Hi all. I want to start smelting ingots to polish engrave and sell, not because i think ill become rich but because it seems like a nice hobby. I have done it once or twice in the past on a gas powered furnace but i was always scared thinking it was going to explode in a ball of fire. Looking at electric 3kg furnace on ebay from China for £220, says it heats to 1100 oC. Question is will that be hot enough for steel and other metals and are the electric furnaces any good and safe? Any advise for a newbee
What type of metal are you looking to melt? 3 kg of pot metal, aluminum or lead is one thing. The 3 kg of copper, cast-iron, brake rotors, stainless steel or titanium is something else. At 1100°C, check your metal charts. You're good for aluminum and maybe copper and bronze. Give it a try. Let us know how it works out for you. My guess is your fireball that you are scared of will work better. The reason is you can get way more BTU out of diesel simply then you can electricity. If you want to go big. Do it! Don't worry about exploding in a ball of fire. If you're wearing proper protective equipment, you should be good to go. Don't work with shorts and a T-shirt. Use full leathers, a face mask and good insulating gloves. And you should be OK. Just remember being scared is OK.
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If by 3kg you mean 3kw, and it's a resistive electric not induction, I'd say save your money unless you'd be satisfied with just aluminum capability, and this is coming from a guy that runs an 8kw resistive electric furnace and loves it. If it is resistive electric, bronzes will be at the extreme outer reaches of it's capability and dramatically shorten element life, and be extraordinarily slow to melt in the off chance you can. If it is induction, 3kw wont melt enough metal and can also be tricky if you wish to melt different metals. Best bet to melt multiple kgs of metals in the home setting is a fuel fired furnace. Easiest route IMO is a diesel burner. Keep in mind, melting metal is a small part of the job and equipment need to cast. You still need to make and process molds, patterns, handle molten metal, PPE, etc. Best, Kelly
Hi Thanks for all the answers. After some reading up and have realized am not Smelting. I have bought the electric 3KG furnace and some moulds and some scrap Brass, Copper, Bronze and Aluminium and some ingots to start practicing. With this i have discovered pure Gold ingots are worth £50k so have goal to work to. Watching videos on making pure gold from lesser gold jewellery seems complicated, lots of nasty chemicals but thats my intent in the future.
