Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

My next aluminum casting was a frame for a small engine that my dad once contructed.

I made a 3D model of the frame, printed it, and then filled it with spackling compound, with a final coat of paint.

The casting turned out pretty well, with a few sand inclusions at the top of the piece.
I never built this engine; it was just a proof of concept of 3D printing my own pattern, filling it to make it a bit more convex, and then casting it.

Again I had no idea about more generally used runners, gating, risers, etc., and so was just forging ahead in a trial-and-error fashion.

My machining skills at this time were about like my casting skills; ie: very poor.