Free Bentonite

[dalem9]

I have a lot of bentonite given to me I am willing to share  Just pay shipping or pickup . I am in Lakeport Michigan . PM me for more info 

[dalem9]

This offer is still good. Well be glad to share!

[cnr6400]

Wish I was closer, I do need some for sand casting and it is EXTREMELY expensive where I am  (Ontario Canada near Toronto). One quote was $1000 for a 40 kg bag. Sodium silicate which I also need is very hard to find and also extremely expensive. Thanks for offering the Bentonite to the forum members!

[dalem9]

I live 10 miles north of the bridge, at that rate you could make a day trip here. We could have lunch and talk casting.and shop. The bags are 100 lb. bags and you can have planty to make you trip worth it. Here is a picture of a wheel I cast. Have a great day. Dale

[crueby]

Is the border open these days? Last I heard you couldn't get back and forth between US and Canada due to covid restrictions.

[cnr6400]

Hi Chris, yes, the border is still closed. Travel to the US for me is not an option for health and cost reasons, in any case. Thanks to Dalem for the thought and offer though. 10 years ago I'd be packing up the truck for the trip right now!     

[awake]

What a wonderful offer! I wish I were close enough to take advantage of it.

I have grand plans to get into casting "some day," and my plan for bentonite was to crush and sift plain kitty litter - my understanding is that it is mostly bentonite.

With that in mind, it occurs to me that I can offer free bentonite to anyone in my area. It is used ... will that be a problem?

[stevehuckss396]

I would like to take you up on the offer but I am working 7 days a week and dont see it ending for another month or so.

[cnr6400]

Awake - if the lumps in the used stuff are same size you need for your cores, nope, no problem. 

Might be some odd odours from the foundry.....             

[Mcgyver]

that's very generous of you dalem9.

I do need some for sand casting and it is EXTREMELY expensive where I am  (Ontario Canada near Toronto). One quote was $1000 for a 40 kg bag.

I guess I really don't know what its worth, but that seems incredible.  at 1000 a bag my foundry customers should have it under lock and key.  Are you sure that isn't some special refined grade, food or snake oil, i mean medicinal? (its used for all kinds of things, cosmetics etc.).   

Have you tried foundry supply vendors, Smelko?  100lb of bentonite will make literally a ton of green sand....so maybe just buy a 100lb bag of premix?

[cnr6400]

The $1000 quote is not a typo and was from a foundry supply firm (not Smelko). Just good old fashioned Canadian profiteering, seeing what the market will bear. As soon as the guy heard I was not with a commercial foundry the prices shot through the roof.

I did try and get quotes from Smelko and the guy I spoke to there was talking about $200 for a 40 kg bag  of Bentonite clay last spring. He was really pushing me to buy supplies for  Petrobond moulding though, rather than Bentonite / oil sand. Petrobond from them was also very expensive, several hundred dollars for a few 5 gallon pails' worth. They do sell sodium silicate for making CO2 cores, but in big several - gallon buckets which are very costly. I only need a quart or so, and he did mention it has a shelf life and hardens soon after opening, so I do not want a big pail.

I did contact a local foundry I had worked with in industry and was able to buy a supply of used semi depleted oil / green sand (waste material, for them) for far less than other quoted options. It casts aluminum OK, but could use some Bentonite to improve the mould sand bond. May try the ground (new) cat litter idea, and try molasses/sand mix for cores.

I have been warned not to try and reclaim molasses from cores to then make cookies with, and also not to use Her Majesty's MixMaster to mull sand. 

  everyone.

[dalem9]

Thanks Guys, the cffer is good for as long as it last or I live. I have about 30 bags of it.It was given to me by a friend who sadly losted his place.  I can ship prepaid small amounts it you would like. You all have a great day and take care!

[dalem9]

And Steve If you don't get some before the next show I will bring you a bag then. You will have to reminded me thou I am getting old.

[Mcgyver]

The $1000 quote is not a typo and was from a foundry supply firm (not Smelko).

