Large ceramic shell burnout kiln for lost wax - Zapins

Man, that is just plain scary! So glad you are OK. There must be a lesson there for me to learn!

Denis

 

When I bought my shop. It was the estate of my father-in-law. He was quite a welder who specialized in T.I.G. I know almost nothing of cost of material for this type of welding other than it is a bit costly. If anyone is interested I could post some pictures and possibly do some horse trading. There is a lot of stuff related to torches and tungsten.
Joe

 

The most dangerous tool in the shop is the angle grinder... Its gotten me a time or two.

 

Yeah definitely agree. Scary tool.

They even make chain saw blade attachments for it to carve wood. Now there's some real nightmare fuel.

Lucky it didn't get me. Just ruined my new xmas gift coat.

I think I'll take a break for the day. Work more on the kiln tomorrow maybe. I need welding gas anyway for the mig.

 

I am pretty annoyed.

I was talking to the welding guy at praxair about my welder not seeming powerful enough to melt the base metal and getting chicken shit welds. He says check that the power leads are set up for solid core not flux core wire. What...? I checked and lo and behold it was setup for flux core wire. So for the past year I've been using it and getting ass welds and wondering what the hell I'm doing wrong when it was sold to me and setup incorrectly for my wire right from the beginning.

Look at the God damn difference I'm getting now!

 

Yup.. there should be something written near these connections about solid wire or flux core. Polarity matters. Glad ya figured it out, that's all that matters. when all else fails RTFM!

 

Got her standing upright and a latch for the under doors. Still working on the latch for the main side loading door, more on that soon. And of course I have to add the wheels on, and then figure out how the hell I'm going to feed gas to the kiln. Probably going to oxy/acetylene and bend pipe, then tig it together instead of going with joints and getting crazy. And of course, I have to tig the stainless steel platform together. I think I'll make a triangle shape so the SS is supported underneath and won't want to warp as much.

I need to scrounge up some sheet steel to cover the walls with.

 

Grinder and paint makes me the welder I aint ~ Doug, SV Seeker

 

Now that I switched the polarity I am no longer the 'welder I ain't!' Welds are going in beautifully.

I sourced some nice 18 gauge cold rolled steel sheet for the walls. This baby is gonna look good before she gets burned to hell in service.

Pricey damn kiln though. I think I've dropped about 250 for insulation panels, 50 for steel tube, 75 for sheet metal, free black pipe for propane and 110 for stainless steel rod for the rack. Some odds and ends, 5 bucks a wheel, paint and satanite. This is a fairly pricey piece of kit, $500 ish? I swear I hope it works! Or I'll be out a bundle.

Couldn't work on it today. Had my last interview. Interview went well. Nearly missed it because of traffic. Luckily I left an hr earlier than I needed to or I definitely would have missed it.

 

I doubt the cold rolled is going to make much of a difference. If you can keep the flame off the steel, it might slow the scaling down. 18 is pretty thin stuff. Steel isn't cheap these days and it should be! As long as you aren't buying at hd or blowes, they are rip offs. I have a scrap yard that has a good selection of steel if ya don't mind grinding a little rust off. Saves me a few duckets on the not so important projects.

 

Yeah found a new place in ct for steel. Lots of scrap and off cuts. They had thicker metal but at 1.25$/ lb it worked out to the same price as the 18 gauge, but a lot of clean up. Ahh well. As long as I have a hit of a barrier to stop things falling on and damaging the ceramic fiber boards I'll be happy. I doubt flames will get to the metal. At least I hope they won't. Never know with wax fires though haha.

 

omg.. 1.25 a lb is no deal for used scrap. I'm getting numbers right now like $1.70 for NEW 316L! My worst price so far was $2.70 and that wasnt really hateful. I think your locals dont really understand what tariffs are doing for us or they hate TRUMP that much. Sounds like you live near a bunch of dems. Sorry bud.

 

Used $.40 a pound here and a good selection most of the time.
Sorry but you are being robbed Zapins.

Here is a sight listed prices in Kentucky I use for comparison angle.


