Tools, Glorious Tools! #3 - Home Shop Foundry: The Furnace

Hello mate, I use a Salamander A6, and that meets my requirements. Technically the furnace can accomodate up to an A10, but thats in another zone regarding crucible weight/single op safety etc that I prefer to avoid. Cheers :)

Clickspring

G'day Chris, the furnace build was quite impressive. I may try it someday but for now I am more interested in practicing foundry first. I am looking at some melting furnaces. Available i see are 5 Kg, 10Kg, and 20Kg. My question: What size furnace would you consider yours? Or the question may be what is the biggest crucible compatible with yours. You are inspirational. Dan Sanford.

Dan Sanford

Maybe one day, but its not something that I'm really set up to do at the moment - Cheers :)

Clickspring

would you sell the supplies you still have in smaller quantities? like a kit for this furnace

Stag

That's a brilliant build Chris and pretty accessible for anyone. I could probably source it all here with a few substitutions no problem. My only headache is I don't think this will hold up much with the rain we get here. ;) Oh well.

veritanuda

Thanks Chris. Wrapping a piece of paper to make a tube around the pvc also works very well - it gets damp (with cast-able refractory cement) and is then also very easy to remove.

franco pucci

Hi Franco, a gentle heat with a torch softens it, and it can be pulled out - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Hello Chris, how did you remove the PVC pipe after moulding?

franco pucci

Hello mate - It depends how thick you want to mix it, but I guess the ITC100 went on about 1/8" thick. Several thin coats is better than one thick coat, and keep a bit up your sleeve for repairs. Generally I don't have much use for copper, but the AM build means that I need to make bronze alloy from scratch, as well one off copper tools like the soldering tools for the next video - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Gday Chris, how thick did you make the ITC100 for the body? Brother gets loads of copper may I ask what you use it for?

Graeme Brumfitt

Will do mate - Cheers :)

Clickspring

I would love to see more knowledge info in another boundary video. My wife has given me permission to build a boundary. It will be done in another 5 years, no time now. I should add, tips on patterns, sands, mold making. Your castings are so free of voids.

Paul Devey

Yeah that doesn't look right at all!

Clickspring

Whooa, super fast response Chris! Mine came in a 120mm high x 120mm wide mouth tub, wrapped in paper. I might call them and ask how they measure a pint. I uploaded a pic to: <a href="http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=mj5oxs&s=9" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=mj5oxs&s=9</a>#.Wl_f87j_aOE it looks kinda pathetically sad and lonely in it's huge tub!

Ian Douglas

Hmmm - that sounds a little on the light side to me Ian. Is there any sign of leakage? Mine came in a plastic tub 130mm tall, approx 90mm wide at the mouth, and there was an air gap above the compound of about 30mm. It was tightly sealed with a fiber backed tape to seal it all in.

Clickspring

Hi Chris, just bought the ITC-100 from the supplier you linked, and I'm a bit underwhelmed by the apparent size of the pint quantity sent, the product looks to be maybe a bit smaller that the size of a tennis ball, taking up around a quarter to a third of a 1lt container, was yours about the same? I'm assuming you got the pint too?

Ian Douglas

I'll find out for certain next when I push it a bit harder, but its already getting very close and it feels like there is a fair bit of headroom left in it yet - will advise next year :)

Clickspring

Very nice. I've started gathering the supplies to make my furnace. I'm using a second hand beer keg. I can't make the burner that came with the keg plans. Australia does not have all the parts needed. Plus it's a bit of an over kill. Do you think you can get your burner up to iron melting with just free air flow? Cause if it does that's my problem solved.

Adam

So far its working excellently, no issues to report - I haven't yet pushed it to discover the ceiling temp, but its certainly very comfortably reaching the pouring temp for copper. I will push forward for cast iron next year - cheers :)

Clickspring

have you found any issues after several months of use or the high temp maximum

Dustin Boggs

Yes to both David! I don't even want to look out the window at the moment the grass has gone completely mad :)

Clickspring

Lifestyle choice Chris (LOL) I always thought your neck of the woods was a bit on the mouldy side and you have to mow all year.

David Paterson

Terrific to hear that mate :)

Clickspring

Looks like a very efficient furnace Chris, the copper ingot seemed to be clear of any pinholes, building an electric furnace myself at the moment, mainly as it is a lot quieter to use in a built up area,.

Nigel Cox

Terrific to have you on board mate, much appreciated - Re the tools/materials: Yeah the local situation is just nuts. I'm in constant awe of what can be picked up both new and second hand in the US and UK... Its like another world.

