Preparing the Master Caster for Automation

[Tazza]

That is good in theory, but you actually need the stroke i believe. I had the same issue, when mounted i could get it to sit under the pour spout but it would not extend far enough to hit the stopper at the front. After modifying the cylinder, i got enough length out of it.

To use a shorter cylinder you need to lower the location of the pivot point at the back. The higher it is, the more mechanical advantage you get, but a longer stroke is needed. The lower it is, the less power you get, but the stroke is shorter.

My dad just picked up a double acting cylinder to mount to mine, i hope to have it up and running for a test on the weekend.

I was thinking it must be getting late over there

[chloe123]

Gonna need a few days to re-evaluate air path, fittings, proper sprue tightening for auto set up, as well as learn the Hatch design.

Big thanks to W Winn & Hatch for sharing. It takes a certain character type to invent and not hoard the idea. I think this is a topic unto itself but, for now, thanks for the support.

After the few days ill do my best to add details to experiences, in addition to a sample video of course

One thing though...the limit switch. I simply installed it but the safety aspect of it becomes apparent when you're setting it up the machine---not having a heap of hot <dangerous> lead as a result of not having settings exact, or any sort of automated motion unintended, is appreciated. Insert thumbs-up emoticon here .

Some of the below bullets were technically not made by me

[HATCH]

The limit switch on my design is the key to everything.
The cycle starts with the closure of the limit switch.
It also can be stopped by opening the limit switch except when the machine is calling for mold dump.
The limit switch should be installed so that it is only closed when the mold carrier is at the utmost top position

[Tazza]

The setup i have works on the same principle too. If the limit switch is not activated the unit will not continue. It will try a set number of times to clear the issue, but it if fails it will simply halt.

Nothing worse than coming back to a MC that has entombed the mold in lead, sadly i have been greeted by this twice

[HATCH]

The only time I came close to that is the other day when I had rewritten the lead pour code. Lead pour started but never stopped. Had to kill the power.

[jmorris]

My lead pour relay is a DPDT so it controls the drive motor too. The only time the pour solenoid is activated is when the mold is a TDC so to speak and it just kills power to the motor for how ever long the pour timer is set to.

[chloe123]

1st time creating a video. Try this:
http://youtu.be/hRb8RTf8juM

[Tazza]

Looks very good, gotta love automatic mode!

Are you going to automate it's brother too?

[HATCH]

Looks good. You need a flow regulator on the incoming air before the air valve and one on the exhaust port on the valve.
This will allow you to slow down the down stroke and up stroke.

Other then that it looks like you got it hooked up right.
I see you still have my test lights hooked up.
You can remove them as they are using power and the power supply wasn't sized to run them as well.

[Tazza]

I agree with the need to tame it down a little. Flow restrictors will slow the speed of the ram, but it will have the same force available. It may take some fine tuning, but you have gotten this far, the last bit will be a breeze.

One other thing you may want to consider is something to act as a buffer for the cast projectiles to hit before going into the tub at the bottom. The further they fall, the more damage they will get. Ideally you want the base to be perfectly formed for accuracy, falling that far or even having freshly cast projectiles hitting each other will damage them. I have a towel lined chute that is the height of the bench to slow them down, they then drop no more than 4" into a drawer, even that marks a few of them. Even some sort of a tube like a pant leg dangling so they hit that and slow down before hitting the bottom.

Happy AUTOMATIC casting

[chloe123]

Thanks for the feedback.

...the 2nd Master Caster was a back up just in case I ended up breaking the first. Honestally, though, I think you gotta have some sort of mechanical aptitude before doing something like this.
Even though Hatch did the hard work, and W Winn provided detailed instructions to operate it pneumatically, I think there's some risk. I get it, most on this forum are handy. I'm just saying it'd be regretful to ruin your machine

My idea of having the yoke off center was to avoid it being directly underneath the streaming lead. Over time, I figured lead could shake loose from the orifice plate onto the yoke linkage, or from a drip. I think it was a good idea. However, I also realized that the original, centered, hole in the aluminum plate was misaligned enough for there to be tension at the bottom the stroke. Thus, part of the reason I went for a yoke that had a revolving center that allowed a pivot. This style yoke allowed my imprecision to not affect the action one direction or another

...the flow limiter

I wasn't sure how to run the air lines. I saw a 3 way brass fitting --I think-- in Hatch's video that combined airlines so I used that to separate the incoming air to the 2 sep solenoids. But the problem was that I wasn't sure how to place the air regulator inline with just the mold assembly cylinder. I simply avoided the issue. The "in" is connected to the air compressor and the "out" begins the air line for the unit. I found that at no,lower than about 70psi, the lead pour cylinder would operate smoothly and the main mold carrier cylinder would exert with plenty of force to drop the boolits. Below, lead wouldn't drop consistently

As things were running pretty well, I wasn't sure if placing the flow restrictor(which was ordered) before both air lines would be a good idea.

