Hobby Metallurgy

>>1194708
Www.

Where to start.

How about an estimated budget first?

>>1194710
Around $50 if possible. I'm not incredibly concerned with buying a mould, sand, etc.

>>1194756
$50? Whew, lad, way to step up your game. I don't think we've ever gotten a budget that high here!

Ok, here's what you do.

1: Go on Amazon, and buy yourself a worthwhile goddamned crucible. (https://goo dot gl/7i5uM6, for a #1 graphite crucible)

2: Use something other than fucking zinc. Zinc melts at 790 degrees Fahrenheit, and vaporizes at 1600 degrees F. Unless you can control the temperature in your foundry, you're likely going to produce a lot of toxic fumes.

A charcoal/blower foundry is fine, but aluminum digests steel at high temps, which is why you had the blowout in your stainless steel crucible. Now, with that said, if you get the crucible I recommended, you're going to have to do some manual crushing and compressing, because it's small, only 4" by 4" by 4" and that won't fit a coke can.

Now, once you have a real budget, come back and we can show you how to make a real propane burner and a real foundry/forge.

>>1195961
And you know what? I just thought about your whole question. You want to create a tooth shaped zinc casting, but you aren't concerned about your casting material.

How do you plan on making your positive?

How do you plan on creating your mold? What material?

These are two important questions that will affect how the rest of the work goes. It's not just a matter of "melt and pour." Do that wrong and you'll have a steam rupture and hot metal everywhere. You've already seen what using the wrong material in a crucible can do.

>>1194756
Nah anon. I can keep you under $50 But keep on mind you get what you pay for.

Need a crucible of at least 3.5" inner diameter. Cans are a cock and way easier if you get a 3.5" or 4" crucible and smash them first. Build a lid that you can throw them in the crucible while it's closed.

Get a couple of thrift store hair users.

Research "kwiky burner." Not sure on spelling but it starts with a K and uses brass fittings and not tips. Is legit.

Health hazard as hell but u can burn used motor oil, or anything else.

I have the best luck with deisle. KEEP IN MIND THAT IT REACTS TO OPEN FLAME JUST LIKE GAS WHEN HOT ENOUGH.

I have seen people weld up deisle tanks that were full. But i tried to dump a gallon into my foundry and it blew up... white smoke is a good indicator. Just treat it like gas and u good.

50/50 or so mix of plaster or Paris and sand will make an okay refractory cements. It will dry and crack soon and need repairs. But its cheap.

Good luck brother. Be safe

>>1194708
protip: the 3004 alloy used in aluminum cans is shitty as fuck for casting. you need something with better nucleation, like 356. also make sure its thick enough to not oxidize before melting, otherwise itll all turn to slag (another reason cans suck)

just find stuff thats already been cast, bust it up and melt it down. hard drive casings, engine parts (assuming they arent magnesium), shit like that

just be careful with zinc, heating it up and breathing in the zinc oxide fumes will fuck you up

I just made a foundry two days ago, excited to get to try it out soon and melt some aluminum and later on, copper

>>1196584
Have fun. I'm retiring my hobby teir shit and saving for the rest of my life for a non ferrous metal pot.

My happy ass gonna melt down car wheels and ringing blocks and cast dicks!

>>1195966
Are you retarded? You want some dumbass who didn't know not to use steel as a crucible for aluminum to make a Kwiky burner and then burn diesel fuel? And on top of it, you want him to make his foundry out of plaster of paris and sand?

Jesus, Op, if you're still here, do not listen to this nignog. He's trying to get you killed.

>>1194708
I've only fucked around a little with backyard casting so i'm no expert
BUT
Unless youre dead set on a zinc cast of your tooth i have an idea how it could be done.

Use alginate to make a mold of the tooth you want and then cast in plaster.
you can then either make a greensand mold and cast it in aluminium or a silicone mold can hold up to low heat castings like pewter/tin

just don't go sticking it in your mouth again...because lead poisoning.

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Got myself a nice aluminum muffin today without burning myself

>>1198974
>Dat surface oxidation
>Dat color
>Dat pitting

What the fuck were you using as source metal, used aluminum pie pans? That's either extremely dirty source metal, or you were too stupid not to keep stirring it. That's a hint, don't friggin' break the surface tension on the metal you're melting.

You can literally melt zinc on a stove top or a small burner. Zinc melts at ~410C. You form eutectic mixtures by adding, let's say, some tin or lead in, if you wanted to lower the temperatures further.

Anyone have experience with geopolymer crucible/foundry/forge? I'm planning on producing geopolymers (Metakaolin+perlite+waterglass) then lightly firing it to make a crucible. It is said that they can handle iron melting temperatures and have incredibly thermally inert, and aren't as brittle as graphite-clay or ZrO2 crucibles. If it's successful I may experiment with lining a forge/foundry with it.

Also I've been thinking about a design that can accept both charcoal and gas (I've always used charcoal). Is it even reasonable to feed the chamber with a ceramic baffle plate or just a ceramic plate with gratings in it or is just a single tube more successful?

>>1199007
Thanks for the advice, I'll do better next weekend

>>1199246
Cool beans. Another bit of advice, once you get your melt going, pinch a bit of borax into it as a flux. 20 Mule Team is my go-to brand and it'll help both pool impurities at the top (where you can skim it just before you go to pour) and limit the amount of oxygen that gets absorbed into the melt.

