Engines > Your Own Design
Oscillator Cylinder Pattern
CI:
Looks great !
I have gotten to the point where I want to make a quick pattern first with either wood or 3D printing, and then cast it in aluminum, so it will be more durable.
Remembering to add double shrinkage of course.
Adds an extra step and a lot of work though to make permanent aluminum patterns.
Aluminum is much easier to melt and pour than iron, so the work goes more quickly.
.
vtsteam:
Well, CI, I have to say I've never worn out a pattern, so casting a second aluminum one after the wooden one has no appeal for someone as impatient as I am!
And sorry to say, no aluminum casting I've ever made was so perfect in detail and surface finish that it could then be used immediately as a pattern without lots of work on its finish... and possibly machining all around.
But then I make pretty simple stuff. Really complex cast engine components are a whole different world from what I like to do, and I can see that it might make sense to try a proof-of-casting in a more forgiving metal than iron, for some of that stuff.
I like things simple! Probably all I'm capable of! :cheers:
CI:
--- Quote from: vtsteam on February 05, 2026, 01:46:41 am ---I like things simple! Probably all I'm capable of! :cheers:
--- End quote ---
There is a lot to be said for keeping it simple, but "keeping it simple" is relative when you are casting your own parts in the backyard in gray iron.
If you are casting model engine parts in iron, and building lathes, etc., I would say there are not many limits on what you are capable of doing.
.
vtsteam:
Thanks kindly CI. My mind balks these days at combinations of things in a way that is different than when I was a little younger. I gotta go one thing at a time, think one thing at a time now to a much greater extent, or it freezes up, I lose the direction and I have to start over mentally. Hard to explain. But I'll get there in the end. Just have to go slower.
The snow has blocked me on casting for this project. I feel like I've lost touch with it because it has been so long.
In the past I have cast with a little snow around, though not directly in the furnace and pour area, which is sand. But nearby and lower there has sometimes been maybe an inch of remaining snow or ice, and I have had a few small metal spills run down to that without problems other than a fizzle.
But now, and for the last many weeks, no chance. There has been a consistent 14" of snow on the ground everywhere and temperatures too low to melt it. Finally this last week we have been getting enough above 32 degrees for long enough for the snow to start evaporating. I'd say we are at about 7" now everywhere. Still a long way to go. Predictions are for possible snow/and/or rain for several days ahead. I don't know which to wish for, because rain and ice on top of what we have is worse than snow, but more snow means longer til I can cast again.
Anyway, here is my casting area with everything packed up and the furnace covered. Snow sliding off of the shed roof in the warmer temps has piled up and started to invade with a 5' high pile in the background. I had a tarp over the sand near the furnace to help remove it when the snow gets thin enough. Wind moved that during the start of the last big snow.
I think the enthusiasm for this project will return when I can pour again.
PaulR:
We've had rain pretty much non-stop for two months but at least it doesn't hold things up in the workshop. Hope you get things back on track soon, I'm looking forward to seeing this engine.
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