Metal Casting Zone

Ok I have completed my burner based on the Reil type burner and have it working very well. Now its time to move on to constructing my furnace. I have decided to use an old propane tank as my furnace shell. A word of warning no matter how hard I tried to evacuate the tank there was allways a smell of propane coming from the tank which could potentially cause an explosion. I advise anyone who wants to build this furnace to use a new tank !!

Ok on to the build. First thing I did was to make sure the tank was completely empty.
I did this by installing a nipple into the tank opening the valve and letting it sit open in the sun for a few days. I then very slowly and carefully removed the valve. To my relief there was no pressure left inside the tank
Upon inspecting the insde of the tank I found there was still some liquid inside it and it smelled very heavily of propane Not wanting to blow myself up I flushed the tank with hot water several times, It still stunk Ok being determined I decided to fill the tank with water and reinstall the valve. I then turned the tank upside down and cut a 2 1/2 in hole into the bottom of the tank while the tank was full of water I still have all my fingers and toes

The next step was to cut the tank 4" above the welded seam I did this by marking out a line useing a pipe wrap around the tank
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Ok now the really scary part, cutting the tank open. Again I filled the tank with water and proceded to cut it open useing an abrasive cut wheel. Phew Im glad this part is over

The next thing I did was to remove the base ring from the bottom. So far I have spent about 4 hours working on this thing. Most of the time spent was trying to clean out the tank and keep from blowing myself up. Time well spent
Im going to be taking a break now but stay tuned i will be posting more soon !
If you do attempt to do this please please be very careful I dont want to hear any stories of how someone manage to blow themselves up making thier hobby foundry.
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Looks really good.

You can't be too careful. We just figure if anyone blows thenselves up, they wouldn't post anymore. Say, Have we heard from XL in a while??

i like the design . its roughly similar to mine. even after i had cut open my gas cyclinder it stunk for days. ive been busy casting for the last few days. i melted 2kg of brass for a friend today in my gas bottle furnace. ive never lined mine and i melt in 1 kg aluminium batches with 8 batches a week! ive been doing it for 4 months now and i havent burnt out the furnace yet! i have two gas bottles here as replacements when the need arises.im hoping my mate posts a vid on youtube of today so i can use the link!

Well, at least you get to melt something. We are still trying to thaw out. It's supposed to get into the 50's F today. I may fire up something on Wednesday if it isn't raining.

Aonemarine, You were probably smelling the scent stuff they put in gases so you can tell you have a leak. What are you going to line the furnace with and will you have a insulation layer? My water tank furnace has about 2 1/2" of kaowool and 3/4" commercial refractory hotface. I've fired mine but haven't melted anything in it yet.

Jammer wrote:
Well, at least you get to melt something. We are still trying to thaw out. It's supposed to get into the 50's F today. I may fire up something on Wednesday if it isn't raining.

Aonemarine, You were probably smelling the scent stuff they put in gases so you can tell you have a leak. What are you going to line the furnace with and will you have a insulation layer? My water tank furnace has about 2 1/2" of kaowool and 3/4" commercial refractory hotface. I've fired mine but haven't melted anything in it yet.

I wasnt goign to take the chance with the smell better safe than sorry
Im planning on making my own refractory and line it about 2-3 in thick. Im still open to suggestions on this one. right now its time to get started on the base and lid hinge.
Plus today i picked up an nice bronze bushing that weighs about 4 lbs just begging to be melted down

OK just put in about another 4 hours, Its starting to come together now. hopefully by the end of the week Ill have it done except for the lineing. The base measures 9 5/8 in by 24 in. the idea is to be able to put the propane tank on the cart so it will store easily, wheels and hinge are coming up next
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this project is coming along in leaps and bounds now. you will be so proud of it when finished. for a small furnace i really cant find a better design using ready available materials.