Clickspring

I just joined and I am feeling great about being able to support such quality content. Chris, I am glad you made some mention in this video (and others) about the cost of things here in Aus, the yanks et. al. just have no concept of the dire puddle of crappy tools and materials available to us here.

ben

Amen. Take it easy out there.

Jerry Gepes

Cheers Jerry - yes on the respirator, cheap insurance :)

Clickspring

She really did come out quite nicely Chris. I see you shared my concerns about having to use industrial suppliers for the refractory goods. As luck would have it, I recently got into a shop that does heat treating and I think I'll be spoiled for choice on scrap refractory in no time. Also, I recognize that you do all of your hot work out doors but do you wear any form of respirator? A job welding galvanized steel gave me quick respect for metal vapors.

Jerry Gepes

Edging closer Matthew, will give it a go soon :)

Clickspring

Awesome Garry, be sure to let me know how it turns out :)

Clickspring

Splendid video Chris! I think I'll just go ahead and make one. Thanx for sharing.

Garry Ashley

Very nice, would be interested to see a iron melt.

Matthew Brookes

Watching you pour that copper is just mesmerizing <3

CommanderTomalak

Very neat design. Are you going to try sand casting in the future?

Tom Jeremiah

Cool. keep it up.

john horton

Hey John, thanks for the offer mate, but I have a few projects in mind that will make use of it :)

Clickspring

Hi Chis Fellow Aussie and Qlder here. if you need to sell some of the leftovers from your projects you should give us all a heads up.

john horton

Certainly mate, will do :)

Clickspring

Hey John, I think minimal surface area is definitely a worthy goal, but at some point the returns on pursuing a pristine finish probably diminish, and a basic finish becomes 'good enough' - Its interesting to see a piece of (by design) large surface area aluminium melt, like for example an engine head with the cooling vanes. The molten metal falls out from within leaving the oxide shell floating on top - very cool!

Clickspring

Loved this video! Do you think you could go into a bit of detail on what exactly you use for molding and the ingot... trays(?) sometime? Both your sand molding setup and ingot molding seem much higher quality than I've seen elsewhere. :)

Jeremiah Senkpiel

I have a question: a lot of the home smelting videos I've seen have the ingots cast in fairly rough molds. Yours, for instance. Obviously not every metal has this problem, but I would assume that a rough surface on the ingot leaves a lot more surface area for oxidization. Is that simply not enough of a problem to bother making smooth molds?

John P

My supplier simply lists them as A6 Super Salamander Clay Graphite Crucible <a href="http://www.refractoryandceramic.com.au/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.refractoryandceramic.com.au/</a> You can pick them up on Ebay, Amazon, plenty of places :)

Clickspring

Do you have a brand and part number? Or dimensions? I'm guessing the crucible size is important for the furnace dimensions...

Jon Ivan

Awesome Ian!

Clickspring

I'm not sure on that one Jon

Clickspring

Brilliant stuff thanks Chris! I'll be drawing on your info heavily when I build my furnace!

Ian Douglas

I'm really interested in building one of these so I started looking up parts and the crucibles close to the A6 listed are an AX8?

Jon Ivan

Ha ha! Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Awesome design Chris! Is it really necessary in your neck of the woods though, I thought you'd just leave any scrap aluminium in a black bucket and let the sun do it's job :D

Mark Valenzia

Hey Nathan, yes I think it is - I will build up a bit more experience on it with the copper alloys first, and then have a crack at iron later this year :)

Clickspring

Great video Chris! I like the simplicity of your design. Do you think cast iron is within the capability of your current set-up?

Nathan Davey

Sure will Harri :)

Clickspring

Awesome Drew!

Clickspring

Yes I think it will Clayton - I'll get a bit more time on it with the copper based alloys over the next few months, and then push forward with cast iron :)

Clickspring

I use those too Harri but they're a pest to get in quantity.

Matthew Leigh

Will there be cast bronze?

Harri Haataja

I use small pudding/yoghurt/skyr cups. Mostly nothing sticks to them and they're disposable if it does. Some clear packing tape on any surface works, too.

Harri Haataja

Thanks a ton for putting this video together. Will make my next furnace so much better than the last!

Drew

Nice work. Do you reckon this could melt cast iron?

Clayton Firth

I was so pleased with that too! Very relieved to see no porosity - a good starting point with a tricky metal. Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Fortunately for us on the FAR North side of Houston, we only got a tad over 27" of rain over 4 days. House stayed safe and dry and all the family is well. Thanks Chris.

