hey what’s up guys welcome back I’m
really looking forward to this project
today because in this video we get to
play with Sam now back when I made my
first mini metal foundry and use it to
melt down soda cans I was looking for
the most convenient and easy ways to
cast that metal you’ve seen the
styrofoam casting method where we make
the object out of styrofoam and bury it
in a bucket of sand but the problem is
the styrofoam object always gets
destroyed I followed up by trying to
make some plaster molds but we found the
plaster cracks so in this video we’re
trying to method it I’ve actually wanted
to try for years and that’s green sand
casting now a lot of you watching have
probably seen videos on green sand
casting or maybe even try to yourself
but because of all my projects
experiments and production I haven’t
found the time to play with it myself so
that’s what we’re doing today the
purpose of this video is to make some
high quality green sand for metal
casting let’s get started now materials
were going to be using to making our
sand are very simple I just went down to
local Home Depot and pick up this
50-pound bag of place and I was only
about three and a half dollars then I
went down to Walmart and pick up this
bag of unscented kitty litter for about
a dollar fifty aside from those we’re
just going to need a scale and a spray
bottle of water when it comes to casting
your metals the finer the material is
that you cast into the cleaner your
result is going to be so we really want
the finest sand and the finest clay that
we can get unfortunately with place down
like this you can see that it’s not that
fine and the kitty litter we’ve got is
bentonite clay but you can see it comes
in all kinds of clumps so the first
thing we need to do to prepare our
materials is screen our sand and crush
our kitty litter now while I was down at
the super center I picked up a couple of
different options in strainers and while
I would love to use the large one
because it’d be quicker if you look at
the mess here you can see the holes are
a little bit wider that’s going to allow
larger grains of sand to fall through
what we really want is a fine mesh like
this 3-inch strainer if you look at the
mesh on this you can see the only very
fine grains of sand are gonna be able to
get through and that’s really what we
want even though it’s gonna take a lot
longer so step number one
grab some sand grab your strainer and
get sifting
[Music]
hey guys I am back from straining my
sound and check out what I’ve done here
I actually used both sets of strainers I
use a larger one first to speed up the
process and get the big chunks out then
I took the strain pieces of sand and ran
it through this 3-inch strainer to get
even finer sand and here are our results
when we pour these four samples we’ve
collected out on a plate you can really
see the difference this first pile here
is the regular sand that’s straight from
the bag the pile over here on the far
right is the stuff we strained off using
our larger strainer the next pile is the
stuff we strained off using the 3-inch
strainer this last pile here is the
stuff that was left over and you can see
it’s extremely fine sand everything else
has been filtered off and only the
smallest particles remain and you can
definitely see that when you compare it
to the other piles now depending on the
mesh of your strainers you could
actually get your sand so fine it would
almost be like a powder but of course
you’re going to have to invest some time
into the process now I found an even
quicker and easier way to get this done
is just go down to your local pet store
and pick up a bag of aquarium sand this
stuff is already super fine and really
well sifted it’s gonna cost you about $8
a bag but that’s well worth your time
in fact these particles of sand are so
small it’s even finer than the stuff we
just made ourselves but I’m going to put
both of them to the test now the next
step is to pulverize our kitty litter
and we could do that in a couple of
different ways we could pour it into a
blender and grind it up or we could just
stick it in a freezer bag and pound it
with a mallet
in either case once we’ve got it all
crushed up we are going to need to
filter that but we’re not going to need
to do nearly as much when we mix these
things together we’re going to use a
ratio of about 95% sand and only 5 to
10% clay so we’re not going to need much
[Music]
the stuff that comes out of blender is
really really fine it’s almost like
powder but remember this stuff is going
to wreck your blades so make sure it’s a
blender you don’t care too much about so
here we are guys we’ve got our clay
pulverized and sifted to a point where
it has a consistency of powdered sugar
over here we have our hand sifted sand
and over here we have our aquarium sand
so now all we have to do is mix them
together in a ratio of about 95% sand
and 5 to 10 percent clay and we’re going
to measure them by weight using a scale
so update guys I went ahead and measured
