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Topic: The "Tuckelite" |
Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 12 May 2014 4:34 am |
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Fresh outta the sand ... Born on Mother's Day
A356 Aluminum alloy ... 13 lbs
Next up ... The "Luigifier's Cast aluminum cabinet"
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Ken Campbell
From:
Ferndale, Montana
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Posted 12 May 2014 5:10 am
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Dude,
Much awe..... |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Stephen Abruzzo
From:
Philly, PA
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Posted 12 May 2014 6:29 am
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Wow.......cool. Nice to see the barbell weights can be used for alternative tasks.
I bet the Tuckelite could double as an "attitude adjuster". |
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Chris Templeton
From:
The Green Mountain State
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Fred Kinbom
From:
Berlin, Germany, via Stockholm, Sweden.
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Jonathan Lam
From:
Brooklyn, NY
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Ron Mielzynski
From:
Illinois, USA
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Andrea Tazzini
From:
Massa, Italy
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Posted 12 May 2014 10:07 am
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Sci-Fi! Back to the future!  |
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Ron Bednar
From:
Rancho Cordova, California, USA
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Posted 12 May 2014 10:19 am
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Amazing...
You are a true alchemist, turning base metal into gold.
Golden sounds for one blessed individual. |
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Mark Roeder
From:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 12 May 2014 10:56 am
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Mucho Mahalos for the kind words ...
I am very pleased with the outcome ... I was way out of my "comfort zone" with this prototype ... But other than jets of flames and black smoke shooting a foot out of the sprue and two risers ... Scaring the $%£t out of me ... It all came out as planned |
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Larry Phleger
From:
DuBois, PA
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Posted 12 May 2014 12:29 pm
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Great job Rick! I can't wait to SEE and HEAR the finished product.  |
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Michael Greer
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 12 May 2014 12:49 pm
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Rick
amazing skill and innovation.
Cant wait to see and hear the finished product. |
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Mitch Druckman
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 12 May 2014 2:10 pm
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Fantastic. Great to see you casting again. I love the integrated cast nut and saddle.
Curious how much heavier this design is when compared to the Dustpans?
How do you expect the new shape will affect the tone? |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 12 May 2014 3:06 pm
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It's lighter than the Dustpans ... I just cut the sprue and risers off this afternoon and now it weighs only 11 lbs ...
As far as the bridge ... I decided to cast in a string "anchor" behind it ... thought it would look cool when strung up ... 
As for the sound ... I'm hoping the chambers will add something |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 12 May 2014 3:36 pm
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Can casting a car be far behind this latest accomplishment?
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 13 May 2014 4:17 am
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This will be one to watch as it progresses. Rick, what type of pick-up are you planning to drop in?
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 13 May 2014 5:35 am
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One of my Airstream units ...
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Bob Hickish
From:
Port Ludlow, Washington, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 13 May 2014 5:53 am
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Rick
you never cease to amaze !
can you offer any details as to your method on casting - did you make casting patterns ? is it a wax mold ? ect. I have done just enough of this kind of project to know it aint easy to do , especially with limited foundry equipment and or shop |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 13 May 2014 6:40 am
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I used a method known as "Full Mold" casting ... Which is a combination of "Lost Foam" and traditional bonded sand casting ... I used oiled sand (Petrobond) ...
The pattern was made out of XPS polystyrene (extruded - pink, green) and EPS polystyrene (expanded - white beady) ... The important areas were XPS and the back, sprues and risers were EPS ...
I drew out all the parts on a CAD program, printed them on card stock paper ... Cut them out ... Pinned them to the styrofoam sheets and cut them with a hot wire cutter using Rene 41 wire ...
Once the pieces were all cut ... I assembled them with low temperature "Hot Glue" ... And sanded everything up to 400 grit ...
I then built a wood flask ... Filled it with Petrobond and rammed it down to 1" ... Then I filled the chambers with Petrobond ... And riddled in ( passed sand through a mesh strainer) 2" of Petrobond ... Inverted the foam pattern ( fretboard down) and pressed it in ...
The I added the sprue to the back and risers to the headstock and bridge area ... And filled the flask with Petrobond ... Lightly ramming it down * ....
I put a sprue extension on (Dole Pineapple can w/ top and bottom removed) and mounded more sand up and around it ....
Melted the A356 to 1600 degrees F .... And poured ... The molten aluminum rapidly melts then vaporizes the polystyrene ...
The process is destructive ... A new pattern will have to be made for each casting ...
I made a set of plates with an English Wheel ... But it was so labor intensive ... I'll cast a set using the above procedure ... Might as well keep " all things cast"
For the "Luigifier" cabinet ... I will use the more traditional " Lost Foam Investment" technique ... Making the pattern with XPS and then coating it with multiple layers of drywall mud (joint compound) ... Drying it completely ... Then burying it in a flask of "Playsand" ... Vents will be needed also, since the investment isn't permeable to gas like the Petrobond is ...
Since there are no intricate details ... No need to spend the $$$ on oiled sand ...
* The only thing I will change on the production Tuckelites ... I won't use EPS for the back ... When I 'gently' rammed the sand ... It left dents in the EPS which translated to dents in the back of the steel ... No biggie, since this is going to be mine ( I keep my prototypes) ... And I can just sand them out ... |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 13 May 2014 7:03 am
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Before the pour ...
Oozing out the front and rear risers ...
My foundry men Tucker (8 yrs) , Luigi (3 yrs) and Max (5 yrs)... Dusty (10 yrs) was off trying to form a "Union"
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Bob Hickish
From:
Port Ludlow, Washington, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 13 May 2014 7:12 am
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Now I understand your comment
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| But other than jets of flames and black smoke shooting a foot out of the sprue and two risers |
thanks for your narrative - very interesting |
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Keith Glendinning
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 13 May 2014 8:23 am Tukelite
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That looks fantastic. I'll bet it sounds amazing when it's finally finished.
Keith |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 13 May 2014 4:32 pm
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Cool to see the casting pics Once upon a time in the long ago I did some investment / lost wax casting of small objects like jewelery etc. Can't help but imagine backing a tractor up and hooking up the PTO to some monster sized home brew centrifuge .. LoL ..
_________________
Some misc pics of my hand crafted steels
Follow me on Facebook here |
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