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Melting ductile iron.

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ironman:
vtsteam

You must have a good memory, mine seems to get worse as I get older.

Yep the furnace has not changed for twenty years, why change something when it works so well. The only thing I have changed is the vacuum cleaner/blower. The old one was so noisy I had to put it in a wooden box and use a cushion to quieten down the noise it made. I now use a quieter vacuum cleaner/blower it also has more blast than the old one. So now I can melt 6kg of iron in 33 minutes. Over the years I would have melted about 3-4 tons of iron in that furnace. Getting enough scrap can be a problem so I am willing to find any kind of scrap I can find(ductile iron). Phosphorus was added for a special casting, I will make a video about that in the future. I don't use copper wire anymore because ferrosilicon does the job far better. Aaah yes the second intake, it puzzles a lot of people. Back in my beginner days I thought that a lot of air is needed to melt iron. I find only one vacuum cleaner puts out enough air to melt iron. The second intake is a eternal reminder of my folly. Zirconium is found and mined on many beach sands here in Australia. Having said that buying a 15 liter pail is very expensive in Australia, now it is close to 200 dollars. When bought mine it cost 90 dollars. When melting iron zirconia paint is essential to protecting the ceramic fiber I use to insulate my furnace. I still have the pyrometer but don't use it very much because I have melted so much iron It is easy for me to judge when the iron is hot enough to pour. My latest two videos will show how to make sand molds using two different methods.

I am glad you enjoyed the video.

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