Casting Box

[brad925]

I want to build a casting box complete with exhaust fan. I found one on here awhile back but cant find it again. Was hoping someone remembers this thread i am talking about. It also had a picture of it with it. I dont have a garage and would like to do this in my man cave in the winter.

[357maximum]

An exhaust hood from a kitchen remodel and some flexible pipe mounted in a removeable subframe for a window is all you really need. Just be careful with a fluxing flame as some of those fan blades are plastic. Wanna guess how I know that?[smilie=1:

Mine was pukey mint green and recycled from a kithen tearout somewhere. I need to have my contractor uncle save me another one......hopefully with a steel bladed fan this time. :lol:

[brad925]

Thank god i kept a pic of it but wished i could have had the dimensions. But that being said i spent the morning measuring and drawing and came up with some plans. Yesterday i bought a bathroom fan for $17. Its a 50 CFM model and should work fine seeing the box is only 6cuft. I am making it 24" tall which puts the top of the box 15" above the pot which should help with keeping the flames from fluxing from melting anything. I could put a heat sheild in there as well if its a problem and a light. As soon as i figure out how to put a pic on here i will.

[Mike W1]

Might grab a rough idea from mine, there's a bathroom fan in the top of the hood and flex duct to an outside opening.



http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/Mike4245/HPIM1074.jpg

[crawfobj]

Mike,

Interesting pot setup. Can't tell from the pic - do you have one set up to flow down into the other? Looks like you have some sort of covers set up on them too.

Can you share the details?

Nice work on your hood, and it looks like you have your adequate ballast on under your workbench to keep it from walking off!

[94Doug]

I think if you check in the reloading bench thread you might find one as well....


Doug

[Mike W1]

Mike,

Interesting pot setup. Can't tell from the pic - do you have one set up to flow down into the other? Looks like you have some sort of covers set up on them too.

Can you share the details?

Nice work on your hood, and it looks like you have your adequate ballast on under your workbench to keep it from walking off!

Slip me a PM with your email and I can send pictures of my setup along with dimensions I used to build things. The top pot does drain into the lower one like you figured. Can crank a lot of bullets out of that setup, it's the culmination of a lot of other peoples ideas that I adapted to my situation.

[crawfobj]

I learn something new every day on this site. Some pretty ingenious folks around here.

Mike, PM sent...

Crawfobj

[Patrick L]

Brad,

I hope this doesn't sound boisterous, but might I be the one you are looking for? I did post several pictures of my casting cabinet a few years ago when I made it. I was pretty proud of it!

If not, maybe some pics of mine might be helpful anyhow.

This is the whole setup
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Casting%20cabinet/GunStuff038.jpg

I made the box body out 3/4 inch plywood. The dimensions were determined by the dimensions of the range hood I had, and that is how I would do it if I were you. In other words, yours might be a bit larger or smaller. I am too lazy to follow the contours of the hood front, which tapered inwards towards the front, and I made the box about an inch deeper in front to accomodate the plexiglass"garage door." This pic shows how closely the wood matches the size of the hood:

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Casting%20cabinet/GunStuff005.jpg

The hood is silicone caulked to the top of the box for an airtight joint, and the blocks of wood on the sides at the rear also allowed me to bolt it together. I also duct taped the various knock out holes on the hood top to really seal things. I used finished solid core plywood for the front frame, and slotted pieces of wood in the inside front corners lock the sliding plexiglass in place. The vent work was cut to fit the cabinet after it was built, and those measurements will also vary depending upon your location. I replaced my basement window with a tight fitting piece of 3/4 inch plywood with a dryer vent cover on the outside to keep critters and weather out. I put several coats of polyurethane on the ouside to seal the wood to the elements. That piece is held in to the window frame by a 1/4-20 thumbscrew on each side, which unfortunately the camera angle didn't capture. It is semi permanent; I leave it in place for the month or two I do most of my casting, and then replace the window for most of the year. If I suddenly need to cast a few, or get a new mold or something, I can slap the board in in about 2 minutes. If you look closely at the pic, you can see the scalloped joint in the ductwork where it comes apart just above the square to round transition right above the cabinet. The bend and the horizontal run stay permanently attached to the window board. The joint is a very tight friction fit, so I don't get any appreciable air leak.

Mounting the 10# feeder pot took some thought. Obviously I wanted it to be secure! I removed the base plate and found that the back box is just hollow aluminum. I ran three bolts through from the back of the box like this
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Casting%20cabinet/GunStuff024.jpg

and drilled holes thru the box that mated up with them. Bolts and washers were placed on the nuts before the pot to keep it from sliding back too far. Then I made sleeves to go over the bolts INSIDE the box in order not to crush it
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Casting%20cabinet/GunStuff025.jpg
so I could really tighten down on the nuts on the front. The bolts pass all the way thru the box to fully support the weight. Overkill maybe, but its not going anywhere.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Casting%20cabinet/GunStuff026.jpg

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Casting%20cabinet/GunStuff028.jpg

I finished the whole thing with several coats of polyurethane. The best thing about that is lead specks and spatters will just pop off when dry.

I ran a dedicated 20 amp line with a heavy duty outlet to run the pots. Again, it may be overkill but I err on the side of caution. I run both pots, plus the range hood and light when I cast.

I can't say enough how much I love this setup. Previously I had to set up and tear down each time I cast, and did so in the garage. Now if I want to cast for an hour, I do so, then just turn the pots off. The setup stays in place. The basement is mine, so I don't have to worry about the little ones getting into stuff, etc.

Here is an hour's worth of work
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Casting%20cabinet/GunStuff014.jpg

I hope this helps

[Mike W1]

[QUOTE=Patrick L;1146185]Brad,

I hope this doesn't sound boisterous, but might I be the one you are looking for? I did post several pictures of my casting cabinet a few years ago when I made it. I was pretty proud of it!

You should be proud of that setup as it's very well done.

I remember looking at your setup and neglected to ask you at the time but I'm curious as to where you dump your fresh cast bullets. The only problem with mine, and it's not really been much of one, is I'm really not centered on my work area. Have to slightly twist to the left to dump bullets. On the good side using two moulds I can keep their bullets separated and the adjustable inclined pads let me just rake them into the collection boxes on the back side after they cool. Sprues end up in the front trays and are easily recycled.

[Patrick L]

I do have to twist, as I dump them in the two boxes (I always run two molds) you see the finished boolits laying in next to the cabinet. I agree, its not really a problem. The towel you see next to the two boxes is usually spread over them. I must have slipped the towel out before I took the picture. I have a third shallow box I drop the sprues in. I have played around with various setups. One way is sprue box to the right, fresh boolits to the left. This season I did them all to the right, sprues-boolit-boolit. I think I like that a bit better.

[Mike W1]

Thanks for the reply. Had wondered just how you did it. Not really that different from my method really but think I'll stick with mine. For one thing the way I rigged my bottom pot any drips from the pot are easily swept into the catch box in front of the pot and easily remelted. I slide mine back to fill from the top and there's guides in place to ease that minor chore. Usually just let it get down about 5 ingots worth and by that time my top pot is up to temp. Am tempted to open up the spout on that top pot to enable draining it faster but have never got around to trying that stunt. Works OK now and hate to tempt fate. A number of timed runs indicate I get 350-400 bullets/hour using 2 double cavity moulds which I don't think is too shabby.

[John Boy]

Gents, nice ideas and clear pictures. Guess I am the Cave Man of Casting when it comes to exhausting fumes. I flux with borax and the smoke gets sucked up with the hose attached to a vacuum cleaner! [smilie=s: