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Unread 01-13-2003, 05:58 PM   #6
Cathar
Thermophile
 
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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The main problem here is that casting in pure copper is a mongrel to do. For any of the copper/iron alloys, casting works well, but pure copper is one of those notoriously difficult metals to work with as it captures air-bubbles and doesn't flow well. A design with fairly large channels like a Maze 3 could be cast without an awful lot of trouble, but fine channel designs are nearly impossible to do without resorting to very expensive centrifugal vacuum based casting techniques.

I was watching that casting thread with a great deal of interest as I didn't think that the design that was being proposed would be possible with the casting techniques used. As it turns out, it sounds like it wasn't. I didn't want to say anything just in case he got it to work, but he didn't, and sadly even a free visit to an experienced casting foundry would've revealed that. I visited a number of copper casting foundries when exploring ways to make my block. Most of them said it simply wasn't possible. One said maybe. Not a big vote of confidence there...

A quick search through google on casting techniques will also reveal the broader limitations involved with the process. Basically it's great for simple and/or large objects, but not for intricate fine objects.
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