I am a novice that has been a big fan of casting on youtube. I follow multiple channels for metal working. I would like to build my own foundry out of a 55 gallon steel drum. I am interested in having the ability to cast iron. I am modeling my foundry after one I saw on a youtube channel I follow called SV seeker. So far I have my kaowool, 25 pound bucket of refractory cement and 2 steel drums. I need to get fire bricks and ITC. My plan is to put the kaowool in first and using a rigidizer to make it last longer. Then putting the refractory cement (not sure if there is a difference between refractory mortar like satanite and refractory cement?) to mortar in the firebricks rated at 3000 degrees. After that coating the whole inside with ITC ( a refractory reflective and protective coating). Let me know what you think. Thanks and I am happy to join the community.
Hey Shawn, welcome to the forum. I looked at Seeker's furnace but it was long ago so I don't remember the details. Sounds like you are considering a ceramic wool & firebrick furnace. There are several of those in use here by members. Might be a good idea to start a furnace build thread to provide a little more information and feedback. You mentioned iron casting, but what are you looking to cast, how large of a crucible do you want to accommodate, what kind of burner, etc? Those factors can also influence furnace design. I look forward to your posts and journey to molten metal. Best, Kelly
Welcome to the forum, Shawn. SVSeeker's furnace is pretty awesome and well built. We have a couple of members here who have had their castings shown on that channel, I know fishbonzwv had some of his stuff get shown a few times, and more recently there was the amazing big bronze octopus on the steering wheel, which was sculpted and cast by Zapins. Also the Superdave guy who built his burner and helped build that furnace is dallen, a member of our old forum, alloyavenue (RIP). Long story short, you came to the right place! Looking forward to your furnace build. That is going to be one monster of a furnace, do you really need one that size or are you just thinking big? I was thinking big when I built one in a 30 gallon drum 5 years ago and I still have never taken advantage of all that size. It is a lot of furnace to heat up, and that seems to take more extra time and fuel than I expected. My smaller furnace gets used a lot more as a result, and its much speedier melts mean there are more days when I can find time to cast something at all. It has often been suggested to design one's furnace around the biggest crucible one plans on using. What sort of things do you want to cast? Jeff
