| Gallery, Projects and General > How do I?? |
| Poor man's casting - how do I do it? |
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| Rob.Wilson:
Hi joshagrady Interesting :med: :zap: Rob |
| cidrontmg:
Hi joshagrady, Another weird use for a microwave oven! Interesting indeed, as is the whole site ( http://www.cientificosaficionados.com ) where it came from. Thanks for that. :wave: |
| kwackers:
Thanks for the links and advice guys! Some good stuff and more importantly confirmation along the lines I'd hoped - just melt 'n pour! The microwave is interesting - not least because my missus has a little firebrick kiln that's specifically designed to melt small amounts of glass in the microwave, the idea that it might also melt metal had passed me by... (Although I doubt it could melt enough to cast anything bigger than a drawing pin). As an aside, my first attempt at melting metal with my blowtorch was some lead I'd hoped to cast into new sash window weights. I fitted the largest head I had (which was the size of a bean can) and then figured an old aluminium saucepan would probably do as a makeshift crucible. I loaded it up with lead and sat it on an old wireframe garden chair, pointed the blowtorch at it and pulled the trigger. An enormous roar filled my ears followed almost instantly (and to my delight) by the lead rapidly melting into the pan and then a second or so later by the pan folding over into the lead.... If anyone has any use for some leaduminium alloy - I've a block of it here. |
| cidrontmg:
:lol: :wave: |
| fluxcored:
After spending close to a year reading up and trying to source materials locally, I was on the verge of giving up because I could'nt find any of the recommended sand, insulation, refractory, etc. at a good price. One evening I just made a wood fire in an old drum which I bored a hole at the bottom to allow me to feed the fire with an old electric spray gun compressor. My crucible was a pipe with the bottom welded shut. My molding sand was the building sand I'm currently using to build with. It worked well - I've melted down a lot of old hard disks and must say they're a great source of ali. I've since then made an ingot tray out of angle iron and obtained some clay from a potter to make some green sand. I am busy building a gas fired foundry with an old lawnmower deck as a base. I've already cut down the deck but still have to weld it and add some wheels before I can start with the foundry. But my heart is'nt really in this project because the wood fire works OK for my needs and wood is so cheap around here. I have'nt melted for some months because it's raining again - thank heavens our drought broke - but I collected some good scrap and am itching to cast a fixed steady. Important though is just to understand the risks and safety issues. |
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