New from Calgary

[RRSpeed92]

Hey! I'm new to the forum and have finally taken the plunge to become a member after finding help on here numerous times. I have no formal experience with metal working. I woke up one morning, watched a few Youtube videos on aluminum melting and thought I would like to try that. I've built 4 furnaces since. The first 2 using coal for fuel, the 3rd was a 2 propane burner deal, and the 4th was a 4 burner furnace. I purchased a Lincoln 140 Mig welder to fabricate the furnaces as well as the crucibles and the pour trays. I now have a bunch of aluminum bricks and no idea what to do with them. I was given a 1960's Delta Rockwell drill press that I modified for light milling with the addition of a milling table. Between that and a belt sander I was able to get a fair portion of things built. Everything was great until I realized I don't have the tools to weld aluminum. I needed a machine to work with steel. I am now 3 milling machines in. At this point if I put my mind to it, I can typically build whatever I need. All I need is a Tig welder, a lathe, and I should be capable of making anything my imagination can think of. I'm excited that I found the Canadian Hobby Metal Workers forum and look forward to any future experiences I may encounter here.

 

[DPittman]

Hey welcome. There's a friendly mix of all sorts of different experiences on this forum. 4 furnaces wow! Good luck on your casting. I wish I had someone to make cast aluminum blanks for me that I could machine.

Don

 

[RRSpeed92]

Thank you! Unfortunately back in October I had to move and was not able to bring my furnace with me. I'm planning on doing a larger one this time that is capable of melting steel running on waste oil. It is going to be a challenge but I think I can do it. How big would you want your blanks to be?

 

[DPittman]

Oh wow it looks like you can do some pretty large projects! I have nothing in particular in mind but I think steam engine frames/components would be fun.

Don

 

[RRSpeed92]

Well if you end up in Calgary at any point, let me know and I will see what I can do!

 

[Tom Kitta]

Welcome to the forum - looks like you like to melt stuff.

I would love to see your steel melting setup.

 

[Janger]

Hey! I'm new to the forum and have finally taken the plunge to become a member after finding help on here numerous times. I have no formal experience with metal working. I woke up one morning, watched a few Youtube videos on aluminum melting and thought I would like to try that. I've built 4 furnaces since. The first 2 using coal for fuel, the 3rd was a 2 propane burner deal, and the 4th was a 4 burner furnace. I purchased a Lincoln 140 Mig welder to fabricate the furnaces as well as the crucibles and the pour trays. I now have a bunch of aluminum bricks and no idea what to do with them. I was given a 1960's Delta Rockwell drill press that I modified for light milling with the addition of a milling table. Between that and a belt sander I was able to get a fair portion of things built. Everything was great until I realized I don't have the tools to weld aluminum. I needed a machine to work with steel. I am now 3 milling machines in. At this point if I put my mind to it, I can typically build whatever I need. All I need is a Tig welder, a lathe, and I should be capable of making anything my imagination can think of. I'm excited that I found the Canadian Hobby Metal Workers forum and look forward to any future experiences I may encounter here.

You can weld aluminium - depending on which model of 140 you have. You need to buy the aluminium spool gun if your machine supports it and a bottle of argon. I used to own one and did a little aluminium welding.

for example. but check the compatibility. they have other models too.
https://www.kmstools.com/magnum-spool-gun-for-magnum-mig-3-in-1-welders-141970

 

[Bofobo]

The old lincoln tombstone should weld alum with the right rod

 

[Alexander]

I think you would want the AC-DC version of the lincoln tombstone. Has anyone stick welded aluminum with AC current?

 

[RRSpeed92]

You can weld aluminium - depending on which model of 140 you have. You need to buy the aluminium spool gun if your machine supports it and a bottle of argon. I used to own one and did a little aluminium welding.

for example. but check the compatibility. they have other models too.
https://www.kmstools.com/magnum-spool-gun-for-magnum-mig-3-in-1-welders-141970

My unit does accept the spool gun. But the price of the spool gun and a new bottle for straight argon is out of my budget currently. Thank you for the suggestion, I will definitely keep that in mind!

