Metal Casting Zone

Is it possible to modify the Gingery charcoal furnace to burn either charcoal or gas? (depending on what fuel I have on hand and what mood I'm in)
Also ... I need some guidance (plans) on making one of those "nifty flip-open" lids that I don't have to worry about setting down.

Thanks in advance!

i missed this thread its 1.30 am here and ive been casting all day.basically yes to all your questions. i use a gas bottle and it isnt lined!!!!!!and my top has some hinges welded to it so i just use a handle and flip it back. i burn wood ,charcoal, heat beads and i use a gas torch.ive been fireing it on average 4 times a week for over twelve months now and it still hasnt burnt out! some experience in handling a forge is needed. ive grown up around a forge so i dont know anything different!! a member here converted his charcoal furnace to oil!!! but still starts it with charcoal!

So ... uh .. Plans?

And how many melts do you get out of a tank of gas?

Yes, the gingery design can be modified to run on gas or oil, however, the tuyere may have to be modified. For a charcoal furnace, ideally the air blast should come from the bottom of the fuel bed, to direct the heat and air blast upward towards the crucible. The nice thing about charcoal is that it is self-insulating to a point, so your furnace doesn't neccessarily have to be. A gas or oil fired furnace usually has the fuel/air blast (read: fire) directed around the crucible to evenly distribute the heat all around the crucible, the tuyere enters the furnace at a tangent. Having the flame impinge directly on one spot on your crucible is a bad thing, with clay or steel crucibles, it will lead to early failure.
As far as a flip top lid, a simple hinge will work fine, if your shell is rugged enough not to flex much under the weight of the lid. If it isn't, just reinforce it a little with angle iron or something. There are a lot of designs out there for lid lifters, some are way more complicated than they need to be.
As far as how many melts you will get out of a propane tank, it all depends on how efficient your furnace design is. If it isn't very well insulated, and more heat is needed just to bring the liner up to temp than into the metal being melted, not long. Insulation is key, it will help reduce both fuel usage and melt time. If you are buying your fuel, this is particularly important. As far as designs go, look around on the web, there are a bunch, just remember, you will probably be rebuilding your first furnace eventually, so keep it simple and you won't go wrong.

So what I'm seeing here is that I'll have to make one furnace for coal and one for gas/oil on the account of the difference in tuyere angle? I cant simply have one furnace that can do it all?

Again, this is one of those "yes and no" situations. You can use charcoal in a furnace designed for liquid/gas fuel, you can modify a charcoal furnace to use gas/liquid fuel. You can build a furnace with BOTH of the different tuyeres built in, so it can be swapped back and forth. But you are getting complicated at that point. Most casters start out with charcoal and then move almost exclusively to propane or oil fired furnaces. The difference in convenience is that much. My sincere advice is to build one or the other, depending on availability of fuel. If you have access to a lot of wood or charcoal for a reasonable cost, go for it. It will work fine. If you have to buy the charcoal, you will shortly find out it is just as pricey if not more so than propane or oil for the same amount of metal melted. Thruthfully you are better off building a tangential tuyere furnace, it can be used with charcoal, and you would be all set to go to other fuels.

So my Gingery plans for a furnace wont work ... I'll need to look for plans for a tangential tuyere furnace.

Firestix wrote:
So ... uh .. Plans?

And how many melts do you get out of a tank of gas?i get approx 10 melts per 9kg. thats roughly about 15 to 20 kg of aluminium per bottle. i burn scrap wood as well and i have a air blower setup but rarely use it now. i started out with plain wood and progressed from there.. i like to rake my coals around the pot and i turn off the gas torch when im adding fuel or metal so the coals keep everything cosy. i can repost a pic of my setup if you want but it is featured in earlier posts here. as stated before ....furnaces do burn out!!!! how long they last is up to the level of use you give it. if you are able to build one in the first place then its quite possible to build dozens if you want!!! there is always maintenance to be done!so a welder comes in mighty handy! in fact i would say a must have.!!!so as odd duck has stated keep it simple...gain experience and plan to build another furnace after you have your first one up and running. im planning a new furnace that will have gas and oil but im also building a replacement exactly as the one i have. however it has had 3 modifications since i built it!

So you are using wood and gas? And the pic would be great. Even better would be a set of plans. As for welding, I don't have one and have never welded. Although I do have access to one and to someone who is fairly familiar with the process. What kind of welder would I need? Are they expensive?

an electric arc welder is a must i beleive. i bought my first one when i was 15 some 35 years ago. you will need a welder to make the stand and all the extra accessories that you will need for handling the melt.here are some old pics of my furnace.





as you can see there is a fair bit of welding to be done. ive since added a gas torch.