First home furnace

Hello.

I want to make a cheap furnace which is capable fo melting brass. First time doing this so it must be as simple and as cheap as posible. It should be gas fueled as I can't get away with loads of smoke and mess in my small garden. Have no tools which would be helpful nor can i weld, so i think i will eiether use a plant pot for the cylindrical body or just visit a few scrap yards and i'm bound to find something i can use. I will purchase comercial refractory. The crucible will also most likely be paid for. I would need some info. on the basics of such a simple furnace, really i am only asking because i see so many disclaimer notices on foundry websites which funnerly enough must make people buy their books aswell as obviously serving as a disclaimer notice. If i had a big garden with loads of space i would just go ahead and use my logic, except when it comes to working near other people's homes with a gas canister my logic could become very explosive which isn't too bad until i kill burn someones house down. So please give me tips about safety, and what are the precautions to take when melting brass, i know zinc is very poisonous and obviously water will make the molten metal splash everywhere. What material should my crucible be made from, i'm guessing there might be some which would be adverse to use when attempting to melt brass because of it's alloy content??

And please give me some info. on how to arrange my furnace, do i need an air blower and how exactly should i position my burner pipe(i also could use some correct terminology) inside the funace? should it be opposite the air inlet should the flame contact the crucible. Should there be a gap around the burner pipe opening in the furnace or should the radius be tight to the burner pipe?

Thnx, and as i said before for now i cannot rely on my own brain as it could be too dangerous even though im sure i could make something which could melt brass, but for now i wont use too much of my own logic till i get some experience. Thanks, James

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Reply to
lightless
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In my previous life I took two semesters of metalworking -- yeah, making copper ashtrays for mom'n'dad, perhaps a bong -- and I was struck by the "ferocity" of the gas furnace, ito air, noise, etc.

But the point really was, mebbe check out one in a school, see what you can copy, design-wise, and safety-wise. F'sure I think you'd want the electric-eye ditty for flame detection, with an electric shut-off valve,

A guy I know, a regarded casting place for statues, etc, switched from gas to induction, said he would never go back. Cost a substantial penny, f'sure, but mebbe there are smaller or even diy versions of this, esp. w/ inverter-type technology reaching the rabble-ous shop (m)asses.

Reply to
Proctologically Violated©®

Go to Lindsay Publications online and buy a Gingery book called "build your own melting furnace" or something close to that. Nice plans on how to build one with cheap parts.

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

Or try eBay - sometimes $2 there.

Reply to
N Morrison

lightless, You're asking for an awful lot of info at oncce. I'd recomend you do some reading first. I have a book, 'The Metalcasters Bible' by C.W. Ammen, TAB books, that has a lot of good information for beginners. Good luck, be safe and have fun. Tom

Reply to
Tom Wait

Gingery's books would be a place to start, he was melting aluminum with homemade equipment and charcoal and the series showed how to build your own shop out of scrap. Brass is a whole other animal although the basic pattern-making skills and such will transfer. There are a number of foundry work reprints that are helpful, might be the local library would have some originals, too. Don't neglect archive.org, either, there's a whole bunch of old shop books on there.

If you want propane-fired, do a search on "Mongo burner", these are homemade from plumbing fittings, intended for forges. It should be able to adapt one to some sort of melting furnace without a whole lot of trouble. Castable ceramics and ceramic fiber blankets have revolutionized building forges and furnaces, too. Depending on how big a crucible you want to heat, you might be able to build the works in a 5 gallon bucket. If you can't weld, you're going to have to either find somebody who can or buy your shanks and tongs for crucible handling.

Stan

Reply to
stans4

Try this

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Wes

Reply to
Wes

Reply to
Jerry Wass

Google "reil burner" , built from off-the-shelf fittings . Stick it in a Gingery type furnace built into a five gallon steel bucket . Buy a crucible on ebay . Check out ABANA (artist blacksmith ass'n of north america , I think it is) for ideas of alternative furnace designs .

Reply to
Snag

How much brass at a time?

Propane/Natural Gas, or do you want to use something else?

How many times do you plan to use it?

Can you do your own welding?

A good brass furnace capable of melting 50 or 100 pounds can be built with first class materials for about $500. Would you want to invest that much? If not, how much?

Reply to
Tim

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