Hello All Been thinking about exploring the art of melting aluminum to make parts to use on the metal lathe. I only found this site today. Looks like a good place to hang out. Shawn Northern Ontario, Canada
Welcome Shawno. It is indeed a great place to hang out. Great experience and guidance here. Strap in and let's go! Pete
Welcome Shawno, do you have or are you thinking about building a furnace and some foundry equipment? Best, Kelly
Thanks all I have a metal lathe and milling machine that I make nothing in particular with. Sometimes, I wish I had access to larger pieces of aluminum for say pulleys, etc. And then a friend got me looking at the 2" x 72" belt sanders, (of which don't look overly hard to build and very handy) which, need large pulleys so I am on a foundry kick now. I am getting confused by all of the various recipes, products, methods of building one, etc on the many sites I have visited. So when I found this site, it sounds like you all might be able to help me sort through the information and get going. Sometimes, I need a kick start. Cheers, Shawn
Hi Shawn welcome to the forum! Please keep your snow up there with you. I've had enough of it this year
lol David. Yes, we got quite a bit of snow earlier this week. It is good though, we needed it for the ski areas. Unfortunately, just in time for lockdown.
Depending on how far you want to go with this you have a lot of choices. Aluminum is relatively easy to melt so your furnace can be a simple hole in the dirt with an air pipe in the bottom fueled with charcoal to something much more complex. Your molding method could be as simple and low cost as lost foam (note I didn't say "low effort") to sand, investment, etc. You'll find answers to a lot of your questions here. We're not the only game in town but there's a lot of bad information out there. Whatever you decide, there's work involved, sometimes quite significant, but if you're anything like the rest of us you'll find it quite satisfying and often exciting. Pete
Welcome aboard! Adding casting to your repertoire will serve you well. I added a mill and a lathe to the garage last year. How I lived without that stuff I'll never know. You've picked a metal, that's a good start! Now pick a process that will serve your purpose. Sand casting, Lost foam, Ceramic shell (for the artsy fartsy types) , Solid block investment(jewelry), die casting (not you) or ant hill. Then pick a fuel source for your furnace. Propane(convenient$), oil burner(diesel, used motor oil, veggie oil, free) , Electric Buy a crucible for the size you plan to melt. (Clay graphite, Silicon carbide, ceramic) Furnace - Hole in the ground, buy junk online, make your own Furnace Construction - kaowool and a lightweight coating($), or kaowool and hard face refractory($$) Tools - Buy online($), make your own This should help get you going... All of these options have pros and cons and depending on your capabilities and will dictate how much work you can or are willing to perform yourself. Your selected process will really be predicated on what you want in the end. While solid block investment is wonderful for making rings, you wouldn't do it to cast a big lump of stock to turn in the lathe. Savvy? I do highly recommend get a crucible (clay graphite) now. You'll need it for sizing your furnace during the build and to make tooling for it... Don't buy an A20 for your first crucible. I don't know what size of pours you are planning, but you can't go wrong building a furnace to hold an A10 and then maybe using a A6 or A8 for smaller melts and to help with the confidence factor. You are in for a new experience the first time you lift a heavy pot of molten metal out of a furnace and realize this is no game if you drop i! Take it slow, ask questions and be careful!
Thanks for the kind welcoming words, input and advice. I suppose I should go start a thread under furnaces to discuss my options. Jason, you point out good points. I will paste your comments in a new thread there and answer them there. Cheers all! Shawno
Welcome to the Forum Shawno, it’s full of really good advice and friendly people. I’ve only been on here a short time and have found it invaluable. Like you, my background is more machine work, i.e. Mill & Lathe, both of which you will find very useful for dressing up your castings. Jim
