Making a sand casting

[LenH]

I saw a young woman this past Saturday use kinetic sand to make a surface cast with pewter. My wife and I were at the National Ornamental
Metal Museum in Memphis. This young woman was practicing for a class later this month. I watched for a pretty good while and got
to thinking, I can do that! I remember Moe on the 3 Stooges telling Curley. Every time you think you weaken the nation.

I need a counterweight for a target pistol (Benelli MP90S). I have one in the pistol already and can use it to make a new weight. The cost of
these weights are cost prohibitive but making my own is the cost of the lead and sand.

I don't really want to use the kinetic sand as it has moisture in it and am concerned with the moisture in the sand and molten lead. But
the young women had no problem with the melted pewter but the lead will be quite a bit hotter.

[Burnt Fingers]

We did sand casting with aluminum in shop class back in the dark ages. The sand was damp. It's required to keep the sand in place.

[Winger Ed.]

There's a bunch of videos on youtube about making your own crucibles and sand casting.
It looks like one of those things that if ya get off into it, the hobby would be as addictive as reloading.

[trapper9260]

Years ago my dad show my brother and I how to make fishing sinkers and duck decoy weights out of use of sand, He damp the sand and use news paper for make the weight like a funnel and then pour the lead in it. then drill a hole on the top for the fishing line. He had work in the foundry years before.

[NyFirefighter357]

I just sand casted over the summer for the first time with my son. I had gotten red casting clay (delft), 20lb 95/5 solder essentially pewter & a 10lb melting pot for $25. A few YouTube video's later & simple wood frame & I had success the second time. The casting "sand" can be made with Speedy Dry & fine sand. 3% moisture doesn't effect the liquid metal. Search things like DIY Delft or DIT Petrobond.

Watch this https://youtu.be/4HeJNf9hRzo

Read this: https://youtu.be/4HeJNf9hRzo

[country gent]

THe biggest things are vent the sand mould, Getting the sand packed down tight enough it dosnt collapse when the form is removed and the top is sat back down. The box is also hiw the tio and bottom are aligned after the form is removed. When the top is formed push some wires down thru to the form (.060 is fine) to vent and a pin for the fill hile pull these out after form is removed and top is set back on. Make the fill hole on the large side you want to fill this mould fairly quick

[LenH]

Thanks for all the info. I watched the lady pack the sand with a wood block and make an impression with what she was trying to make.

This is probably a one time thing, the cost of one of those lead weights from Benelli is so out of sight that this casting, make your own
with maybe 200 grains of lead makes it appealing. As usual I generally over think things.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'm not sure what the weight is to look like? but couldn't you also make a "single use" wooden mold, designed something like a bullet mold?

[country gent]

Pack the part in clay let dry and remove the part fire on top of pot and fill again use plenty of vent holes and a larger fill holes. If you want to really do it right use a clay slurry and dip a was image of the part. Do this like making a candle until the desired thickness is obtained. let dry and cure melt wax out on the pot and fill with lead. Chip clay off

[georgerkahn]

Quite a while back, a friend had a counterweight (commercial) on his S&W 41, and I wanted one -- as listed in Gil Hebard book, but, too costly for me. What we did was coat his with electric insulator wax, and put it in the "plaster" (??) in a store-bought kit to make children's hand prints. We put wax paper on half, and it came apart the next day with remarkable exactness. (And, the weight was totally unharmed!) We used a triangular file to make one air-vent on each side, and a chain-saw-sharpening file to make the fill spout. The problem we ran into was the combination of our lead not being hot enough and/or too slow filling speed, as the first several attempts barely resembled what we hoped to cast. After making a couple of more vents, an "almost" like the original weight was cast, which also turned out to be the last as our plaster "mould" broke in taking it apart -- the extra vent scores perhaps weakening it? Anyways, after some grinding with a Foredom (like a Dremel, but on a shaft) tool, it looked remarkably good, 'specially after being covered with several coats of semi-gloss black Rust-Oleum spray paint. It went down the road with the pistol -- but functioned quite nicely for me while I had it.
Perhaps an option for you rather than using sand?
geo

[LenH]

here is the weight I need to replicate. I shouldn't be a great big deal.

[trapper9260]

Years ago when I was in high school in metal class for use to do a casting we use Styrofoam to the shape we wanted we wanted and pack it in sand and have 2 holes for vents and pour the aluminum in one of the holes and it melted the foam and then when cool dig it out and then just finish it off then . Just to give idea if you like to try that .

[jessdigs]

here is the weight I need to replicate. I shouldn't be a great big deal.

I have done a lot of brass and aluminum casting with sand. Petrobond and green sand.
The lost foam method is the easiest. You make the shape you want out of styrofoam (hot wire cut) and pack it in sand. Pour molten metal in and the metal will vaporize the foam and take on its shape.
Otherwise wood form and split molds works well.

I don't know if lead would get hot enough for lost foam. But petrobond would work great

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