Jim,
>Can you go into a little detail about the cold-casting iron process? I'm
interested in some wheels for freight cars.
You can't make them without a "tire" of actual metal and a metal sleeve
bore.. The flange will chip off and a press fit on an axle may cause a
crack.. Also, to make the wheel concentric is very critical, and may require
truing after casting. You are probably better off to get those
ball -bearing wheel sets, for long term operation. I am only casting these
for display, and will probably put a couple of sets on someone's layout for
an extended period before I would say it was worth going into.
It is basically epoxy-based metal mold repair material. (Loctite has
something equivalent out now) . You cast into silicone molds. Critical to
control temperature of mix because of shrinkage. Long epoxy kick-off is
better and the reason why those 5-minute or 1 hour mixes don't work as well.
Harley.
