Metal Casting Zone

I've never cast anything before and want to get started after reading about it a few years back. I am always doing a fabrication which needs custom parts to be made, so I think I will end up casting parts quite regularly. For that reason I think I should start with something that is going to last me a bit longer than a coffee can furnace or the like.

My plan is to:

1. Make a furnace. Being the first item made it will get plenty of time to dry out naturally before being fired.

2. Make a burner.

3. Make some greensand and moulding tools. I'll start out as basic as I can, probably using kitchen implements and other scrounged bits & pieces.

I'd love to hear some feedback if anyone has suggestions on a better way to go! I'm a bit time-poor so I like to plan things out so whatever time I do spend is put to good use. I hate having to do thing twice when I don't have to.

cheers!

Damo.

sounds good to me. if you havent seen it done before i suggest you go to "old petrie town" and go through the foundry there.just dont mention me!!! lol (long story... before i started my own foundry i wanted some items cast. ....yea yea yea ..bring them in and we will do it!... so i did!!!! only to be told to b...........off! i was so annoyed i said right!!! i will do it!! and i did! ) im a member of another group next to them and im well known to them.

For the burner itself i'm going to try to get a 20L oil drum. I'm pretty sure that fast food places use them for their frying oil so I figure I can get one for nothing. Failing that i'll probably use an old 9kg LPG tank.

I don't have anything I can use to form the inside of the furnace though. A nice large diameter piece of PVC pipe would be ideal but I don't have anything like that at the moment. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled!

Hello Metalfab 101,
I must say that I sure can sympathize with you starting out,all questions and such.
Been there and done that,not that all the questions will go away because they probably
won't (mine certainly haven't) it seems endless and that's the fun of it.
Check out my website and you'll see my journey so far. Then holler back and we
can get into it OK?
blindpig
www.blindpigetc.com

Your plan sounds right, at least you have a plan. I have been more "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of deal. There were some old firebrick available, I grabbed them, some refractory and ceramic wool going to be thrown out, brought it home. I found out where to buy some good refractory so I made sure if I was in that area I could stop and pick some up. I stock piled stuff for a year before I finally got started. I still keep my eyes open for free stuff at work, sometimes it takes a little talking to the right people to get it. Most important, don't talk to the wrong people (Environmental Dept.) they won't let me take anything home. Had a fit about the bricks..??? they are just bricks, no hazardous waste!!!
I snuck the hazardous stuff out on the weekend.
With written permission. I don't steal anything, it's not worth getting fired over.

Remember, projects are a lot like rabbits. Put two together and they tend to multiply... Sounds like a reasonable approach, one hint, figure out what you are going to use as a crucible first, either purchased or made. Get one bigger than you think you will need, it sucks to get a mold perfect and find out your crucible is just short of filling it. Once you have a good crucible, build your furnace to suit. On the forums I frequent I've seen more often than not someone will build a killer furnace and spend the rest of their time dealing with crucible frustration. Unless you build a reverb furnace, you will need a crucible or two. They should be considered a consumable item, they will all fail eventually. Now it's up to you to figure out how to tell your signifigant other that you just spent $50+ on what she sees as a flowerpot...

I was just going to use steel pipe with an end welded on for a crucible. At least for starters.

That'll work. Size the furnace to be about 2" wider in diameter, so you have about an inch on all sides of the crucible.

I haven't heard anyone mention crucible dia vs furnace dia before. It makes sense though, i'll use that as a guide, thanks!!!

No luck on a barrel for the furnace body yet, but I have found a source for my fireclay, grog and silica sand. I've also got some 2" exhaust tube for the tuyere. It's only mild steel, I hope that'll be OK.

as you live near me ( well 15km away) you should checkout the "dakkabin recycle centre (tip) its run by the local council. you can pickup really big flowerpots there $5 ea! these are great to line a furnace with (but they dont last long but long enough to feel your way!)lots of pipe hang on im giving away my source of supply. lol lol may the best scrounger win!!! warning though. i take my wife with me and she is a keen spotter of scrap!!