Size
Weight/
Ft.
Pounds
Price/
Ft.
Price/
20 Ft.
1/2" x 1/2" x 1/8"
0.38
$0.27
$4.94
3/4" x 3/4" x 1/8"
0.59
$0.56
$10.15
1" x 1" x 1/8"
0.80
$0.69
$12.48
1" x 1" x 3/16"
1.16
$1.00
$18.10
1" x 1" x 1/4"
1.49
$0.98
$17.88
1 1/4" x 1 1/4" x 1/8"
1.01
$0.87
$15.76
1 1/4" x 1 1/4" x
3/16"
1.48
$1.27
$23.09
1 1/4" x 1 1/4" x 1/4"
1.92
$1.27
$23.04
1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 1/8"
1.23
$1.06
$19.49
1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x
3/16"
1.80
$1.54
$28.08
1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 1/4"
2.34
$2.01
$36.50
1 3/4" x 1 3/4" x 1/8"
1.44
$1.03
$18.72
1 3/4" x 1 3/4" x
3/16"
2.12
$1.52
$27.56
1 3/4" x 1 3/4" x 1/4"
2.77
$1.98
$36.01
2" x 1 1/2" x 1/8"
1.44
$1.03
$18.72
2" x 1 1/2" x 3/16"
2.12
$1.52
$27.56
2" x 1 1/2" x 1/4"
2.77
$2.38
$43.21
2" x 2" x 1/8"
1.65
$1.32
$24.09
2" x 2" x 3/16"
2.44
$1.96
$35.62
2" x 2" x 1/4"
3.19
$2.74
$49.76
2" x 2" x 5/16"
3.92
$2.80
$50.96
2" x 2" x 3/8"
4.7
$4.03
$73.32
2 1/2" x 1 1/2" x
3/16"
2.44
$2.09
$38.06
2 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 1/4"
3.19
$2.28
$41.52
2 1/2" x 2" x 3/16"
2.75
$1.97
$35.75
2 1/2" x 2" x 1/4"
3.62
$2.59
$47.06
2 1/2" x 2" x 5/16"
4.5
$3.22
$58.50
2 1/2" x 2" x 3/8"
5.3
$3.79
$68.90
2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x
3/16"
3.07
$2.63
$47.89
2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1/4"
4.1
$3.52
$63.96
2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x
5/16"
5
$3.58
$65.00
2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 3/8"
5.9
$4.22
$76.70
2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1/2"
7.7
$5.51
$100.10
3" x 2" x 3/16"
3.07
$2.47
$44.82
3" x 2" x 1/4"
4.10
$3.52
$63.96
3" x 2" x 5/16"
5
$3.58
$65.00
3" x 2" x 3/8"
5.90
$4.22
$76.70
3" x 2" x 1/2"
7.7
$5.51
$100.10
3" x 2 1/2" x 1/4"
4.5
$3.22
$58.50
3" x 2 1/2" x 5/16"
5.6
$4.00
$72.80
3" x 2 1/2" x 3/8"
6.6
$4.72
$85.80
3" x 3" x 3/16"
3.71
$3.18
$57.88
3" x 3" x 1/4"
4.9
$3.88
$70.56
3" x 3" x 5/16"
6.1
$5.23
$95.16
3" x 3" x 3/8"
7.2
$5.15
$93.60
3" x 3" x 1/2"
9.4
$6.72
$122.20
3 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1/4"
4.9
$3.50
$63.70
3 1/2" x 2 1/2" x
5/16"
6.1
$4.36
$79.30
3 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 3/8"
7.2
$5.15
$93.60
3 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1/2"
9.4
$6.72
$122.20
3 1/2" x 3" x 1/4"
5.40
$3.86
$70.20
3 1/2" x 3" x 5/16"
6.60
$4.72
$85.80
3 1/2" x 3" x 3/8"
7.9
$5.65
$102.70
3 1/2" x 3" x 1/2"
10.2
$7.29
$132.60
3 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 1/4"
5.8
$4.98
$90.48
3 1/2" x 3 1/2" x
5/16"
7.2
$6.18
$112.32
3 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 3/8"
8.5
$6.08
$110.50
$3 1/2" x 3 1/2" x
1/2"
11.10
$7.94
$144.30
4" x 3" x 1/4"
5.8
$4.91
$89.32
4" x 3" x 5/16"
7.2
$5.15
$93.60
4" x 3" x 3/8"
8.5
$6.08
$110.50
4" x 3" x 1/2"
11.10
$7.94
$144.30
4" x 3 1/2" x 1/4"
6.20
$4.43
$80.60
4" x 3 1/2" x 5/16
7.7
$5.51
$100.10
4" x 3 1/2" x 3/8"
9.1
$6.51
$118.30
4" x 3 1/2" x 1/2"
11.9
$8.51
$154.70
4" x 4" x 1/4"
6.6
$5.66
$102.96
4" x 4" x 516"
8.2
$5.86
$106.60
4" x 4" x 3/8"
9.8
$7.01
$127.40
4" x 4" x 1/2"
12.8
$9.15
$166.40
4" x 4" x 5/8"
15.7
$11.23
$204.10
4" x 4" x 3/4"
18.5
$13.23
$240.50
5" x 3" x 1/4"
6.6
$4.72
$85.80
5" x 3" x 5/16"
8.2
$5.86
$106.60
5" x 3" x 3/8"
9.8
$7.01
$127.40
5" x 3" x 1/2"
12.8
$9.15
$166.40
5" x 3 1/2" x 3/16"
8.7
$6.22
$113.10
5" x 3 1/2" x 1/4"
7
$6.01
$109.20
5" x 3 1/2" x 5/16"
8.7
$7.46
$135.72
5" x 3 1/2" x 3/8"
10.4
$7.44
$135.20
5" x 3 1/2" x 1/2"
13.6
$9.72
$176.80
5" x 3 1/2" x 5/8"
16.8
$12.01
$218.40
5" x 3 1/2" x 3/4"
19.8
$14.16
$257.40
5" x 5" x 5/16"
10.3
$7.36
$133.90
5" x 5" x 3/8"
12.3
$8.79
$159.90
5" x 5" x 1/2"
16.2
$11.58
$210.60
6" x 4" x 5/16
10.3
$7.36
$133..90
6" x 4" x 3/8"
12.3
$8.79
$159.90
6" x 4" x 1/2"
16.2
$11.58
$210.60
6" x 4" x 5/8"
20
$14.30
$260.00

