Metal Casting Zone

Well after some technical problems I got my furnace up and running and did my first test melt. My problem??? Wellllll - the guy I purchased my variable propane regulator from told me it was a second stage unit and could not handle tank presure. S0-0-0- I put it behind a stage one regulator from an RV. I had purchased a used Shop Vac for $15 and thought I was on a roll. To shorten the story, I got a roar and a blue flame but nothing would melt, my home made air regulator was running full flow and the propane was wide open. Two hours and still no melt!!!!
Checking with the manufacturer on the internet I found the adjustable regulator was indeed a stage one, the other was not required so I removed it.
WOW!!!!! The only thing with a bigger flame now is the Space Shuttle on lift-off!
Within 10 minutes I was feeding chunks of aluminum tubing into the crucible. (A coated home made one from a disposable propane tank)
So I poured a couple of ingots - happy as a clam at high tide. I had no flux, no degassing, no skimmer, but I melted a pile of stuff.
Now I have the chemicals and a model for a part for my 1938 Morris. I built a steel flask, have a bucket of my back yard sand, and a tank of propane. Soon I will have taken the first baby steps as Pattern Maker, Molder, and Caster. I know enough to be dangerous now...
I could not find a metal 5 gallon pail anywhere so I scrounged a container that once held Potasium Permanganate from the water treatment plant. I used furnace cement and perlite with a lot of water. My burner jet is off the shell brass fittings with just a 1/4" hole drilled in a brass pipe nipple - hey it sure works.....
So...thanks to this site I am well on the way to becoming a novice sandcrab.
Sparky

That's great Sparky. I know it's hard to do if your alone but we all like to see pictures. Those camper/bar-b-que grill regulators won't put out enough pressure. I've got a Mr.Heat High Pressure regulator and run about 10 to 15 psi in the little furnace and up to 25# in the big one. I've only done one melt since the snow melted, been working on too many other things.
Good Job.

Well okay here is a pic of my first furnace attempt....Kinda rough but enough to make a believer of me - this casting stuff might even work.

as rough as it is this furnace works well enough to make me a believer in this casting stuff.

Had to try again pic was too large

this sand was dug from my back yard, I ran it through a coarse sieve to remove some vegetation, roots etc and stuff. I did the handful test, the break test and then blew air through it. Then I rammed it up in my home made flask. I have not poured it yet as I am discovering how much I dont know about molding. When the drag and cope impressions are perfect, with gates and sprue I will mely and cast the new base for the hood ornament on my 1938 Morris restore project.
My only concern now is moisture content???
But then, can I use a 1/4 yard cement mixer as a muller?
I dont want to waste sand, I have just 11.5 acres of this stuff and it is only 65 feet deep...
sparky

I gently tried to bend the sample until it broke apart

testing my sand in my new home made flask

sand looks pretty good to me???
now foor learning gates and sprues

Hey Jammer,
Did 2 melts yesterday of scrap aluminum laying around the farm each melt yielded almost 5 Lbs. From light up to pour was just about 20 minutes. Poring into square "muffin tins" each ingot is about .875 Lbs.
Almost ready to ram up a mold and make the jump to actually casting.

Regards,
Sparky