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NAMES Class on Backyard Foundry

Presenter, Rick Chownyk, brought 20 drawing giveaways of a foundry burner (the Oliver type) figuring there'd only be a handful of spectators. Boy, did he misjudge the enthusiasm for this topic! I'd say there was at least a hundred, and possibly double that number, of guys gathered around the demonstration. Rick made the demo 'down and dirty' and did the melt and pour without benefit of degassing using a standard steel crucible. Rather than a use a wooden pattern, Rick glued together some pieces of styrofoam that he earlier dipped in a ceiling texture compound and let dry. He placed the patterns in a bucket, and surrounded it with playground sand. He added a riser, and then did the pour. And it turned out great! My compliments to Rick for reducing the foundry process to it's basics and opening up a possibly new hobby for dozens of attendees. Chet

Reply to
Chet
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Glad to hear it turned out okay. I caught the 11:00AM part but wanted to see Ron Ginger's Advertures in CNC at 12, so I missed the heat and pour.

How long did it take from fire to melt?

Wes

Reply to
Wes

Reply to
Chet

I've been tempted to try my top loading pottery kiln to do some aluminum, maybe even brass. Nothing fancy, just making stock to turn or mill.

Pictures of your foundry would be nice to see.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

Reply to
Wes

That sounds about average , mine takes about 18 minutes from dead cold to

5 lbs of molten Al .

They usually do , because the furnace is already hot . About 10-12 minutes for mine - I'm running one Reil-type 3/4" burner , about 60k Btu's (I think , depending on gas pressure it might be more) .

He must have a much larger foundry than mine , I get about 15-20 melts per tank , depending on what I'm melting . Mine's built in a five gallon bucket and I can melt about 8-10 lbs with the right crucible .

I'd like to see more info on that . There's been talk of various types of electric furnaces on the castinghobby group , but only resistance units in operation as far as I know . Couple of guys are trying to get inductance units running , not sure how that's going .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

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