>>1199391
Yesterday was my first time doing this, so I did make a few mistakes. I'll try that borax thing, and I'll move up to propane and a better crucible when I can

>>1199396
Have you thought of pewter? Easier to cast, fewer tools needed, non-reactive to steel crucibles.

>>1200583
Hadn't considered it, but now that you mention it, I can do that, too. But I'll still want to do aluminum, copper, and maybe brass/bronze/steel etc

Tried my hand at casting today, failed both with a Styrofoam cup and an ant hill. The hill worked out a little bit, got an inch or two of tunnels cast in aluminum

How hard is it to build a home induction forge?

>>1202631
Depends on how big you want it and what things you want to do with it

>>1202640
I want to use it for sintering metal powder (steel, titanium) into solid parts.

Hey Op, it's been a while since we've seen you. Got any updates?

>>1202629
Aluminium hill casting is tough, because you *MUST* get it super-heated. While aluminum melts at the relatively low temp of 1200 degrees Fahrenheit, if you don't get it much, much hotter it will freeze in the tunnels. When I go to do my pours, I try to get it up to about 1600, and I've had some pretty good luck with it at that temp.

>>1203139
Good thought. I also need to try to pour slower so it doesn't just run down the side of the hill and on the ground.
I need to get a thermocouple from eBay to see my temps

Sorry I've been out for a bit.

I melted a LOTR larp sword hilt for zinc and messed around with wood molds since I'm busy with a new baby.

I ended up sawing off the top of a propane camp cylinder (empty of course) and used a new cylinder with a torch to melt the shit. My only issue is oxidation. I've heard about using borax for aluminum like another anon mentioned, but idk if that will work well with zinc. Ideally I'd like to stay away from lead since I have a new baby and I don't want her to end up retarded.
I talked with a guy who works in our dental lab and he may be able to make me a positive mold, but I doubt he will follow through. Not sure how else to make one since an actual tooth is too small and I'm wanting the whole thing to be bigger. I've thought about lost foam, but I'm unartistic and would probably fuck it up.
For heating I like the idea of propane being easier to control and fairly cheap, I just am lost on making a good burn setup that I don't have to pour too much money into and won't explode on me.

>>1203596
Welcome back Op. Now stay the hell away from zinc, hot zinc is damn near as toxic as hot lead. Pewter or tin would be better, and both melt really low.

For cheap and easy burners, look up 'Reil ez burner' by Ronnie Reil. Should cost you less than $30 to make, assuming you have the tools.

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>>1204106
Tools shouldn't be any issue, assuming there is no welding involved. One site I saw with the burner should be just fine.

Any recommendations for getting cheap tin or pewter, or would something like eBay be the best bet?

Also, side note, the pic here is the result of our aluminum muffin ingots my dad and I got after our one and only successful burn.

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Aaaand the failed crucible.

>>1204218
No welds needed, just pipe dope. You might need to buy a 'Z' sized bit to get your 1/8th inch pipe into the reducing bell correctly.

For your metal source, I actually troll flea markets and garage sales looking for mass market shut that I can melt (when getting tin and pewter.) There are a few sources online but that can be kind of pricey.

I'd like to start melting and casting aluminum and iron at home. I have no experience or knowledge in this area, but I have money and welding equipment. As a total novice, where should I begin this process?

>>1194708
My buddies are all in Northern Canada mapping and they all have frickin wifi. Not sure how much it costs but it's pretty neat to have a satellite connection so good we can video chat over their campsite wifi (also seems to take the romance out of the idea)

>>1204643
I had a good melt with a larger, modified Mini Metal Foundry but the crucible failed on the second burn because I got it too hot.
Grant Thompson has some cool stuff on YouTube about melting lots of stuff with a welder.

How hard it is to melt aluminium bronze

>>1205287
Depends on the compositon. 90%Cu 10%Al melts at about 1900 degrees. That's pretty hot for home casting.

>>1205566
it's a coin

>>1205566
Cu 92/Al 8

>>1205571
So it'd be a bit more. Since its a coin, fortunately you can do that with a Mapp torch and a silica melt dish

>>1205583
Sorry, less not more

>>1205583
Ok

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>>1205583
there's a lot of coins tho

>>1205583
Two hundred and twenty four

>>1205645
Ok, with that many it'll be a bit more. You'll need a crucible and a foundry to melt.

>>1205657
Fug got an easy design for me or I just fuck off to goggles?

>>1205677
Design for a foundry i mean.

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>>1204643
Hi, I'm a metallurgist. I've decided that instead of ignoring posts like these I might actually try to offer some advice.

What do you want to know?

>>1205680
Google it for now. I've done about nine foundries and forges at this point, all by hand sketches and designs, but I don't have any available (currently in Seattle, home is in Charleston SC.)

One key is also making sure that whatever you do, you make sure your refractory material is rated for whatever temp you want to use. For example, regular portland cement mixed with sand and plaster of paris can stand up to 1400-1500 degrees pretty well and that means aluminum.

If you want to melt copper, though, that material will fail quickly and might rupture. Fireclay, fire brick, kaowool, castable refractory cement would all be better (I use 2800 degree rated gun castable refractory cement for my designs because I do lots of brass and bronze castings.)

One site I'd recommend is backyardmetalcasting.com, which has an assload of good plans, guidelines, safety recommendations and how-to's.

>>1205770
Alright thanks.

>>1205758
Are there any good step by step guides for novices?

>>1205989
>>1205758
Also, where should I learn about making my own casting molds?