2-13-13
2 years ago, my brother showed me this website called backyardmetalcasting.com.
Being in shop class at the time and having done some casting, I wanted
in on the action. The idea of recycling your own metal and casting
stuff in your backyard sounds all too appealing to pass up right?
Well 2 years later, all I can say is: you can't say "success" without first saying "sucks".
The
furnace turned out fine, constructed out of a water heater tank,
insulated with 3000 degree refractory cement. Welding the tank was a
whole fiasco on its own because of my terrible cutting torch abilities.
Simply put, it involved a lot of tack welding and hammering, and a lot
of filing.
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| Ugly welds |
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| Preparation to burn out the cement forms |
The burner is the problematic part. Used cooking oil
is considerably hard to ignite. I tried the burner shown on the
website, and had unsuccess. Next, I chose to build a more complicated
burner which involves compressed air to atomize the oil. To this day, I
have not sustained operation of the furnace with vegetable oil which
was my goal. I have had one successful melt running on mostly diesel. I
tried to run it again on diesel and I couldn't get it to stay lit.
They
say persistence always overcomes resistance which is true, this burner
situation is persisting to perplex me. I've come home after
experimenting with the furnace many times claiming I want to quit the
foundry altogether and go into basket weaving or something. But right
now my ultimatum is this: wood powered furnace, with a bicycle powered
blower for airflow. With the amount of wood I find on the side of the
road, I could probably do one firing per week. Plus, working with oil
and diesel is becoming more and more vexing. I just feel like I need to
go back to basics with something I am confident in... and wood is that
solution.
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| The whole setup |
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|
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| The new burner in position |
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| Some foundry tools; pouring shank, ingot tray, tongs, and skimming spoon |
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| This was only wood burning |
CONTINUE TO PART 2 -- First Success
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