I just notice the word "don't" was missing from "really don't know what its worth".  I can make a model but can't type a sentence without missing a word.  Hopefully the meaning was conveyed

The other thing I mentioned was my foundry guy suggested a bag of premix.  Unless you have a huge amount to do, 40kg would make a about of ton of molds.  I'm thinking the premix couldn't be that much money as there's only going to be 5lbs or so of clay in a 100lb bag

I'm going to try lost wax soon from a three printer pattern so hopefully I won't need any clay, but I'd very tempted to try plain clumping cat litter before spending a fortune (or a field trip to Dales when we get to somewhat normal).  No experience, but  I wonder if it even needs to be ground?  I've use cat litter on spills and turns to slimy clay pretty easily....might be worth a small experiment with a bit water, sand, litter and the Armstrong muller

[awake]

Awake - if the lumps in the used stuff are same size you need for your cores, nope, no problem. 

Might be some odd odours from the foundry.....             

Oh, now that's a thought. Wonder if I can train the cats to pee in the proper patterns?

[crueby]

Awake - if the lumps in the used stuff are same size you need for your cores, nope, no problem. 

Might be some odd odours from the foundry.....             

Oh, now that's a thought. Wonder if I can train the cats to pee in the proper patterns?

[cnr6400]

 

[gerritv]

@cnr6400 A friend in Hamilton gets his bentonite from Smelko, he is checking his pricing but it wasn't that pricey. He makes his own sodium silicate. That might be an option?
 Western Sand 100lb was maybe CA$20. He doesn't buy Pertobond due to price.

Gerrit

[cnr6400]

Hi Gerrit, thanks for that info. Will your friend share his recipe for sodium silicate? I had no idea it could be made in the home shop / lab. Love to hear about how that works. It is difficult for individuals to buy small qty's of chemicals from chem supply firms nowadays here in Ontario. Got lots of salt, sugar, vinegar, washing soda, baking soda, lye (WC cleaner) and other grocery store bought chemicals though, and willingness to experiment!

  

[gerritv]

I will get the recipe, I recall at one of our last in-person HMEC meetings he was showing how well it worked.

BTW, I have a photo of my brother standing in front of 6127 in 1953 outside Quebec City (I think they were re-watering) This was our intro to Canada, Halifax to Toronto on wooden seats.

Gerrit

[cnr6400]

Thanks Gerrit!

Great to hear you saw 6127 up close when you arrived here. The 6100's were great engines. If you ever go to downtown Hogtown (Toronto) you can see 6128 at the John St roundhouse rail museum, and lots of other interesting rail - related artifacts. Before pandemic they had several live steam locomotives hauling guests too. May reopen that next year.

[awake]

Making Sodium Silicate - here is what the source of all knowledge (the internet) says:

    Wear proper safety gear, which includes gloves.
    Heat 4 to 8 grams of sodium hydroxide in 10 milliliters of water.
    Once the sodium hydroxide is dissolved, slowly add 6 grams of crushed silica gel beads. Heat the solution between additions. ...
    You now have sodium silicate or water glass.

Sodium hydroxide is lye, I thought - but maybe it can be bought in solid form and dissolved into water. I have to say, the above is a little too vague for my own comfort ...

[fidlstyks]

I have been baking cores with Linseed oil and shell core sand so long, I have forgotten what the recipe is to mix the water glass with the sand.

I have it in my mind 2%. But not sure and is that by volume or weight? I still have Co2 and dad had some of the waterglass-sodium silicate, and I need to be making cores soon. They have raised the price on the shell core till it costs so much. I think a 5 gallon bucket was like 20 dollars.

Question is what mixture do I use, and by volume or weight?

[A7er]

I hope this bit of info might help with bentonite and sodium silicate. When I first got into casting I bought mine from a local pottery materials supplier. I live in Illogan, a small village in Cornwall UK. It was more expensive than a foundry supplier, if you can find one willing to sell small amounts. When I needed some aluminium I contacted a foundry supplier who wanted to sell me 1000kg, I only wanted 20kg. We didn't do a deal!
Lee.

[dalem9]

I still have free Beninite. The border is now open.

[ddmckee54]

Might be some odd odours from the foundry.....

Having done projects at the John Deere foundry in Waterloo....
There's enough "ODD ODORS" in the air in a foundry that the smell of barbequed cat by-products probably wouldn't even be noticed.

Don