Joe

 

Joe, Those look like the prices I'm seeing here in texas for new 20ft long stuff. Reasonable. That's all I ask.

 

I agree. I don’t mind paying market but don’t want to pay ransom. Here for new it is a couple of % higher locally but not much and on occasion a match or just under. Just the other day I was offered used sorted to direction in random lengths from the local scrap yard for $.40 Lb.
Joe

 

See that's what I was thinking too. Prices seemed high. But I checked two local places and both were similar. I'm in Connecticut by the way. Everything is more expensive here. They did say if I bring cash it's cheaper.

The cheapest place I saw was in New Jersey but that's a 4 hr drive one way. They sold 20 foot lengths of square tubing for 5 bucks. I bought a stash from them when I was last down there but I didn't get sheet steel or other things I needed.

Perhaps it's a Connecticut thing? High prices.

 

Can't help ya there, my family left Danbury when I was just 6mos old and moved to Florida. Good thing, because I hate snow and cold weather!

 

Got the wheels welded on. Hmmm zinc fumes.

First pic shows the stainless mesh. I started tig welding the 316 stainless together. Got a mesh in place. I'll add in two or three 1/2" bars at the bottom and make a triangle pattern between the top mesh and the bars at the bottom to give it strength and hopefully prevent warpage. I'll probably wait until next week monday/tuesday to buy more steel from Fazzio's in NJ. They seem to have prices in line with what you guys were quoting me rather than CT thief prices.

The second pic shows the braces that the SS rods are resting on, these are outside the insulation so they won't burn up. I'm going to make a little clip to hole the bars in place so they don't move around and tear the insulation over time.

The last pic shows a latch that is supposed to hold the front door tightly against the frame. It isn't working too well. I think I got the dimesions off. Any ideas on how to simplify the latch mechanism to pull the door tightly inwards and upwards so it seals against the roof board as well?

 

Safety glass and a full face mask is a must for those wire wheels, the twisted ones are bit less likely to shed wires. I was stripping old bog from a cast iron lathe getting ready for new filler and paint and the wires were going straight through the jeans and drawing blood. It even got me between the legs and drew blood...didn't notice until I had a shower that evening. When I told a friend he said the fabricators next door had a guy whose elbow was sore and swollen. A wire off a wheel had hit a blood vessel and travelled up the arm until it snagged at the elbow at a blood vessel junction, it needed surgical removal and caused a blood clot. These days I wear an apron and use a speed control to slow down the grinder: it almost eliminates shedding, some cup wheels are rated a lot slower RPM than the grinders they fit on.