This is real fun. On 7:00 the guys are wearing sandals when pouring the white hot stainless steel. They use a makeshift furnace which is a pit in the floor with an oil burner in it burning the dirtiest heavy oil. But it can reach 1600 C needed for melting the stainless. It is very unlikely that the air blast is enriched with extra oxygen. How do they attain that hot ?
What caught my attention was the fancy footwork instead of ramming and the sprue/cup combo at about 5:40.
So the melting point of stainless steel is 1600C and the pouring temperature must be at least 200C higher. Have a look at this website which shows the melting point of different stainless alloys, some go as low as 1375C so it would be very easy to melt in their furnace. https://www.metrosteel.com.au/melting-point-stainless-steel-shouldnt-temperature-concern/
The first thing that struck me about that video is, their crucible leaks! I wonder if that was the last pour for that crucible? I certainly hope so. A little later on, I noticed one of the guys appears to have one of his feet wrapped in bandages, wonder if that's because of a work place injury, seems likely, result of a failed crucible maybe?
OK, stupid question, but if you melt stainless under those conditions - are you even going to wind up with stainless? Or just some other ferrous alloy?
Probably as I see the guys wear only sandals with bare feet in it when handling liquid metal. So even a minor spill (or a leaking crucible !) can result in painful burns ! In North American or European steel / iron foundries, employees wear heat protective glitter suits, closed shoes and dark tinted face shields. This site https://www.theworldmaterial.com/melting-point-of-stainless-steel/ mentions the same temperatures. My propane / forced air furnace attains 1450-1500C easily, so I'll give it a try with 316 or 304 scrap.
Molder 3&2 Lists all SS alloys as Pouring at 2850-2950F so 1610C at the top end If you have not poured Cast Fe PLEASE try that first. that additional 700 degrees is pretty much unexplainable if you have not been there, you will need shade 5 eye protection! you must have aluminumized gear . the radiant heat cant be explained , make sure you have two of everything , gloves have to be BONE dry, if you sweat in them, they will steam burn you, at those temps regular face shields will melt . you will see bubbles start to form, or your vision will blur ( face shield melting ) wear at least two layers of FR clothing under your PPE, and remember keep it dry Good luck V/r HT1 P.S. film it!!!
I use a face shield with a higher rating than that and if I try to look at it without protection my eyes take many minutes to recover from the dazzling effect.
