Foundry in Box - How to Do It? Each of following pages gives a description of how to put FIB together & conduct a session Page 2 – Patterns poured from.

Foundry in Box - How to Do It? Each of following pages gives a description of how to put FIB together & conduct a session

• Page 2 – Patterns poured from silicone ice cube trays.• Page 3 – Preparing and Mounting pattern (widget) shape on match plate pattern

which is a 4 inch square plywood piece.• Page 4 – Shows flask (electrical boxes), clamps (binder clips), & downsprue ready

for mold assembly.• Page 5 – View of material and equipment needed for Molding Station.• Page 6 – View of Molding Station where youth fills & compacts mold with sand

with assistance from an adult.• Page 7 - View of Melting & Pouring Station where experienced AFS - SVC adult

pours mold while explaining to the youth who is watching what he is doing.• Page 8 – View of Shakeout & Finishing Station where experienced AFS - SVC adult

degates cast widget, cools it, files any sharp edges and gives it to the student who made the mold.

• Page 9 – Sifting of Sand after each FIB demonstration.• Page 10 – View of Typical Set-Up 6 to 10 Banquet Size Tables.• Page 11 – Pictures of AFS-SVC Set-Ups with Attendees.• Page 12 – Spreadsheet showing all material & prices AFS-SVC paid for items – Your

chapter can put together FIB for around $850.

1AFS SVC How to Do FIB

Example of the Silicone ice cube trays used to make patterns.

•The molten Tin (450 F) can be poured directly into a Silicone type ice cube tray – allow melt to cool by unplugging power source.

•If tray melts – can make up plaster-of-paris molds to cast the first tin widget shapes and then use tin as pattern.

Example of other widget shapes cast in tin from Silicone ice cube

trays.

Example of Silicone ice cube tray that is used to make patterns. Yellow one is Teddy Bear & Black

one is Bat.

Example s showing Teddy Bear & Bat mounted onto the match plate pattern.

2AFS SVC How to Do FIB

Example of the Pattern to make the shape. Match Plate molding with all the features in the cope.

Drag side of match plate pattern with hardware needed to assemble components

Down sprue

Runner & Gate

Guide pins

Pattern Shape

¼’ wood dowel guide pins glued into wood pattern plate pre-drilled to accept pins

Down sprue use 8-32 ¾” screw with nut & lock nut

Wood Pattern 3/8” plywood cut to size of electrical box flasks. (4 1/8” x 4 1/8”)

Pattern held in with wood glue and 3/8” screws

Drag side of match plate pattern with hardware in place 3AFS SVC How to Do FIB

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View of all molding material needed and ready for molding

Match Plate Pattern Shape assembly as shown in

previous slide

Binder Clips to hold assembly together both

during molding & pouring

Cope Flask – electrical box 1” tall. Modified by drilling guide pin holes to line up with match plate patterns

used. This not only helps strip flask from pattern straighter, but also its a fail safe way to insure mold

assembled correctly

Drag Flask - electrical box only 3/8” tall

Down Sprue ½” aluminum tube cut to size with groove cut to go over runner at bottom of down sprue AFS SVC How to Do FIB

5

View of Mold ready for sand filling & compaction. Showing the material needed at each molding location set-up

Steel Brush used to clean pattern before flasks are

placed over it.

Sand used to fill molds with some type of scooper

Hammer used to strike wood compactor to densify sand around widget shape

Wood Compactor used to densify sand in flasks

Mold assembly – Make sure to fill drag mold first, then turn over and install downsprue and fill cope mold

AFS SVC How to Do FIB

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View of Molding station. Youth filling flasks with sand with adult assistance , compacting drag and cope flask, stripping mold from the match plate pattern.

1. Youth reaching into sand container to get sand to fill drag mold

2. After drag mold made, student flips

over mold and inserts downsprue. Then

starts to fill cope mold

3. Student densifies mold using hammer

and compaction block. What kid doesn’t love

to play in sand and whack a hammer!