Chris Muncy

Hey Adam - Mostly they are for later casting, but one of them will be machined into a new tool - keep an eye out for it in a future Antikythera Fragment video :)

Clickspring

Ha ha! Cheers Matthew!

Clickspring

That sounds like a great way to go - it would keep the cost right down - Be sure to let me know how you go :)

Clickspring

Yes I really like that feature too - the double handling of the crucible has always bothered me. Cheers Paul :)

Clickspring

Thanks John, so pleased you like it :)

Clickspring

Ha ha! Definitely psychotic! Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Good morning to you too Chris! That sounds like a lot of fun! - Its amazing how a furnace opens up the door onto a whole new range of projects. Btw Have been following recent events in your part of the world, my best wishes to you mate :)

Clickspring

That was by far the hardest part to source - not only did I have to track it down in the US, but getting someone who shipped to Oz was then the next hurdle. I ended up using a freight forwarder, but it was unusually difficult to source for such a simple part! Who would have though that simple plumbing fittings would be so difficult to get here?

Clickspring

Cheers Marc!

Clickspring

I would love a good sized front loading kiln - there are a couple of projects in the pipeline that would really benefit from the fine temp control. Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Wow, the inside of those copper ingots look amazing! The furnace obviously achieves excellent temperatures for copper casting, also based on how it pours in the video.

rjk

Nice Chris. Could you machine the ingots, or are they purely for later castings?

Adam Braithwaite

Mixing epoxy on post-its, why didn't I think of that. Genius!

Matthew Leigh

Hmmm, I work in a studio with a bunch of jewlers, I'll have to see if they'd like to join forces on building one of these

Jeremy Abel

I like how it breaks down into pieces. After the melt is up to temp and you are ready to pour it is easier to safely remove the crucible for your pour. Nice!

Paul Devey

Dang you! Now I have to build one! That is one of the best diy designs I have seen, great job as usual.

You seem to anticipate my questions. You must be psychotic.

Jim Trowbridge

Good morning from the Great State of Texas Chris. Once I dry out a bit, I think I'm going to have to build one of these. Here in my parts, it's very popular to pour molten aluminum down fire ant mounds to get some very exotic looking sculptures. Keep the great videos coming. It never ceases to amaze me what you pull off in that small shop of yours.

Chris Muncy

heh, I was going to ask where you turned up that bell reducer in AU (biggest I've found was 1"x3/4" which is OK for my small burner but not big enough for my big one...), but I see you also didn't manage to find one locally either...

Jrandom Bob

Nicely done, a good discussion and consideration of building such a thing. I frequently have turned to pointing at bits of your videos for examples. Once/if this one goes live, it will be another I can point at for propane burner design and building.

Marc Banks

As always, you just do things better! I went with a front loading PMC kiln for my builds. Works really well for low volume melts and it has the added benefit of being able to do heat treatments and other fun stuff. But more and more I'm wishing I had a bigger furnace.

Lucus Landers

So pleased you enjoyed it Mike :)

Clickspring

Cheers Georg :)

Clickspring

That was an excellent overview of the furnace design. Thank you so much for all the effort that obviously went into putting this together!

Mike Michelizzi

Love the new music :)

Georg We

Hey Brendan, very happy to share the links mate - all the contacts for the tricky stuff are below the video, but be sure to let me know if there's anything else you're having trouble finding. Cheers :)

Clickspring

Hi Chris, What an excellent design! I am looking at building a furnace myself. I am in sydney, could you please share your contacts for purchasing the materials? or better yet, are you interested in selling some of your "lifetime supply?" You could contact me on 0433 364 876.

Brendan matheson

Thanks for the clarification.

Dean Thompson

Yes its a pipe thread connection - the short connector is cast directly into the base, and then the long pipe nipple part of the burner screws into it

Clickspring

I appreciate the care you take in building these tools Chris. It's the mark of a craftsmen. One thing that wasn't clear to me was how the actual connection was made between the burner and base. Is it a threaded connection? Or did I miss something?

Dean Thompson

Oh they're beautiful tongs aren't they!

Clickspring

Great build Chris, I was following Brian Oltrogge's build a while ago that I'm sure you've also seen, but fell in love with his SS pouring tongs <a href="https://youtu.be/wtDHaXcS6Tg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/wtDHaXcS6Tg</a> It is so good to see so many takes on a little furnace. You have some great insight as always :-D

Luke Pettit