 

[RRSpeed92]

Welcome to the forum - looks like you like to melt stuff.

I would love to see your steel melting setup.

Thank you! When I get it all figured out I will definitely share pictures. I've just moved into the country on a golf course. My landlord owns the golf course and has offered me the waste oil from the maintenance machines. I'm excited. My biggest obstacle at the moment is the crucible to hold the molten metal. I believe graphite works but need to do a bit more research before I know for sure.

 

[Tom Kitta]

Well, I only have one crucible and its I think graphite but all I ever used it for was aluminium. Waste oil sounds like a great solution - maybe we can contribute some waste oil as well.

 

[RRSpeed92]

Thank you for the offer of waste oil. I believe I should have plenty though. The tank is about 750 gallons. Where did you get your crucible from? The waste oil doesn't have as high of a burning temperature as propane does but it does offer significantly greater thermal energy. What do you have set up for melting your aluminum?

 

[Tom Kitta]

I got the crucible directly from China - I forgot whatever it was aliexpress or eBay. It takes about 500ml of molten aluminium - I never checked but it looks like that size.

I melted it using bunch of firebricks stacked into a square with crucible in the middle and a home made (from videos online) burner using propane from a standard 20lbs propane tank. I have materials to make this a bit more permanent - I got few bags of actual refractory cement and 6 rounds sections of brick + 1 inch thick white thermal insulation. One day I get to it. Also the single burner takes a while to melt aluminium - maybe I need 2 or 3.

The round sections could be used to make a furnace for blacksmith work where you just warm things up.

 

[RRSpeed92]

 

[RRSpeed92]

Are your burners similar to these? With a mig contact tip in the end?

 

[Tom Kitta]

Mine is similar to this -

or this

Not sure whatever these are "good" designs - its just there is plenty of info about this online - you are more of an expert about this than me - I just build one burner and stacked some bricks few times

 

[RRSpeed92]

 

[RRSpeed92]

The large thing on the left is a 1 1/2 NPT bushing down to 3/4 NPT. On there 4 holes are drilled and threaded to M6x1.00 90 degrees to each other ( 2 top 2 sides). The item on the right is the actual burner. From left to right... 0.025 mig contact tip- 1/4 NPT plug drilled M6x1.00 for the tip to thread into- 1/4 NPT female union- 1/4 NPT to 3/8 flare fitting- 3/8 flare nut- 3/8 hardline. The hardline goes up to a junction block with ball valves for each burner. The junction also has a feed in from the 20 lb propane bottle with a pressure regulator on it. The burner assembly is inserted into the large bushing and the 4 threaded holes are for 4 bolts to position the burner in the center of it. You then need to make an air regulator for each burner. Its just a thin flat plate that will slide in and out to close up the large end of the bushing. When it gets lit, the plate is in the closed position. After the flame is stable the plate is removed and the propane increased. 4 burners will melt down an audi cylinder head in about 15 minutes from start-up to poured.

 

[kevin.decelles]

I'm in the stages of building a waste oil furnace with the goal being to melt cast-iron. I'm following the 'Artful Bodger' design (bought his book w/plans). http://www.artfulbodgermetalcasting.com

I sourced my refractories from 'refractories west' http://www.refwest.com who are based out of Colorado. You can buy it by the bag there, no minimum. Shipping to Calgary was stupid (~600) so I shipped to the border (about 100 USD for 3 bags) and picked it up. I didn't have any reasonable luck sourcing 3000 degree refractory in this province. When you ask for 3 or 4 bags, people just blink at you. There were a couple of places in Edmonton who would have considered it, but i seemed to be more of a bother. 15 years ago, when I build my first furnace, I went down to Clayburn Refractories in the NE (I think they are defunct now) and a guy gave me 3 bags off a service truck for 40 bucks. The good 'ol days......

I am still amassing material for my build, the shell will be a 60 gallon air compressor tank I picked up at auction for 20 bucks. I got two at that price, not intending to use them for air -- but to provide a touch rigid shell for projects like this.