4. Mold ready to be stripped from pattern.

First pull out down sprue.

5. Second, take off drag mold. Third hold

match plate wood pattern and carefully strip off cope flask.

6. Picture showing cope & drag flask with

match plate pattern that made it. Ready to be re-assembled with

the clamps and poured.

AFS SVC How to Do FIB

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View of Melting & Pouring station. After Youth makes the mold with adult assistance, he/she takes mold with name tag to Pouring Station

Melting Station – always manned by

trained AFS-SVC member. Melt tin shot, runners and

scrap widgets.

Melting Pot that melts tin shot,

runners and scrap widgets with a Mold

ready to pour

Two Molds Ready to Pour

Pouring a mold from the melting/pouring hot pot. Adult explains to youth tin’s melting point, oxide layer being skimmed off, and how important the

gating system is as mold solidifies.

AFS SVC How to Do FIB

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View of Shakeout & Finishing station. After mold poured by AFS-SVC experienced pourer, mold is allowed to solidify, and then shaken out of sand

Shakeout & Finishing station manned by

trained AFS-SVC member, who

explains & shows what he is doing to the student as he

watches.

Mold sand is shaken out of flasks & sand

recycled.

AFS SVC finishing person shows

student the shaken out widget shape

he/she molded with gating still intact

showing how molten tin filled shape.

Any excess flash and /or runner

system is removed with cut off pliers.

Final finishing includes filing off any sharp edges before

widget shape student molded is given to

him/her.

After downsprue & runner cut from

widget shape, it is cooled in bucket of water (grip in hand

or tongs)

AFS SVC How to Do FIB

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Molding Sand Re-Cycling between each FIB Presentation

During any one FIB event sand is recycled from shakeout to

molding. But between each event all molding sand is sifted

through strainer where any small pieces of tin are removed

During sifting all lumps of sand are also broken into fine sand.

AFS SVC How to Do FIB

10

Typical Set-Up for FIB presentation at School, Church, or other location

Degate & Finishing lay-out typically uses 2 banquet size tables. Need bucket of water under table for cooling gating system after shakeout. Again AFS SVC has

used parent volunteers from organization visiting to assist at this station

Melting/Pouring Station Lay-out uses one table with the roller FIB container top used as melting platform. Keeps it away from students, and allows melting &

pouring without unplugging the hot pot melter

Name Card & Pick Up Safety Glasses & Match Plate Pattern Station where student will be pick

out widget shape he/she will be casting.

Typical Molding Station Lay-out. Using banquet style tables (7’ by 2.5’) can get 3 molding stations per table. AFS SVC has used parent volunteers from organization visiting to

assist at molding station – just need 15 minutes of training.

Pouring Station – for safety purposes put a strip of blue painters tape on floor, 2-3 feet from front of pouring

table, to keep youth from reaching onto table with molten metal

Name Card’s are index cards or papers that Youth write their first name on. The Card will stay with mold during Pouring and Finishing

so Youth gets the casting they molded.

AFS SVC How to Do FIB

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Pictures of AFS SVC FIB presentation during 2014 & 2015 events

Hemmeter Elementary School, Saginaw, Michigan – SPARK Day

AFS SVC Member introducing FIB activity with Posters & Steps in Process

Molding Station with Adults helping Students mold their widget shapes.

Delta STEM Day Activity

Standish Elementary School, Molding Stations using cafeteria type tables.

Typical Set-Ups have been in Class Room or Gymnasium type settings;

• Banquet Size Tables (6’ x 2.5’) can be set up in variety of configurations:

• Straight line – introduction, sign-in, pick up patterns (one table),molding (3 stations per table), melting & pouring (one table), shakeout & finishing (2 tables) in one line

• “L” Shape

• “U” Shape

AFS SVC How to Do FIB

12AFS SVC How to Do FIB