My Metal Casting Adventures

Its been a few years now since I stumbled across the art of melting and casting metal.  I'll attempt to put together a collection of photos to detail my progress.

The first true furnace with molten aluminum.  

I built another furnace that was a nice stepping stone out of the first, but I can't find pictures at the moment!

We will move on to my current big furnace.  Its made out of a hot water tank.

The tank:

Laying out the bricks:

Some measurements.  The tank is 18 inches wide.  

I was just learning to stick weld, so I put some handles on the sides to move it easier.  Good thinking.

 The tank had holes for taps and things in it so I used one as an eventual drain for the furnace.

Magnesium anode or cathode..I don't know, but its magnesium.  Fun Fun Fun....

The refractory I used to line the firebricks

Progress:  The bricks are all cut and chamfered to fit well.

Close up.  The bricks are out of an old ceramics kiln.  They are very insulating and worked quite well.

The furnace after casting the refractory.  The wood form was stuck int he bottom, so I just burned it out.

Completed furnace.  Isn't she a beauty?  the lid looks nasty because I just reused it from that previous furnace (the one without pictures).

 An inside shot with my tiny crucible. I have since bought a much larger crucible.

Thats that!  the furnace is done!  I'll have more posts with the first firing, my burner and castings soon!