The Complete Handbook of Sand Casting

Concise and definitive. This is a reference manual only- Terms, styles, and concepts are well illustrated and broken down for the beginning caster of Brass, Aluminum, Bronze and white metals traditionally cast in sand.My application is in the home foundry- using Ammens' text allows me to read more industrial white papers and job orders with a deeper understanding of the processes involved, along with the logic and problem-solving applications (the WHY of something versus the HOW)For the home-foundry, light industrial caster, or repair and fabrication shop this is a MUST HAVE for your reference shelf!

This book is absolutely fantastic. It's got the right balance of details and history and all the methods. The guy shares his entire life knowledge on the topic.

For me, intention of this book was to introduce me to casting of metal parts. I already had a homemade gas furnace and I needed knowledge to start producing and casting some custom made metal parts.I found the book more than adequate; it gives very detailed information about what, how and why for casting virtually any readily available metal around. After reading and rereading, I felt comfortable enough to start casting... And I started from mixing my own sand for 0$$. However, I still need to experiment a bit :)This is really one good book to have around for reference. Only one thing I find not such goodly described (and the author himself says that this is a field of it own)is pattern making, if you are starting from scratch.In all, I am very satisfied with my purchase and I can freely recommend it. I think it will be useful to me, not just now on my beginner's level, but also later, for more advanced castings.

It is a delightful hard bound volume, yet not much bigger than a paperback book. The perfect size for a large pocket or getting a quick references in the shop. The many data tables of alloys, melting points, strengths and weaknesses, machining attributes and best applications are simply priceless. This reads like a text book, which it truly is. Read the book from the beginning and progress to the end without skipping around and you will obtain enough knowledge (IF followed) to begin SAFELY casting molten metal, an endeavor worthy of the heritage of Prometheus, who gave fire stolen from Mount Olympus to Mankind. Even if you already have some experience in sand casting, you WILL learn some new tips and the "correct" methods to do sand casting. The book uses few words to convey a lot of information. It is not written in some "Popular Science" format. This is a MUST OWN for your library.

I was a complete beginner to sand casting. I bought this book, read it fast, got the necessary materials together and built a makeshift furnace in a week, and was turning out sand castings within 3 days after that. The book has a very endearing style, written by an old-hand sand caster who obviously knows what he's doing and imparts information in an entertaining way. I found that that this helped me retain the knowledge I needed. If you want to start sand casting, this is for you. I also bought 2 other paperbacks on sand casting, but found this to be the most useful.

Overall, I liked this book, and I like the author's casual style and storytelling. But there are a few gaps in places that make it less useful than it should be to be a "bible".The book was written in 1979. While sand casting is an ancient art, a lot of things have changed since the book was written, and what the author assumes his reader knows in 1979 isn't necessarily something one can assume more than 30 years later. Today's safety practice is more thorough, for one. While he describes equipment, he doesn't give much help in making it. I think the book is full of good information, but it is incomplete, at least to the novice who has no experience in any shop crafts.There are simple assumptions about the foundry that are so much a part of the author's life he forgets that his reader is unlikely to know the required background information. He mentions "molasses water" in one operation, but nowhere in the book can I find an explanation. I was surprised to learn from another source that molasses (yes, the by-product of sugar production) is often used in the foundry even today. But the foundry novice wouldn't know that, and the book is no help.There is little information on how to make patterns. Some good info on how to design them, but the author assumes that you know the skills required to actually craft a pattern. Considering that a good casting must start with a good pattern, I expected more than 20 pages about patterns, most of which is illustrations and definitions of different kinds of patterns and pattern terminology, and very little about how to designing or making them. The author notes that the pattern maker and the molder are two very different jobs, and while both can perform the rudiments of the other's job, neither is a master of the other. I think it's clear that the author was a molder and not a pattern maker.I think this is a good addition to the beginner's library, as there is a lot of very useful and detailed information about the molding process, but it's not the right "first book" if you have little shop experience. For that, I am much more pleased with Metal Casting, by Chastain. (Which has its own flaws, but has a more modern basis.)

The book is over 30 years old but the information is still relevant today.I found the chapter on "Gates and Risers" to be the area where I had the most questions and while the information was adequate, wish it could have been expanded more. Though to answer all my questions, I would probably have to find a research paper somewhere on Gating and Risers.I live on top of Albany Sand and like one reviewer said, the book does not explain how I would process this into a usable product. 5 stars anyway because it has gotten me started on my foundry project.

Lovely little book which I think that will help when I start casting!

avant de couler un métal il faut faire un moule en sable, c'est assez subtil

Great book to start with

man sagt ja, wer lesen kann ist klar im Vorteil, aber hier sollte man ENGLISCH lesen können und das allein dürfte für die meisten nicht genügen, denn selbst ich hatte wegen der immer wieder auftauchenden Fachbegriffe dict.leo im Dauerbetrieb. DAS TUT DER QUALITÄT ABER KEINEN ABBRUCH, sondern zeigt vielmehr, dass dein Wissen wächst ...

本書は砂型を使用して鋳造品を作る方法について詳しく書かれています。従来は経験的に親方から弟子へ伝えられていく物でしたが、知識についてはこの本で技術が伝承されていくでしょう。本書を読めばとりあえず基本はわかると思いますが、知識だけでなく、実務経験は重要だと思います。この分野に興味のある方には是非ともお勧めです。