In this episode we'll melt metal to make a piece for my motorcycle
Hi folks, I'm Custom Cez for Roma Custom bike and in this episode we are finally completing
the metal foundry project
In the previous episodes, if you have missed it check the links in the description, I have
built my new foundry using an Ikea vase, sand, refractory mortar and some steel wool
Then I tested it and after a failure I managed to finally melt some aluminum
Once I had enough I made my very first metal muffins!
So now, it is finally time to come to make something concrete, I'm going to design and forge a
foot peg for my bike
For starter I designed the shape using a graphics software.
To help me get inspired I queued up a couple of episode of Metalocaplipse, the best metal
cartoon ever!!!!
In the end I decided to go for the Maltese cross and a double sided brass knuckle shape
Once ready I printed them out on paper and brought it to the shop to start working on the mold
but let's take a step back and check out what we are going to do:
I'm going to transfer the design onto a piece of polystyrene and I'll cut it out so I can
have a three dimensional shape of the design
Then using the same foam, I'm going to make a channel, for the liquid metal to flow trough,
and reach every part of the shape.
Finally I'll burry the two pieces glued together under some sand.
Once the dirt is nicely packed, I'll pour the molten aluminum.
The heat will instantaneously vaporize the foam
and the metal will take its place inside the sand mold
And if everything goes well we'll end up with some crazy new pieces
So, in order to create the polystyrene mold I need to use one of those heated wire cutters
we used to play with when we were kids, I found this one on ebay for about 15 Euros,
I also bought some extra wire so if it breaks I have the replacement.
As for the polystyrene I bought this construction insulating board for about 3 Euros.
After plugging it in, the wire will heat up and cut trough the board like a knife through
butter, but while I wait, I'll transfer the paper shape onto the board
For cutting the paper I suggest to use an exacto knife with a long blade
It makes the job of following the line much easier than with scissor
and inside holes will be a breeze.
The cutter comes with a bunch of different attachment and I decide to test the long tip
to cut out the portion of the board that I'll use for cutting out the two designs
This board is pretty dense compared to the packing polystyrene I'm used to, but it seems
to cut very well
Now I need to transfer the shapes from the paper to the board
I once again remember of when I used to cut polystyrene as a kid preparing the figurines
for the Christmas scenery
Well, looking at the result I've got to say that I've gotten pretty sloppy with time...
But I hope I'll make it up with the forging part of the project, so let's keep pushing ahead
The two pieces of foam board are ready for the precision cutting, I swap the cutter tip
to the wire attachment and I secure it on the bench clamp
I'm going to move the piece around following the lines, I feel that this way I have much
better control of the cut
The perimeter is done
Now, by switching the cutter attachment again, I can make a starter hole to start the inside cut
Once I have the hole I can use the wire attachment once again
To get it in position It's enough to squeeze a little bit the holding fork to release one end
of the wire and then it can be inserted into the hole and then hooked up again.
Before doing this make sure the wire is cold
Powering up the cutter I can now do the inside cut of the design
By squeezing and releasing the wire from the fork, the piece is now done
For the second shape I do the same process as the first, after a little practice I've
already gotten better at it
It's important to keep a continuous movement to achieve a straight cut
Just like before, I keep cutting the inside holes by unhooking the wire.
This piece is a bit more laborious but I'm sure it's worth it!
Of course I'm gonna write Cez on it and Yes, I do have ego issues... hehehe
I like to clean up the mold at this point because it is much easier now rather than
later when the object will be made out of metal
The foam cleans up very quickly and I use a sand paper
covered hand file to shape the inside faces.
I think that the shapes are good enough for this project and I can proceed with creating
the channel that will take the molten metal under the sand and into the mold
To be sure there will be an equal distribution of material throughout the piece, I'm splitting
the channel to lead straight to two different points of the mold
With one single point of entry the molten aluminum would take too long to flow all the
way around the mold with the risk of cooling off before filling the entire space
Once ready the channel is attached to the shape with some glue, I hope it will hold
the pressure of the sand
The glue needs to dry, so I decide to prepare the bucket for the pour.
It needs to be tall enough to cover the mold with sand, but not much
or it will interfere with the crucible
The bottom of the bucket needs to be filled with sand,
enough to protect the plastic from the heat.
Then the mold finally goes in
This refractory mortar is very very fine so it should be able to recreate very fine details
But I have to make sure every hole is properly filled
Once totally covered with sand I need to reveal
the channel and create a little crater around it.
This will help direct the liquid metal straight into the channel
A bit of water helps keeping everything in place.
I'm very excited, I'm about to melt metal and forge my own piece!!!
Very cool.
I'm going to use some construction sand as a base for the bucket,
just in case of a catastrophic fail!!!
Now I can spark up the forge!
Before doing so let me just take a second to thank you all for the support you demonstrate
every day by hitting the like button, by sharing our videos on your social networks and by
subscribing to our channel.
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If you'd like you can also visit our site www.romacustombike.com where you can find
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Look at that fire... almost burning my very costly camera...
But who cares, the experience is worth the cost!
Plus I have to say that I've been able to definitely refine the system, now everything is a bit more efficient
and with the crucible in place we are ready to go!
In just 5 minutes the forge is at temperature and I can enjoy the very fun part of dropping
stuff in the pit of hell!!!
All right, I think I'm ready for the very climactic moment of the actual forging of
the metal!!!
This is it, let's find out if we got a Yey or a ney...
It worked! I can't freaking believe that it worked! There you go! Proof!!!!
This is incredible, I'm so happy it worked, You guys, I'm freaking out because the first
failure was such a bummer... but this worked! I'm so excited!
Metaaaaaaal!!!!!!
Now I need to remove the channel
A hand saw it's just the tool for the job
The Maltese cross is ready!
It looks like it all worked out, but will I able to replicate the success with the second
mold, the double side brass knuckle!
The process is the same as for the first piece so we'll fast forward straight to the fun
part, the pouring of the molten metal
Everything looks better in slow motion, especially stuff that already looks good at natural speed
I'm pretty optimistic about this second round, but the proof is in the pudding...
Unfortunately this didn't go so well, the narrow passages and the design of the channels
determined this failure
You can see that at the edges of the mold the different flows of metal have cooled off
before they managed to meet and fuse together
Too bad but a good lesson none the less
On the other hand the cross came out awesome so let's clean it up and file it down to get
it ready for installation
Once clamped to the bench the main concern are the two spot were the channels were cut off
With a good file and a bit of work they are taken care of
With a wire brush I clean the cross from the sand and any other impurity while retaining
the full look of a molten object
There they are, all the parts I have created during this three part episode coming together
for creating a unique piece for my bike!
If this ain't love, I don't know what love is!
Now all I need to do is find the spot where to make a couple of holes to allow a screw
to pass through my freshly made foot board.
After measuring the right length a threaded rod quickly becomes the fastener to secure
the foot board to the support I made in a previous episode, check the description for the link
All the different parts are in place, a bit of thread look will make sure
I don't lose it while driving
There it is, the foot board for my kid is ready!
It looks pretty cool, especially knowing what went into it
It quickly finds its place on the bike and I'm sure it will be comfortable too
You guys, You have no idea how happy I am of the results of this project
And what do you think?
Let me know by visiting my facebook page called RomaCustomBikeEng or by commenting right here
on youtube.
If you missed the first two parts of this project make sure you check them out, you
can find the link in the description, remember to subscribe and ring the bell to get notifications.
If you'd like you can also visit our site www.romacustombike.com to find the accessories
we are producing and our t-shirts.
That's it for now, I'm Custom Cez for Roma Custom Bike and I'll see you next time!