out all the different ingredients here
we’ve got our aquarium stand and we’ve
got our hand sifted sand here I’ve got
475 grams in each of these cups now to
make this a ninety five five ratio I
also measured out 25 grams of clay into
each of these cups what we have to do
now is pour in the clay and mix these up
thoroughly there are a lot of different
ways you can mix this stuff together you
could throw it in a blender stir it with
a stick or even just grab a couple of
cups and pour it back a few times until
everything looks thoroughly constituted
so here we are we’ve got our two sample
size batches thoroughly mixed and ready
to go all that’s left to do now is add a
little water now the key to make you
really good green sand is we want it to
be moist but we do not want it to be wet
I think the easiest way to do this is
just pick our sand and gently spread it
out on something like a plate to expose
more surface area then using a spray
water bottle we’ll adjust the nozzle so
it has a fine spray and we’ll just
gently miss the top of the sand when you
spray a little water you’re going to
notice the sand changes color when it
does you want to go ahead and just
thoroughly mix that in until all the
color disappears go ahead and keep doing
this until your sand gets the
consistency where you think would be
great for making sand castles
now I’ve sprayed a fair amount of water
here to the point where the sand doesn’t
change color anymore and I mixed it
thoroughly but you can see when I grab a
handful now and squeeze it when I let it
go it just cracks and crumbles apart and
that probably means we don’t have enough
clay so at this point we can start
mixing together a little bit more clay
and mix it in thoroughly until it gets
the port where we can squeeze it firmly
and have it all hold together
[Music]
quick update guys I went ahead and added
more clay powder to this mixture and now
it’s somewhere between 15 to 20 percent
of the total composition and now the
stand has reached the consistency where
if I grab it and squeeze it in my hand
you can see it leaves a little clump and
if we take that clump it’s nice and firm
but if we give it a little snap it
breaks cleanly right down the center
I believe that’s what we’re looking for
the recipe I had was 5 percent clay but
it seems 15 to 20 percent clay works a
little bit better with the place and
that I’m using here let’s see how that
compares to the aquarium’s end so check
this out guys I’ve just mixed up our
aquarium sand and this time I only use
10% clay but if we do a stop check you
can see a balls-up in my hand just as
nicely as we’d hope it would and if we
crack it down the center we got a nice
clean break I think this stuff is done
with 10 percent clay and I think it’s
attributed to the moisture content it’s
a very fine balance though because you
don’t want this stuff dripping wet so
guys it looks like our green sand
experiment was a success in both the
aquarium sand and the place and the only
real difference I’ve noticed between the
two is how much time you want to spend
sifting it out okay let’s recap we start
off our experiment today with a full bag
of place sand and family we could use
different sized strainers to get the
finest sand possible next we crushed up
some unscented kitty litter bentonite
clay until it was a fine powder to match
the mesh of our sand we mix them
together in a ratio of 95% sand
5% clay and found that that wasn’t
enough to make them stick together so we
added more clay until it was closer to
15% the clay seems to be the glue that
holds the whole composition together and
the water is the ingredient that
activates it so we added a mist of water
one squirt at a time until the sand
reached a consistency where we could
squeeze it in our hand and form a clump
that would hold its shape we could tell
the sound was ready by holding the clump
between two fingers and giving the
little tug a clean break right down the
center indicates the sand is ready to
use so now that we’ve got our two sample
batches I think from here on out I’m
using aquarium sand because it’s a lot
quicker and more convenient to use so
how is our freshly made green sand going
to hold up to actual metal casting well
I’m going to make up a whole big batch
of this stuff store it in an airtight
container and we’ll test it tomorrow
thanks for joining me for this
experiment guys I’ll be looking for you
the next one talk to you then
[Music]
whoa and came out faster than expected
hey guys thanks for watching and
remember I’m giving away prizes now on
every new video all you have to do to
qualify is subscribe to my channel ring
the bell and select to be notified when
my next videos get released the secret
link to my giveaways will be pinned in
the comments for the first 12 hours if
you like what I’m doing show your
support right now by giving this video a
big thumbs up and share with a friend I
love you back
I’ll see you next time
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
