A couple of dovetail mounts

[dikman]

My first effort was somewhat mediocre, the casting sand just wasn't fine enough for smallish parts, so I decided to have another go, this time I used plaster to make the moulds. I managed to cast four sets before the moulds crumbled from the extreme heat. They still required a bit of time on the mill, finishing off on the belt grinder and then powder coating (thought I'd try a couple of different colours).
I decided to restore my Manfrotto to an alt-azimuth but needed a dovetail clamp, which is what started this, and decided to make a couple of spares and a smaller one for guidescope mounting (60* angle), plus a topmounting/carry handle for the 80mm scope.

Not up to Mr. Bunn's superlative workmanship but adequate for my needs.:)

[appiice]

Hello Richard

Nice results, I tried lost foam casting some time ago, the results were generally easier ( I found ) with foam over sand, you made a analogue of the finished part in foam, I used blue insulation foam, made a riser of foam then dipped the part in wet water ( a wetting agent ( soap added )) then dipped it in a runny plaster mix - any air dry one will do, let that dry, placed it into a container ( metal :) ) and filled the container with sand.

When the ally is poured in, it melts the foam, using the plaster meant that ALL the detail on the foam was replaced by ally.

Best regards with your endeavors.

Ed

[dikman]

Thanks Ed, I'll keep that in mind for next time.:thumbsup: In hindsight it would have been easier to just cast a bar/block slightly oversize and then just machine it to shape.