This video is about a backyard iron melter who does not take safety in handling molten iron as a first option. Have a look at 0:47 and 1:44. Great way to test if your protective gear works. If you are a beginner to metal casting don't let this happen to you.
That was hard to watch. The spill made me grown out loud and that startled my wife when I did. Be safe people, always, but especially when Iron is in play! Best, Kelly
That's just Clarke, he doesn't get too excited. He handles it perfectly, backs away, makes sure everyone is OK and then starts the clean up. If you panic, things can go south real fast.
Thought I recognozed him. I didnt listen to the audio. True, but always best to take measures to avoid the situation in the first place. I certainly can't say that I am completely without fault in this regard, but familiarity can breed contempt, and when you post videos, the uninitiated tend to use it as example, and the consequences of iron spills can be nontrivial. Best, Kelly
I wouldn't call Clarke a backyard guy. He is running a short run commercial foundry out of his farm. It might be with a backyard mentality (in that he builds his on gear 90% of the time). It just goes to show you that when you get too comfortable with what your doing mistakes happen. Stay on your toes boys (and ladies).
He mentions in the video that he has someone to knock the firebrick off the crucible when he removes it, maybe some sand between the crucible and firebrick would keep it from sticking in the first place. If you watch closely the right foot welders spat cops a splash of iron at 1:47 and even when off screen at 1:53 there is smoke from it. At least the spats did their job and I find seeing other's technical problems useful to see what can go wrong.
Seems like some folks use smaller rounder plinths that would pass through the shanks and cement them onto the crucibles (Luckygen1001 comes to mind). I have also heard about cereal boxes and other thin cardboards between plinth and crucible. I have yet to stick mine but I am only running aluminum and bronze temps.
In that screen shot you will see a white layer between the crucible and the pedestal it is ceramic fiber. It does not work because slag runs down the side of the crucible and on to the pedestal binding the two together. When the crucible has cooled down a small tap with a hammer and a sharp edge of a knife will separate the two. I am not going to do this when the crucible is white hot so I leave the two stuck together for the life of the crucible. That video is a good example of what can happen if that pedestal does not fit in the shank and trying to remove it when everything it so hot is begging for disaster.
So far I've had no problems with a octagon/disc of fibro (fibre cement) a bit bigger than the base of the crucible. When hot, parts of it stick to the crucible and parts stick to the plinth but mainly to the crucible and it's too thin to affect the balance. It's single use only and breaks off easily when cold. I use it for every melt, whether aluminium, bronze or iron. A tungsten carbide handheld fibro cutter will easily score the sheet enough to snap off the excess. I'm using modern fibro, not the vintage asbestos stuff.