I do want to relax the main cylinder a bit so Ill work on it within the week.

Hatch mentioned also using this restrictor on the exhaust port of the main air valve. I wasn't sure where the "out" would be connected in this arrangement so I left it as-is for the time being.

Cloth under the chute to slow down the boolits is a really good idea--as long as it doesn't burn. When I cut the hole, I thought about a ramp but I want sure how to attach it to the steel cart so I moved on with other aspects of the project.

Its a bit late and I wanted to take a moment to address the comments and thank everyone for their support, direct or indirect.

...I'll remove those lights, Hatch. Actually, when I first hooked the unit up they were helpful in getting the gist for what was happening. Then, they reminded me of Christmas. I'll remove them mañana.

[Tazza]

Good idea about the floating clevis setup. Mine is fixed so you have to be dead on for it to run right or it binds. The ram rod does get a few drips of lead on it from time to time, but i made it so that the back of the clevis has an angle cut on it so when the ram retracts it essentially works like a cow scoop that they had on old style trains, anything gets in the shaft it gets scooped off.

You would have to work pretty hard to destroy one of these machines i think, they are quite tough.

The air valves you have should have an exhaust port, so when power is let go air from the cylinder exits through it. If you restrict the air flow out, it will slow the ram cycle speed. You can ge ones that are a combination muffler/restrictor. It makes the air exiting much quieter.

As for the regulator, you could have a T or Y fitting on the input air so you can change the pour and ram separately with two regulators, i was lucky enough for the 30-40PSI i am running to run both the arm and lead pour reliably, so one regulator is all i needed.

You have done very well doing this project, going from never have used a tap and die set to a complete and working unit.

[HATCH]

You should have enough power if you want to leave them. They are not LEDs so they use more power but considering my current panel is running on 15 watts and yours has a 30 watt supply it probably will be fine.

[jmorris]

You have done very well doing this project, going from never have used a tap and die set to a complete and working unit.

Good point and correct.

[chloe123]

Installed the "flow restrictor" in the am and ran it during a lunch break. The sprue not being spit out is a sign that it's an enhancement

http://youtu.be/JrwVTdF0LDk

Though it's not smooth like the motor driven one's,(or that video a newer member recently posted of his unique dual acting setup), it's better than it was.

I swapped a mold out and ran it again tonight. This time I had a boolit stuck in the mold.
Hatch had designed a easy way to release the boolit. I want to say he named it "manual move" though that doesn't sound representative of the function. Basically, via the panel, I just "stopped" it, and selected this button. It felt touch sensitive, for lack of a better word, and made the assembly slam down to release the boolit. Worked well, though the stuck boolit occurred every once in a while. I'm going to first try to use a spray on the mold then run same settings.

[Tazza]

A double acting cylinder will be smoother as it powers in and out rather than just out and relies on a spring to return. Mine flings the sprues all over the place, when my restrictors arrive, i hope to remedy that.

Mine is double acting, so i hope to get it running nice and smooth.

Stuck projectiles may be fixed with Hatch's next revision, he is working on a tapper to fix that issue. I am going to try and setup tappers on mine, i have a pile of small cylinders that would be perfect.

[HATCH]

Return stroke can be controlled by installing a flow regulator on the exhaust port of you air valve.
I hope to have all my mods done by this weekend

[jmorris]

I'm going to first try to use a spray on the mold then run same settings.

I have never found anything better than an acetylene flame to smoke a mold. The bullets just fall out.

[chloe123]

Read the notes, thanks for tips, but had a--new--major issue.
Anyone experience a problem with mold assembly arms getting stuck at end of stroke? (complete open position)
There's considerable tension at end of the stroke. It feels like there is undue tension between the mold assembly arms and the 2 end pieces that allow it to open. Happened while running a diff mold, 9mm. Wanted to see if I could just let it go for about 10 minutes. Returned to press and the mold carrier was stuck in that wide open position at bottom of unit. Though I could release it by hand, the added spring did not have enough force to return it. Though I could add some grease to the side arms I don't believe that's typically needed or a solution.I'll have to look at it again tonight

The flow restrictor was enabled at the time.

[Tazza]

I put a drop of oil on these parts too, not sure if it helps or not.

Just how hard was it stuck down? is the return spring in the same spot as Hatch and Wyman have setup? yours seems to sit a bit low to reliably return it to the start point. The cylinder does have a return spring, so i would have assumed it would have mostly returned on it's own.