Metal Casting Zone

Thanks. I am looking forward to being able to actually do one with real refractory and mounts and wheels and lifting systems and such. I guess this is good experience for me along the way.

looking good . it wont be long now and you will be back at it.

Dry it out and fire it up. Looks great and should hold a pretty good sized crucible.

I fired it up today to drive out the water. I will be melting in no time. Here are the pics. Give me your opinion on what happened to the liner. Did I get it too hot too fast or is it just the degrading of the homemade refractory?

The top is not sitting flat because it has some ash in it. I blocked it up with some pieces of wood to heat it slower and they finally burnt out.

probably there was too much moisture in it still and it steamed and popped

It did still have a lot of moisture in it. I just cast it yesterday, so it was still quite damp. I fired it today at lunch for about an hour. Do you think it is good to Aluminum melting temps yet or does it need more firing?

hard to say, I think i would put some charcoal in it and let it burn slowly for a few hours first though, then fire it. 2" thick of home made refractory takes all most two weeks to air dry. Think your wife would let you put it in the oven a few hours?
or will she be out of the house for a few hours

Well, I fired her up and poured about 5 melts in about 1.5 - 2 hours. I pigged quite a bit of scrap. i still have much to go. I don't think this refractory is gonna last very long. It is really coming off. I can rub it and it falls out like sand. I guess I have too much sand and not enough cement in it. I will use it til its gone and may be I will accomplish what I wanted to. I did find out that this one is a lot different to regulate than my other one. I used my old blower though. (Hair dryer) When I start using my new one (yard blower) it will prob do better. Anyways, if I can get all this scrap into ingots, I will be happy for now til i can build the one I want.