I try yesterday to meld some copper, my small over would not do it. Today I try brass, it took over an hour to do it, but I made my first ever pour. it was great. I made a paper weight for a friend. I used the lost foam methodology. I made a small coffin shape , out of blue foam pattern. I just put it in a bucket of beach sand. Right on top and pour right in to the foam. I want to thank all of you for your help to get me to this point. Photos
Keep at it! Now that you’ve poured that hot shiney stuff you have a feel for how it works. Now you can start to focus on your planned projects. Every melt will be a little different experience so don’t let your guard down for a minute (safety) and take pictures as you go along. Not just to show us, but so you can have a record of what works and what doesn’t. Pete
Good work! Copper and it’s alloys are much more difficult to melt than aluminum. Copper alloys pour at around 1300c, aluminum pours at around 700c. The increase in temperature seems to be exponentially more difficult, it’s almost twice the temperature but at least 4times the effort. if you melted brass or bronze you can have great results with aluminum. the best source I have found for aluminum is car wheels from auto wreckers. Very high yield and it’s usually A356 alloy which is well suited to casting. Stay away from melting cans and unknown “aluminum”