really looking forward to this project
today because in this video we get to
play with Sam now back when I made my
first mini metal foundry and use it to
melt down soda cans I was looking for
the most convenient and easy ways to
cast that metal you’ve seen the
styrofoam casting method where we make
the object out of styrofoam and bury it
in a bucket of sand but the problem is
the styrofoam object always gets
destroyed I followed up by trying to
make some plaster molds but we found the
plaster cracks so in this video we’re
trying to method it I’ve actually wanted
to try for years and that’s green sand
casting now a lot of you watching have
probably seen videos on green sand
casting or maybe even try to yourself
but because of all my projects
experiments and production I haven’t
found the time to play with it myself so
that’s what we’re doing today the
purpose of this video is to make some
high quality green sand for metal
casting let’s get started now materials
were going to be using to making our
sand are very simple I just went down to
local Home Depot and pick up this
50-pound bag of place and I was only
about three and a half dollars then I
went down to Walmart and pick up this
bag of unscented kitty litter for about
a dollar fifty aside from those we’re
just going to need a scale and a spray
bottle of water when it comes to casting
your metals the finer the material is
that you cast into the cleaner your
result is going to be so we really want
the finest sand and the finest clay that
we can get unfortunately with place down
like this you can see that it’s not that
fine and the kitty litter we’ve got is
bentonite clay but you can see it comes
in all kinds of clumps so the first
thing we need to do to prepare our
materials is screen our sand and crush
our kitty litter now while I was down at
the super center I picked up a couple of
different options in strainers and while
I would love to use the large one
because it’d be quicker if you look at
the mess here you can see the holes are
a little bit wider that’s going to allow
larger grains of sand to fall through
what we really want is a fine mesh like
this 3-inch strainer if you look at the
mesh on this you can see the only very
fine grains of sand are gonna be able to
get through and that’s really what we
want even though it’s gonna take a lot
longer so step number one
grab some sand grab your strainer and
get sifting
[Music]
hey guys I am back from straining my
sound and check out what I’ve done here
I actually used both sets of strainers I
use a larger one first to speed up the
process and get the big chunks out then
I took the strain pieces of sand and ran
it through this 3-inch strainer to get
even finer sand and here are our results
when we pour these four samples we’ve
collected out on a plate you can really
see the difference this first pile here
is the regular sand that’s straight from
the bag the pile over here on the far
right is the stuff we strained off using
our larger strainer the next pile is the
stuff we strained off using the 3-inch
strainer this last pile here is the
stuff that was left over and you can see
it’s extremely fine sand everything else
has been filtered off and only the
smallest particles remain and you can
definitely see that when you compare it
to the other piles now depending on the
mesh of your strainers you could
actually get your sand so fine it would
almost be like a powder but of course
you’re going to have to invest some time
into the process now I found an even
quicker and easier way to get this done
is just go down to your local pet store
and pick up a bag of aquarium sand this
stuff is already super fine and really
well sifted it’s gonna cost you about $8
a bag but that’s well worth your time
in fact these particles of sand are so
small it’s even finer than the stuff we
just made ourselves but I’m going to put
both of them to the test now the next
step is to pulverize our kitty litter
and we could do that in a couple of
different ways we could pour it into a
blender and grind it up or we could just
stick it in a freezer bag and pound it
with a mallet
in either case once we’ve got it all
crushed up we are going to need to
filter that but we’re not going to need
to do nearly as much when we mix these
things together we’re going to use a
ratio of about 95% sand and only 5 to
10% clay so we’re not going to need much
[Music]
the stuff that comes out of blender is
really really fine it’s almost like
powder but remember this stuff is going
to wreck your blades so make sure it’s a
blender you don’t care too much about so
here we are guys we’ve got our clay
pulverized and sifted to a point where
it has a consistency of powdered sugar
over here we have our hand sifted sand
and over here we have our aquarium sand
so now all we have to do is mix them
together in a ratio of about 95% sand
and 5 to 10 percent clay and we’re going
to measure them by weight using a scale
so update guys I went ahead and measured
out all the different ingredients here
