I'm nwcf_1 and

I am a funaceholic.

Started learning about casting when the local library had nothiing but fantasy tales and Al Gore had never heard of the internet.
Learned by mistakes, however, with some thought, they were few
No explosions
The only excitement was the progression in learning. I needed a small railroad car to move earth. I needed to cast railroad wheels and finish them with a drill press and a 1725rpm motor.
Then I needed to cast bearing boxes with integral bronze bearings.
The assembly performed just fine.
My first question to the oil burners- Why would one choose to utilize a petroleum-based product to handle waste motor oil? Unless it is petroleum-proof, it will leak. When you least expect it. Like when the crucible is full of you latest, biggest melt. Or when you get an unexpected eruption that manages to get lodged against that hose on the floor. Behind you.
I have used metal fittings as far as possible. Copper tubing and pipe as well. No distractions while handling crucibles.
Waste motor oil should burn just fine without high line pressure. I fired at one time with Bunker C and a steam jet. No smoke, if necessary If you atomize the oil with sufficient pressure the flame moves out of place.
Preheatiing waste oil is a good thing as that will allow the oil to flow freely and atomize with little pressure. Pressurizing the fuel tank is another thing to worry about while concentrating on a hot melt. If you are using a rubberized feel line and it develops a leak it will be atomized if you pressurize the source. So you get a nice coating as you are trying to figure out a safe way to shut down the furnace.

Now, why am I here? There was a functional metal castimg forum that seems to have become dysfynctional. I am hoping I can move forward; it was 11-12 years ago that I was studying on that forum when my computer began tkaing on the persona of a doorstop and I lost contact. Life rolled along, and today I am faced with the need to cast iron parts; no longer will aluminum do the job I need to get done. So I am here to figure out how to build a lightweight furnace, melting iron with waste oil. I have watched luckygen1001 on YT and like his foundry trolley, I have always figured that anything that is not lifted cannot be dropped, and it has got to be easier to get the crucible to to mold without all that heat so close to your face. At this point, it may be as far as I am willing to go, but, being a furnaceholic, I can make no promises because this addiction has a firm hold.

Information is a lot easier to get since I rammed up my first furnace about 20 years ago. I look forward to less ramming and more pouring with some good information on this forum!

Cheers!

Stan
nwcf_1

 

Welcome Stan.

Probably the most prolific poster among the iron casters here would be Denis aka Melterskelter.

 

Good morning,

Thank you for the welcomes! I look forward to getting a new furnace going. Of course I end up throwing a paint can in the furnace by wondering if soapstone could be used in a furnace build somehow; not in an open flame path but as a backing.
I have long wondered how practical it is to use some of the more popular refractories since it is SO EASY to bring the materials to a state of flux possibly causiing reactions that quickly degrade all your work. My first furnace was a rammed 3000F furnace cement mixed with perlite that had no problem quickly turning into what appeared to be deformed vitrified clay pipe! Of course one wants to maintain the structure keeping the fire withing the containment so it just didn't work so well. I was using a Reil-type burner and it cooked down a #6 crucible in 12 minutes, ready to skim and pour. With no pyrometer, I am certain that I just poured the aluminum too hot most of the time! Looks like infrared pyrometers would be a great help, even if they are imported.
I currently have an expired water tank for a shell with a tuyere hole sawed out. Thinking of lining it with soapstone to protect the steel, 2" of 2600F ceramic blanket coated with satanite for the hotface.
Once again I think of safety; being limited by my DNA to think "railroad", I am currently building a "truck" to carry the tilting crucible along a line of flasks, using 1" x 1/2" flat bar to make a stiff track to smoothly follow any irregularities in the ground. For that matter I will also consider making it electric powered; instead of trying to build a glowing wrecking ball device (overhead crane for moving crucible) a crane would only be used to move the crucible from the furnace to the track car. Having a remote (no, NOT radio-digital) I can stumble over rough ground without disturbing the pour. The track car would have sheet metal shields so it doesn't absorb radiant heat and seize up somehow, hopefully protecting it from any spills that may happen.
While a contraption like this may seem overkill, it is an arrangement I feel safest with next to getting free time in a steel mill to pour the iron I need. In this country there seems to be a deeply rooted desire to find the cheapest way to accomplish just about everything; while this can work well at times, and others lead to results that weren't worth thinking about in the first place. I like the idea of having some sense of "permanence" to the arrangement and not so much of a seat-of-the-pants type. The ignition of the furnace always make me feel as if I am launching a high-power hot air balloon in a hurricane! Things can happen. I want to avoid unnecessary "things". Picking up some scrap to build a portable track in 10' sections is easy. I always find myself at the steel recycle yard looking for what will fit in my car. I can fit 10' steel in the trunk if it can be either bent or cut.

Have some things to do, better get to them.

Thanks for the welcomes!

Stan