Clothes Hook - Aluminum Casting

I needed several clothes hooks, so I decided to make one using green sand casting. I just made a flask and prepared green sand, so everything was ready for molding. I decided to use as original, one old coat hook which was made 40-50 years ago. The good thing is that it was made of aluminum and it wasn’t very hard casting.

Step 1: Loading and Pressing Green Sand

Firstly, I loaded and pressed green sand. For all surfaces which shouldn’t be stick together like bottom, original clothes hook, the cope and the drag, I used baby powder. Nevertheless, I tried flour and it worked fine as well. Also, I tried starch but it didn’t work as good as other stuff which I mentioned.

Step 2: Making the Mold

It’s important to locate the model in the center between the cope and the drag. I could do it much better because I didn’t choose the best angle and coat peg became little dipper in the drag. After that, I took two pipes and made two holes for funnel and gas ventilation.

Step 3: Casting...

Aluminum was melted and poured inside the mold. Here I made second mistake and didn’t prepare enough aluminum. It looked like I failed and I decided to melt more aluminium and casted it through the vent hole. I knew that there wouldn’t be a required result but that was just an experiment.

Step 4: Moulding Result

Finally, when I had opened the mold I saw that there was not enough aluminum but just for clothes hook tip.

Step 5: Polishing & Drilling

To finish this clothes hook I had to cut off unwanted pieces and to grind it. Additionally, of course, I drilled 2 holes for screws.

Step 6: Conclusion

In the end, I put it on the garage wall. Mission completed! :)