Create 4 kickstands and brackets for the ducati cucciolo.
Difficulty Level (Easy, Medium, Hard, Insane):
Medium
Process:
This one was actually quite tricky because the brackets that screw into the cucciolo engine was originally created with a sand-cast/injection mold process. It had three different directions and not just up and down like most casts so when mom & dad came for a visit last month we must have spent 3 or 4 hours staring at that part and thinking how the heck we'd be able to cast this part.
After they went back home life got busy and a month later I finally decided to give it a go. The kickstand bracket was so complex that I ended up having to weld a metal insert just so I could position the part onto my sand mold without it tipping over.
First step was to fill in the drag, set the kickstand bracket with the metal insert on it and fill in the cope (top part). Afterwards I flipped it over and pulled out the bracket with the metal insert.
Second step was to put the kickstand bracket back into the mold and fill up the cavity that the metal insert left with sand/sodium silicate to create the core with the ribs on the side.
Third step, empty the drag, put it upside down on the cope and fill it with green sand.
Step four, take off the drag (which is now on top), flip it over to where it belongs, pull the kickstand bracket (with the core) out of the cope
Step five, pull the core out of the kickstand bracket and set it flat on the drag
Step six, clean up the cope, cut the runner, the in-gates, etc and put the cope back on top of the drag
Do this 6 times in a row! Took me about an hour the first time and by the end I got each mold made in about 45 minutes, not including the actual casting
Step seven was the fun part: melting aluminum and filling it into the mold, wait for 30 minutes and shake out the mold.
Step eight was cleaning up the casts with the table saw, a SS rasp and lastly with the angle grinder.
Phew, I am glad it's done! Now I can ship them off to England and Quebec where the guys live are that ordered them...
Pictures:
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| Welded metal insertto fill in the gap in the kickstand bracket and to keep it from wiggling |
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| Insert in the bracket |
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| Put the bracket, runner and risers on the drag |
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| Baby powder to keep the cope sand from sticking to the drag sand |
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| Put the cope frame on |
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| Filling the cope with sand |
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| After cope was filled and compacted |
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| After cope was scraped off |
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| Separate the cope and the drag to reveal the bracket, metal insert, runner and risers |
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| Pulling the metal insert out of the bracket |
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| The metal insert after it was removed |
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| Pulling out the bracket |
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| After the bracket was pulled out |
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| put the bracket back into the cope |
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| Using silica sand and sodium silicate (40%) |
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| Using CO2 to harden the sand |
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| Silica sand/sodium silicate core in the cope |
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| Baby powder drag and putting the drag on top of the cope |
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| After drag was compacted with green sand |
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| Drag was scraped off |
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| Separate the cope and drag |
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| Pull the bracket with the sand core out of the cope |
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| Remove the core from the bracket |
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| Placing the core back on the drag |
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| Preparing the in-gate and risers |
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| Firing up the furnace and pour |
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| After 30 minutes, shake out the parts |
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| The rough cast |
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| Amazing how the details of the screw shows up |
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| The spent cores |
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| After clean-up. The bottom center is the original bracket |
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| The ridges that made this part so ridiculously hard to cast |
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| Another angle |
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| Turned out quite nice I must say |
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| The legs that go with the brackets. I only made 4 last month with my dad |
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| Another view of the kickstand legs |
Tools:
Foundry furnace
Green sand
Copes and drags
MIG welder
Oxy/Acetylene torch
Angle grinder
Ear muffs
Goggles
Gloves
Knife
Spatula for the auto body filler
Markers
Measuring tape
Channel lock pliers
Hammer
Table saw
SS rasp
Screw driver
Materials:
4" piece of 2" pipe for the metal insert
Auto body fillerfor the metal insert
Aluminum cutting oil
Silica sand
Sodium silicate
CO2 tank
Time:
15hrs total (10hrs for brackets, 5hrs for kickstand legs)
Conclusion:
I hope it is acceptable to the people that ordered it.
