casting a belt buckle

[buggybuilder]

Has anyone cast a belt buckle from range pickup cases?
I have a favorite I would like to make duplicates of.
Was wondering what kind of media is used for the mold.
Thanks for any help!

[BLAHUT]

Sand mixed with lincead oil was the old stand by ?? Son used to make castings with lost wax method>>

[Scrounge]

Has anyone cast a belt buckle from range pickup cases?
I have a favorite I would like to make duplicates of.
Was wondering what kind of media is used for the mold.
Thanks for any help!

Delft casting clay for something with a lot of fine detail. "Green sand" casting for stuff without a great deal of fine detail. Green sand is fine grained sand mixed with bentonite (driller's mud, sealant for ponds and pools, and as a food additive for cattle) and a small amount of water.

This is a good book on casting brass, prices are a little high, but not ferociously so. https://www.amazon.com/Casting-Brass-C-W-Ammen/dp/0830618104

Books and videos here: https://archive.org/search.php?query=Brass+Casting&sin=&page=2 some can be downloaded for free, some only borrowed, including a copy of the one in the link above. There are a couple of groups for for casting metals on groups.io, as well. https://groups.io/g/Castinghobby/topics https://groups.io/g/foundry/topics https://groups.io/g/gingery-machines/topics this one is for folks who are interested in building one or more of David Gingery's home workshop machines of cast aluminum. Aluminum melts at a lower temperature than brass, but much of the info on making the charcoal foundry would still be useful. Also look at lost wax casting, general foundry work, sand casting, etc. Might also want to look into "Mikey Burners" designed by Michael Porter and published in his book https://www.amazon.com/Gas-Burners-Forges-Furnaces-Kilns/dp/1879535203 It's out of print, but copies are all over the internet. At one time, there was quite a bit of discussion of his burners at iforgeiron.com, might still be there somewhere. There is some recent discussion here: https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/repairing-1-ton-arbor-press-92522-2 where I commented on the burner I assembled from parts Michael sent me, followed by photos from Sleykin, who built some of his bigger burners from scratch. Anyone who fiddles with tools and making and fixing stuff needs to know about that site, too. ;)

[buggybuilder]

Where do I find this Delft casting clay?
If I use wax, doesn't it melt when you start to pour hot brass?

[Winger Ed.]

Where do I find this Delft casting clay?
If I use wax, doesn't it melt when you start to pour hot brass?

You might check out 'lost wax casting'.

You make a wax mold of what you want, then pack the sand or clay around it in a box.
Leave holes in it for the melted wax to run out when heated, and the molten brass to flow in.

There's youtube videos showing how its done.

[country gent]

Normally a wood pattern is used for sand casting. you also need cope and drag ( basically a box with no ends.). sand is packed in the frag to he point where the part even with the top then the part added and sand packed around it. Then the cope goes on and sand is packed up. the cope is removed and the part removed fills vents and shrinkage chambers cut in. Also small vents may be needed. You also need to make the pattern with draft on sides and bosses so it releases from sand.

Lost wax is some tines easier. Here a wax image of the part is made ( no draft is required here) but you do need to form fills and shrinkage as a part of it. This is then coated in a ceramic slurry several coats and dried When you melt your material this is set on the pot to fire it and the wax melts out. when ready the material is poured in and allowed to cool. the ceramic is then chipped off

[deltaenterprizes]

I used plaster of Paris mixed with sand to make a mold to make multiple cast aluminum parts. I don’t know how well it would hold up to the hotter heat of the brass.
I learned about aluminum casting on the Backyard Metal Casting forum.

[john.k]

Yes ,plaster will work.....anything used for an open mould should be oven dry,or there will be a steam blast..........I cast some belt buckles for the owners kids in the tractor yard using the dozens of cut padlocks that came off tractor toolboxes.....brass from padlocks seems ideal.

[bedbugbilly]

When I was a kid, I cast a replica U.S. Civil War enlisted man's buckle out of zinc using the lost wax process - used an original buckle to make the wax pattern using plaster of paris - then used plaster of paris for the mold.

You are talking using brass which melts at a much higher temperature - your mold material is going to have to hold up under that temperature. If you do it by sand casting - just remember that your pattern - whether you make it or use the original, is going to have to have the correct draft so you can pull the pattern - and, if you make a pattern, size it to allow for the shrinkage for the metal you are pouring. You can get some decent detail with sand casting, but your sand/oil mix needs to be fresh.

Rings, jewelry and other similar items are usually cast with the lost wax process using a centrifugal casting machine because you can get very fine detail. On a belt buckle, you should be able to use the lost wax process and pour it, but you'll need adequate sprue and risers to allow for adequate pressure on the mold cavity as the molten metal cools to avoid excess shrinkage.

[David2011]

The “SV Seeker” YouTube channel has many videos of casting bronze. Probably 2-3 years ago. He goes into great detail. Brass is copper with zinc. Bronze is copper with tin so the processes are similar.