grusin@boulder.Colorado.EDU (GRUSIN MICHAEL) (12/13/90)
I'm interested in hearing about peoples experiences doing small-scale smelting and casting; I occasionally see ads for books on "building charcoal powered furnaces capable of melting aluminum cans"; does this work? Is it practical? (I've got a lot of aluminum cans saved up =) - Mike Grusin (grusin@tramp.colorado.edu)
david@talgras.UUCP (David Hoopes) (12/13/90)
In article <1990Dec12.234545.8492@csn.org> grusin@tramp.Colorado.EDU (GRUSIN MICHAEL) writes: >I'm interested in hearing about peoples experiences doing >small-scale smelting and casting; I occasionally see ads >for books on "building charcoal powered furnaces capable >of melting aluminum cans"; does this work? Is it practical? Where did you see the ads for the books. I have been thinking about trying my hand at some casting. Eventually I would like to do some castings in iron but I thougth that alluminum might be a good way to experiment. Charcoal could burn hot enough to do what you want but if you can get some coal it will burn hotter and longer. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ David Hoopes Tallgras Technologies Inc. uunet!talgras!david 11100 W 82nd St. Voice: (913) 492-6002 x323 Lenexa, Ks 66214
vestal@SRC.Honeywell.COM (Steve Vestal) (12/15/90)
I played around with this a little as a kid. A small squirrel-cage blower and a bag of charcoal will do wonders. The main problem is finding a crucible to hold the melt. Cast-iron solder pots used by plumbers are fine for aluminum (be careful to avoid melting the pot) but brass etc. require something better. One source of information about home smelting is in the Amateur Telescope Making books (Russel used to do a lot of this). Check your local university library, or look in Sky & Telescope magazine for advertisements for these books.