Anybody ever had any sand casting tooling made for something sump-sized? Any ideas on costs? I have one to reverse-engineer! Would be aluminium obviously!

when you say tooling what do mean? Cost of the bonded sand and a cope and drag are really pretty low if you make them yourself.
There is a lot of info on backyardmetalcasting.com great forum in the spirit of this one. some amazing results can be very cheaply.

I got the 3 piece frame for lifting machine cast about 16 years back ISTR the pattern & prototyping cost was about 1k.

I looked into this for zetec inlet manifolds. If you can find the right people the casting will cost you £15-20 each it's the casting patterns that are the costly parts to make if made professionaly. You can make the patterns from MDF and filler you just need to understand how the mould process works and that it will shrink 5-6mm for every 300mm of moulding.

Hi Nat,

I make all my own casting patterns, from mdf mostly, but some with thinner sections in seasoned old mahogany.

You should be able to do it yourself. As above, the casting shrinkage allowance for LM25,( which most automotive castings are done from including heads as it is heat treatable,) is 1 in 75. So, when reverse engineering, multiply all measurements by about 1.35%. Don't forget machining allowances.

Also, ali castings less than 6mm thick in extended areas, as in a sump, are prone to voids. Prepare to do a few before you get it right, then you're away!

Cheers,
Nev.

Cheers folks! Time is something I just don't have nowadays, and it's a commercial proposition anyway so will get a price on the moulds and see! If it came in at only £1k then I would be very happy! I am prepared for up to 4k, any more and it's not viable for me

Go knocking on casting company doors (the roller shutter one, not the reception door!) with a sample of something similar to what your after,

we were after some windscreen pillars for a 1960's gt car, about 16" long 3" wide and a rather complicated section. worked out alot cheaper than expected

we now supply the owners club with screen pillars, door hinges and bracketry amongst other bits, unfortunately the 3 hours of getting them from rough cast to mirror finish means I cant quit the day job!

Got 3 lined up to try, one of them is only half mile away and seems to be the place that has cast the uprights for Ian Grays f1 project

theres still plenty of heavy industry casting knowledge in lincoln !!!

just nobody that i know.....