a centrifugal casting machine on ebay (neycraft). The burnout oven is small but fits my needs as I’ll only be casting a little bit here and there and probably only a ring or two at a time in a 2 1/2 inch flask.
So I thought I would go for the oven and try my hand at steam casting. I have some info from Don Norris on steam casting as well here.
My questions:
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Why does the sprue network have to be so small to start? An 8 gauge wire split into 2 seems really tiny to have molten metal try and fit through as a sprue base hole. So why couldn’t one just pour the metal with crucible into a larger sprue base and quickly put the steam caster on immediately after? Would the metal definitely freeze doing it this way?
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Is a standard rubber base that I get at Rio Grande deep enough to steam cast? Apparently they are wanting for the investment to become the crucible. They are using a clay “button” to set the sprue tree onto. But wouldn’t just a standard rubber base work fine for the investing? I’m worried about water from the steam caster (probably just a tuna can and dowel rod) making the metal splatter all over the place.
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Can I get away with a bernzomatic ts8000? I know everyone says to go with an acetylene torch but i cannot because of money reasons at this time.
I have more questions but I can’t think of them right now. Thanks for listening to a noob.