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Sawed off cupola

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doubleboost:
Very nice  :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
John

Rob.Wilson:
:ddb: :ddb: :ddb: WAY TO GO  STEVE  :ddb: :ddb: :ddb: :ddb:

I am chuffed for you  :thumbup: , ,,,,,,,,,,,,,just new you could do it  :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:


Rob

vtsteam:
Rob,  Don, Andrew, Lee, John, Thank you all!   Wow, what a great feeling....I've really been waiting for years to do this! Seems like a small thing, but it really is something to me.

Man that casting is so HEAVY!  That's what comes of casting so much aluminum. I keep picking the thing up and going, that's a heavy casting. Well, I know, it only weighs about 3 pounds or so....

Andrew, the tweak was only to my courage -- i was pretty nervous, there was a fair amount of water around from the rains, though I got a tractor bucket load of sand and put it around the furnace area. Also just running something that hot for that long (total time was an hour and a half) and just the unknown of what molten iron was like -- I didn't know what to expect. I'd read about "white hot" but it didn't seem so -- just bright yellow.

The skimming had me worried, too, plus wondering if I'd get the iron fluid enough. But that all went perfectly. The equipment functioned just as it was supposed to, and the amount of metal was EXACTLY correct -- a little closer than I usually try to get -- the mold filled right to the top of the sprue and then there was no more. I didn't pour any ingots, though I had the mold ready.

For skimming, I am indebted once again to Dave Gingery for a suggestion to set the crucible tilted so the molten surface was even with the lip. I set up sand and firebricks that way in advance as a prop area, with the shank ring at the bottom, so it was just tilt and scrape and lift and pour.

Thanks to Ironman for many things -- sand mix, and all his videos and suggestions. WC Ammens for suggesting a little charcoal in the crucible with soda ash and lid. The slag was very fluid.

vtsteam:
Also Terry Aspin for his books, Stewart Marshall for many aspects of this furnace, Steve Chastain for great books and engineering information, and Madmodders website for the encouragement and a place to talk about it. Otherwise I'd have been the only one to know what I did today.

Back to the interesting stuff for you guys. The lining was in perfect shape after the melt. It just had a very thin brown glaze on it, which I might even count as an improvement. Here's a pic -- the broken up stuff on the bottom is fused sand -- I broke it up when it was an orange sticky taffy mass, as I didn't want it glued to the furnace brick. I also freed the "TurboPlinth" since it served so valiantly. It is also intact, though slightly glazed now.




I made no changes to the Kwiky burner, other than the countersinking I mentioned earlier. I ran it at partial throttle all the way through because with my full volume of the vacuum cleaner blower any more throttle would have created smoke in the exhaust. I look forward to completing a dedicated (and quieter) blower.

Andrew, I never had a blue flame, but once temps were up it was impossible to distinguish a flame from the glowing walls anyway. I just went by whether I was generating sooty smoke out of the top of the furnace. I will say that the hottest period toward the end was the result of a slightly rich (reducing) setting which gave max flame size.


vtsteam:
I'm very gratified to report that standard hard firebrick, available almost everywhere, can be used as a furnace lining to melt iron. That was an unknown for me -- I'd received a few hints otherwise elsewhere.

Also I believe end-on is the most heat resistant and strongest way to do that. I believe this furnace will last a very long time with minimal repairs required

Also that a 4" thick clay/sand and firebrick lining will retain enough heat and has enough insulating value to melt iron.

Also that a physically small burner made of standard plumbing fittings, burning waste motor oil will melt iron.

Also that a brick may be used to deflect a burner flame so that it acts as a tangential swirl burner, and can double as a plinth. No need to make a diagonal hole through a furnace barrel -- particularly a firebrick lined one.

I wasn't sure of any of the above, though reading in books and internet suggested that it would -- just figured it should all be able to be put together to allow low expense, and simplicity of construction, which I hope will allow others to achieve their dream of casting in iron. Now I can say,

Yes it can be done.  :thumbup:





This will be a new upper valve case for my rotary valve 4 cycle to steam engine conversion.

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