“foundry in a box” · casting / foundry industry very interesting and challenging career: •...

1 FIB Intro with pictures (1)

“Foundry in a Box”

To help bring the metal casting experience to young people, the American Foundry Society (AFS) Detroit Windsor Chapter (DWAFS) presents an educational, hands-on activity called “Foundry in a Box.” This unique experience was created to get the next generation of engineers and technicians excited about Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) and this one associated career - called castings.

A Foundry in a Box is just what it sounds like, a portable foundry. Just take a box on wheels and add hot pots, tin nuggets, small patterns and molds, and many small items like gloves, safety glasses, brushes, pliers, snips, drills, runners, and a pail of sand. You can play in the sand (molding) or the metal (finishing) with hands on training provided. The goal of this experience is to teach youth what a foundry and metal melting is all about by taking the Foundry in a Box on the road.

This experience begins with an explanation of the many types of metal castings and the process steps. Kids select their casting to make and pack the mold with sand. The molten tin is then poured in the mold and after it is cooled, the casting is extracted from the sand. The excess metal is trimmed and the kids get to take home what they made. The AFS Saginaw Valley Chapter (SVC) has conducted this activity with many students, including STEM events at local universities, elementary and middle school presentations, and large Boy and Girl Scout events and the DWAFS hopes to continue this tradition.

8 intro letter for potential events

Introduction to FIB events letter to potential groups

We understand that you are interested in hosting our American Foundry Society, Detroit Windsor (DWAFS) Chapter’s Foundry in a Box activity for your Material Science classes.

Thank you for your interest in a metal casting hands on activity for your students.

We normally set up works for groups of up to 30 students at a time with the youth each making their own mold and then taking home a casting. We estimate about 45 minutes for each group of up to 30 maximum to complete the activity.

The steps involved are 1) an introduction of castings and the metal casting process, 2) the youth pick a pattern and make a sand mold; 3) we pour molten tin into the mold and then cool and separate of the casting from the sand and runner system, as well as finish the casting to remove sharp edges.

We melt tin at 450oF in a “hot pot” that is small and self-contained. We keep this behind the tables and away from the youth. The sand we use is very “clean” and safe for youth as well.

We ask for you to provide 5-6 adult volunteers to be hands on helpers, as during the work day we usually cannot get enough foundry volunteers. We will provide the training and we have found the adults enjoy themselves as much as the kids.

Attached is a brief summary and some photos of our activity.

We normally need 5-7 banquet size tables with an electrical outlet behind one of the tables for the hot pot. We also need a means to fill a small bucket with water to cool hot castings.

Please provide me with some additional information, so that I may determine if I will have the volunteers to participate in your event.

What date or dates? What time or times? How many students? What grades? Can they be divided into groups?

attachment

4 Foundry In Box Introduction script

Foundry In Box Introduction (FIB) for Grade School Age Kids

• Today learn about castings & foundry industry.

• Ask about anyone touching castings today?

• Brushing Teeth – Faucets; Door Knobs; sitting in chairs, touch your dad’s golf clubs, cook egg in pan,etc.

• Ask about Eatable castings?

• Ice cubes; Jell-O molds; Popsicle;

• Go Through Definitions on Board of Metal Casting:

Casting / Foundry Industry very interesting and challenging career:

• If technical person by nature – foundry industry has many technical challenges in all of the scientific andengineering type fields: chemical – dealing with metals and high temperatures - lead into asking…

• About periodic table of elements? Today melting Tin symbol; Sn. Melts at 450 F; Boils at 4120 F. Havestudents name other elements that can be cast. i.e. aluminum, iron, copper, silver, gold, uranium, etc.

o Explain how Michigan in UP mines iron ore.

• Ask about making sand castles at the beach? What does it take? Wet sand, a pattern/mold, firm handto pack the sand in the mold.

• Today take same type of sand from the ground add few elements – clay & mineral oil and pack in boxaround a pattern. Show example of boxes we use & the match plate type pattern.

o Explain why Michigan with all its sand & iron ore in UP & all automotive industry has lots offoundries.

• Foundry Industry is one of the biggest re-cyclers; and they were re-cyclers even before it was evenpopular. Ask where all the aluminum cans students families re-cycle go?

• If you think foundry folks are few and far between, just think 7 of the 56 Signatures of the Declaration ofIndependence were foundryman.

Go through process they will follow today by indicating the steps outlined on the poster board:

• Put name on paper – 1st name enough;

• pick up safety glasses (stress safety hot metal & casting during pouring & shakeout until its cooled off);

• pick up pattern widget of your choice – remember that you get to keep whatever you cast.

• Take pattern to one of the molding stations where helpers will help you mold the drag & cope pattern.

• After molding take your mold to pouring station with your paper, where it will be poured by one of ourhelpers. Remember to stay behind the safety line on floor.

• After you watch your mold poured with the molten Tin, the helpers will shakeout your mold, degate therunner, cool the widget & file any sharp edges.

• You will then get to keep the trinket.

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.• – 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 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 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 Set-Ups with Attendees.

1AFS 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 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 How to Do FIB

4

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 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 How to Do FIB

6

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 How to Do FIB

7

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 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 How to Do FIB

8

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 member, who explains &

shows what he is doing to the student

as he watches.

Mold sand is shaken out of flasks & sand

recycled.

AFS 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 How to Do FIB

9

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 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 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 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 How to Do FIB

11

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 How to Do FIB

American Foundry Society Detroit Windsor Chapter

Foundry in a Box


FIB Station Signs 1


Foundry in a BoxFIB Station Signs 2

Marshalling Area for

Foundry In A Boxaa

DemonstrationAmerican Foundry Society Detroit Windsor Chapter

https://afsdetroit.comFIB Station Signs 3

Name Station

Steve Jones

Print your name on an index card to

track your casting



Casting Sand Molding



Casting Metal Pouring and Extraction


FIB Station Signs https://afsdetroit.com 6

Casting Finishing


FIB Station Signs https://afsdetroit.com 7

Pouring Molten Metal

American Foundry Society Detroit Windsor Chapterhttps://afsdetroit.com

FIB Station Signs 8

“foundry in a box” · casting / foundry industry very interesting and challenging career: •...

Documents