Making an electric furnace.

[Ante]

Hi Dazza,

Oh, that LED

[Dazza]

Hi Ante,

I will post some pic soon, of my test casting, the mould/pattern I used and what I have put together so far of the foundry set up .    But there will be no pic's of the new family member project .

I have also been trying to finish off some of my unfinished projects, I have got a few of them laying around .

Oh yes don't forget the hydrogen project, this is a project I will continue on with until I succeed , this is one of the reasons why I'm setting up the foundry, once the foundry project is making me some money, I will move on to making a metal turning lathe, then I will be in a better position to continue on with my hydrogen project.

Progress on my hydrogen project may slow down from time to time, but it will continue .

[Dazza]

Ante, here are the pic's as requested, and I'm very happy to take the opportunity to show off my work. As this was my first test casting I wasn't expecting very good results, the whole process went well with the exception of the casting sand being too coarse, resulting in a very rough surface finish which I was expecting, although it was much worse than I thought it would be, hence my quest for obtaining Bentone to be able to make a better quality casting sand.

Please do ask questions if there is anyone that is interested in this process, and I will be happy to answer any questions if I can.

Ok, a quick run through of the pic's, first up is the flask #1 consisting of the cope and drag, top and bottom half containing the sand and the mold cavity, unfortunately I didn't take any pic's when I created the mold cavity, but I will on my next casting if someone requests it.  Next my furnace and my pooch #2. Then my work bench #3 for creating the mold not yet complete but still functional/usable. Next is the molding sand #4 contained within the half drum which makes up the top part of the molding bench. Then is the mold #5 that is made from MDF wasn't quite as difficult to make as I expected but still rather tricky, it has been coded with acrylic paint to prevent water damage from the molding sand. Next is a pic of the flask before casting #6. Ah then the pouring of the Molten aluminium into the mold #7.  Then #8, after the poor.  Then "lookout" #9 it seem to of worked, the surface finish was much coarser than expected as mentioned above but at least nothing else went wrong.  Last of all #10 is the finished product, which is the Chinese symbol for (tranquillity) with the riser and filler still attached.

I should mentioned that pic number 6,7and 8 was taking using nightvision with my camera, pic number seven looks as though the Molten aluminium is white hot, "it is not" to describe its actual colour is more like a brighter orange.

[MP]

Wow! The casting of the dog looks almost like a real one!!  

(Just joking)  

Dazza, looks like you have had quite a success with this project. Perhaps you could put it together in a "How To" form and Mixos could publish it on the site.
Good Work!

MP

[Dazza]

Hi MP,

Don't you think it looks more like a rabbit on a surfboard when it is turned upside down , that's what I refer to it as (the surfing bunny)

It would give me a real kick to have my project published on this site , and I will put together a "How To" form, once I have successfully completed my foundry setup, and I am confident in all aspects of this process, so as I can be confident that I am not misinforming anyone, who wishes to take on this project .

Thanks for the thumbs up MP .

[Ante]

Dazza,

Nice work!

[rybitski]

besides using electricity, what would be the cheapest and easiest way to heat a furnace. I am interested in making a furnace of my own... Looking for guidance

[Ante]

Hi Chris,

I believe the cheapest way might be using a coal fire with a blower like a blacksmith.

[rybitski]

How much blowing is needed? Can you have too much 'blowing'? I'm thinking a leaf blower...

[Ante]

A leaf blower is not needed; something smaller will be more than enough! It depends on the size of the fire you need which in turn depends on the amount of metal you like to melt at one time! Here is room for experimenting!

[rybitski]

Reason I asked about the leaf blower: found one someone was throwing out becasue the handle was cracked.

[Ante]

There you are again, reusing things that someone else throws away! I think that’s commendable thinking!