we’ve got our aquarium stand and we’ve
got our hand sifted sand here I’ve got
475 grams in each of these cups now to
make this a ninety five five ratio I
also measured out 25 grams of clay into
each of these cups what we have to do
now is pour in the clay and mix these up
thoroughly there are a lot of different
ways you can mix this stuff together you
could throw it in a blender stir it with
a stick or even just grab a couple of
cups and pour it back a few times until
everything looks thoroughly constituted
so here we are we’ve got our two sample
size batches thoroughly mixed and ready
to go all that’s left to do now is add a
little water now the key to make you
really good green sand is we want it to
be moist but we do not want it to be wet
I think the easiest way to do this is
just pick our sand and gently spread it
out on something like a plate to expose
more surface area then using a spray
water bottle we’ll adjust the nozzle so
it has a fine spray and we’ll just
gently miss the top of the sand when you
spray a little water you’re going to
notice the sand changes color when it
does you want to go ahead and just
thoroughly mix that in until all the
color disappears go ahead and keep doing
this until your sand gets the
consistency where you think would be
great for making sand castles
now I’ve sprayed a fair amount of water
here to the point where the sand doesn’t
change color anymore and I mixed it
thoroughly but you can see when I grab a
handful now and squeeze it when I let it
go it just cracks and crumbles apart and
that probably means we don’t have enough
clay so at this point we can start
mixing together a little bit more clay
and mix it in thoroughly until it gets
the port where we can squeeze it firmly
and have it all hold together
[Music]
quick update guys I went ahead and added
more clay powder to this mixture and now
it’s somewhere between 15 to 20 percent
of the total composition and now the
stand has reached the consistency where
if I grab it and squeeze it in my hand
you can see it leaves a little clump and
if we take that clump it’s nice and firm
but if we give it a little snap it
breaks cleanly right down the center
I believe that’s what we’re looking for
the recipe I had was 5 percent clay but
it seems 15 to 20 percent clay works a
little bit better with the place and
that I’m using here let’s see how that
compares to the aquarium’s end so check
this out guys I’ve just mixed up our
aquarium sand and this time I only use
10% clay but if we do a stop check you
can see a balls-up in my hand just as
nicely as we’d hope it would and if we
crack it down the center we got a nice
clean break I think this stuff is done
with 10 percent clay and I think it’s
attributed to the moisture content it’s
a very fine balance though because you
don’t want this stuff dripping wet so
guys it looks like our green sand
experiment was a success in both the
aquarium sand and the place and the only
real difference I’ve noticed between the
two is how much time you want to spend
sifting it out okay let’s recap we start
off our experiment today with a full bag
of place sand and family we could use
different sized strainers to get the
finest sand possible next we crushed up
some unscented kitty litter bentonite
clay until it was a fine powder to match
the mesh of our sand we mix them
together in a ratio of 95% sand
5% clay and found that that wasn’t
enough to make them stick together so we
added more clay until it was closer to
15% the clay seems to be the glue that
holds the whole composition together and
the water is the ingredient that
activates it so we added a mist of water
one squirt at a time until the sand
reached a consistency where we could
squeeze it in our hand and form a clump
that would hold its shape we could tell
the sound was ready by holding the clump
between two fingers and giving the
little tug a clean break right down the
center indicates the sand is ready to
use so now that we’ve got our two sample
batches I think from here on out I’m
using aquarium sand because it’s a lot
quicker and more convenient to use so
how is our freshly made green sand going
to hold up to actual metal casting well
I’m going to make up a whole big batch
of this stuff store it in an airtight
container and we’ll test it tomorrow
thanks for joining me for this
experiment guys I’ll be looking for you
the next one talk to you then
[Music]
whoa and came out faster than expected
hey guys thanks for watching and
remember I’m giving away prizes now on
every new video all you have to do to
qualify is subscribe to my channel ring
the bell and select to be notified when
my next videos get released the secret
link to my giveaways will be pinned in
the comments for the first 12 hours if
you like what I’m doing show your
support right now by giving this video a
big thumbs up and share with a friend I
love you back
I’ll see you next time
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
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